Spotlight on: Sarah Biffin, a Victorian English Painter
Sarah Biffin, Mrs E.M. Wright, 1784 - 1850. Artist (Self-portrait) - WikiCommons Sarah Biffin (sometimes spelt Biffen ) was born in 1784 in a small village in Somerset, England into a poor farm labouring family. Sarah was born with a rare condition called Phocomelia , meaning her limbs did not grow. Sarah taught herself how to sew, write and draw using her mouth by the age of 8. She showed a clear talent for sewing and drawing and contributed to her family income through dressmaking and needlework. Sarah Biffin. Watercolour by Sarah Biffin.. Credit: Wellcome Collection . Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) As an early teen she met a man named Emmanuel Dukes, who ran a traveling show where he showed the strange and curious to a paying audience. She soon entered a contract with Dukes who exhibited her in his show, charging his audience up to two shillings to see her draw. Dukes taught Sarah how to paint and so she began painting miniatur...