John Kenworthy-Browne, scholar of architecture, neo-classical sculpture and country houses
John Kenworthy‑Browne was a leading authority on neo‑classical sculpture whose career spanned curatorial work, publishing and a vibrant social circle. He devoted much of his later life to a definitive biography of the sculptor Joseph Nollekens, a project that remains unfinished.
Educated at Ampleforth and later at Wadham College, Oxford, he completed National Service in the Rifle Brigade before turning to the art world. His early curatorial role as the first National Trust keeper of Dyrham Park saw him redesign the interiors and open the baroque house to the public, even arranging a royal tea for the Queen Mother in 1962.
After a stint cataloguing furniture at Christie’s, where he grew frustrated by a lack of support, he chose independence. A house on Hollywood Road provided rental income that freed him to write. His publications include Three Centuries of English Furniture in Colour (1972), Chippendale and his Contemporaries (1973), the Country House Guide, and the scholarly edition Matthew Brettingham’s Rome Account Book 1747‑1754 (1983). He contributed regularly to Country Life, Apollo, Burlington Magazine and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Kenworthy‑Browne was famed for his lively dinner parties, where generations of art historians and curators – from James Lees‑Milne to John Pope‑Hennessy – mingled over wine and wit. His anecdotes about encounters with the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and the Queen herself revealed a self‑deprecating humor that delighted his guests.
A talented pianist, he owned two clavichords and remained a devout Catholic, attending High Mass at the London Oratory and cherishing the music of J.S. Bach. In his later years he gave up entertaining, but continued small acts of kindness, such as reading to a blind neighbour. He passed away on 18 September 2026, leaving a rich legacy of scholarship, friendship and an enduring love for Britain’s architectural and sculptural heritage.