Cameo bust of Philip II of Spain (1527-98) in profile to the left. He wears contemporary armour with a ruff. The onyx is deeply undercut.

The cameo may be identified with the 'Phillipp the Second of Spain his head in An Aggate of Twoe cullours yellowe and white' listed in Van der Doort's inventory of Charles I's collection. It was probably one of the '2 [gems] of Philp 2' seen by Horace Walpole in June 1763 in his list of ‘Other pictures & curiosities’ of the late Queen Caroline, consort of George II, in a cabinet at Kensington Palace.

Caroline’s cameos are testament to her interest in the courts of Europe. Among the other princes represented among the gem collection were cameos of Mary, Queen of Scots, Henri IV of France, and Emperor Leopold, cut in amethyst. In turn these were supplemented by coins, including a full set of English monarchs from William I onwards, waxes of numerous German princes and Pope Benedict XIV, a bas relief of Emperor Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy and a woven silk picture of Charles I.

Text adapted from Ancient and Modern Gems and Jewels in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, London, 2008 and The First Georgians; Art and Monarchy 1714 - 1760, London, 2014.