Joseph Hartmann (1812-85) was born at Ried, Austira. The city of Vienna played host to his early career but he later moved to Darmstadt where he received several commissions from the Grand Duke and Duchess of Hesse along with several eminent members of the ducal court. It is likely to have been through the recommendation of the Grand Duchess Alice, Queen Victoria’s second eldest daughter, that Hartmann found patronage at the Court of St James’s.

Prince Friedrich William of Hesse (1870-73) was the second son of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and Princess Alice, the second daughter of Queen Victoria. Friedrich, known as 'Frittie' to his family, was diagnosed with haemophilia in February 1873, just months before his death from a fall whilst playing with his brother Ernst. The Prince is here shown head and shoulders, wearing a white Russian smock with red and black embroidered bordering, and a lace neck.