Robert Thorburn’s work in miniature came to Queen Victoria’s notice in 1844. Queen Victoria recorded her first impressions of him as ‘a young Scotchman, of great talent, who ... has painted some splendid miniatures, with such depth of colouring & such power, as I have never before seen in a miniature.’ His success as a miniature painter was partly due to the exceptional size of his work which exploited a new technique for cutting larger slices of ivory.