Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (1594-1612) c. 1612
Watercolour on vellum laid on playing card (the ace of spades) | 7.7 x 5.6 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 420057
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Isaac Oliver’s outstanding contribution to royal iconography was undoubtedly the large cabinet-miniature of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales of c.1612 (RCIN 420058) showing the warrior prince in armour, standing in front of a tented military encampment. The present miniature is one of many signed, reduced versions in existence; some may have been completed during the Prince’s lifetime, but many are likely to have been produced posthumously. George Vertue recorded the present miniature ‘amongst Dr. Meads limnings one very curious of P. Henry. eldest son of K.J. first’.28 In 1738, it was engraved in reverse while still in Dr Mead’s collection by Jacob Houbraken for Thomas Birch’s Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain (1743), and soon afterwards it was purchased by Frederick, Prince of Wales, for his collection of miniatures.
Signed on the right in gold: 'I.O.' in monogram.
Text adapted from The First Georgians: Art and Monarchy 1714-1760, London, 2014.Provenance
Dr Richard Mead (1673-1754), purchased by Frederick, Prince of Wales between 1745 and 1751
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Creator(s)
(framemaker)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Watercolour on vellum laid on playing card (the ace of spades)
Measurements
7.7 x 5.6 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
9.4 x 7.4 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
Reynolds 1999 : Reynolds, G., 1999. The Sixteenth & Seventeenth Century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, London – Reynolds 1999 056RL 1870 : Holmes, R., 1870. Inventory of Miniatures: Royal Library Windsor Castle – RL 1870 2.B.4 or 5RL 1881 : Holmes, R., 1881. Inventory of Miniatures: Royal Library Windsor Castle – RL 1881 2.xiv or xvAlternative title(s)
Henry, Prince of Wales (1594-1612)