The entry in the mid-nineteenth-century Enamels inventory confirms the attribution made on the basis of the incomplete inscription on the reverse of the miniature, which is in John Simpson's hand. The source is a miniature of c.1820 at Wolfsgarten, Langen, Hesse which is almost certainly by the Coburg court miniaturist Carl Ruprecht (1779-1831).

John Simpson (1811-after 1871) was trained as a porcelain painter at the Derby porcelain factory before moving to London in 1845. He soon established a practice as a miniature painter specialising in works on enamel, and fulfilled the first of many commissions for Queen Victoria in that year. He is last recorded describing himself at the end of his career as a 'photographic artist' (1871 census return); the date of his death is not known.

Inscribed on the counter-enamel in red paint: Louise of Saxe Gotha / Duchess of Saxe Coburg / and Saalfeld / Mother to the Prince / b. Dec 21 1800 / d. 1831