The first major study of portrait miniatures from the Victorian era
British School, 19th century
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) c. 1837-8
Enamel, tortoise shell, pierced gold | 4.2 x 3.2 cm (sight) | RCIN 19525
By a second-order enamellist working c.1837 – 8, this miniature of Queen Victoria derives from a popular print of around the time of the Queen's accession in 1837 and shows her in State robes with the ribbon and star of the Order of the Garter and the badge of the Order of the Bath; the small crown rests on a purple cushion in the background. The enamel is set in the lid of a gold-mounted rectangular tortoiseshell box with canted corners.