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1 of 253523 objects
Attributed to Francis Cotes (1726-70)
Portrait of a Baby, possibly Prince Edward (1767-1820), later Duke of Kent c.1768-9
Oil on canvas | 127.2 x 102.1 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 404352
Queen's Bed Chamber, Kew Palace
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This painting can be confidently attributed to Cotes but the identity of the sitter is uncertain. Prince Edward has been suggested, implying a date of c. 1769. There are portraits of Prince Edward by 'Coates' described in eighteenth-century inventories of the palaces at Kensington and Kew, which may refer to this painting though in one case it is specified that they are 'in crayons'.
Whoever he is, the baby is is impersonating Cupid, with wings, a quiver of arrows, a garland of flowers and a pouting smile. Reynolds invented this type of mock-mythology for the portraiture of young ladies; if this date is correct then Cotes is quick off the mark in adapting the idea for infants.Provenance
First recorded hanging over the chimney in the Presence Chamber at Kensington Palace in an annotation to the printed inventory of 1778; in the Queen's Bedchamber at Kew Palace in 1805
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Creator(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
127.2 x 102.1 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
148.3 x 121.6 x 8.3 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Prince Edward, later Duke of Kent (1767-1820)?
George IV (1762-1830), previously identified as
Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850), previously identified as
