George IV (1762-1830), when Prince of Wales 1801-02
Watercolour on ivory | 7.1 x 5.8 cm (sight) | RCIN 420207
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This miniature dates from 1801-2 when George, Prince of Wales changed his hairstyle from the windswept look shown in earlier portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Sir Thomas Gainsborough to the more restrained cut in later paintings. He is wearing the star of the Order of the Garter. The fee book belonging to the artist, George Engleheart, has the entry: 'The Prince of Wales for Princess Augusta, September 14, 1802' for which he received 15 guineas. This image appears to have been used by Edmund Scott for his engraving of the Prince of Wales as 'Grand Master of the most Antient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons' published in June 1802.
The miniature painter George Engleheart (1752-1829) was one of eight sons of Francis Englhart, a German plaster-modeller. He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1769, exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1773 to 1822 and was appointed Miniature Painter to the King in 1789. He built up a thriving practice and moved in the artistic and poetic circles of George Romney, William Blake and William Cowper. Towards the end of his life he lived with his son, Nathaniel, in Blackheath, and died there in 1829.
The miniature is signed on the lower left with a cursive E.Provenance
Belonged to Princess Augusta, then bequeathed to Queen Victoria by the Duchess of Gloucester in 1857
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Medium and techniques
Watercolour on ivory
Measurements
7.1 x 5.8 cm (sight)
8.8 x 7.5 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
RL 1870 6.A.6