Snuff box with inset miniature of Anne, Princess Royal (1709-1759) 1734c. 1734
Agate, gold, enamel | 3.6 x 5.0 x 6.0 cm (whole object) | RCIN 4041
British School, 18th century
Snuff box with inset miniature of Anne, Princess Royal (1709-1759) 1734c. 1734
British School, 18th century
Snuff box with inset miniature of Anne, Princess Royal (1709-1759) 1734c. 1734
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Oval agate snuff-box with threaded gold mounts and panelled sides, the interior engraved with crowned AR cypher. The hinged lid inset with a miniature on enamel of Anne, Princess Royal. Anne is depicted bust-length; facing slightly right, head turned half left, looking forwards. She wears a low-cut blue dress lined with pink and has blue eyes and fair brown hair.
This box and others including RCIN 4031 and 4030 are likely to have been keepsakes presented to members of the Princesses' households or their friends. This agate and gold cagework box is typical of the snuffboxes produced in England in the mid-century.
Anne was born on 2 November 1709 in Hanover, the second child and eldest daughter of George Augustus, Electoral Prince of Hanover, later George II of Great Britain, and his wife, Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach .When her grandfather was proclaimed King, Anne came to England with her mother and sisters, Amelia and Caroline, in September 1714. Contemporaries were impressed with her education – Mary, Countess Cowper, wrote that 'Princess Anne speaks, reads and writes German and French to Perfection, knows a great deal of History and Geography, speaks English very prettily and dances very well.' She married William IV, Prince of Orange-Nassau (1711–51) in 1734. This portrait may date from that time. When William died in 1751, Anne became Governor of the United Provinces and guardian of her son, William V. She died in 1759 and was buried at the Nieuwe Kerk, Delft.
The artist has not been identified with certainty although the portrait of Princess Anne is attributed to a follower of Zincke.
Text adapted from The First Georgians; Art and Monarchy 1714 - 1760, London, 2014.Provenance
Acquired from the Cumberland Collection and given to King George V by Queen Mary, Christmas 1913
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Medium and techniques
Agate, gold, enamel
Measurements
3.6 x 5.0 x 6.0 cm (whole object)
4.3 x 3.7 cm (sight)