Gillian Broinowski (1934-2008) was born in Sydney and educated at Fairfield (her mother's school) in Bellevue Hill, then at Frensham. Her first job was at Scandinavia House, a shop in Double Bay specialising in Swedish-designed furniture. In 1962, she married Baron Axel Von Rappe, a Swedish count she had met while travelling overseas. They ran Scandinavia House together before going to live in Sweden. Returning to Australia without the Baron, Broinowski started studying ceramics at East Sydney Technical College in 1964. In 1968, she spent six months working and studying in Japan. In 1970, she set up her studio in the Old Dairy at Camden Park, NSW. In 1972, she was joined by Neil Whitford. From 1975-1984, they lived in an old stone farmhouse at Dalgety, NSW, making wood-fired functional stoneware. In 1985, they moved to Vielun Park, a dairy property near Cobbity owned by Broinowski's uncle. She returned with Whitford to Japan in 1985 and later the couple became associated with the Sydney Buddhist Centre. At this time, Broinowski's work took a new turn, becoming more abstract while still playfully referencing functional forms. Her mark is three impressed hexagons arranged in a triangle, sometimes within a square.

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