William Charles Bell trained as an enamel painter in Geneva before securing his first royal commission in March 1850. From then onwards, he was employed constantly by Queen Victoria for almost 50 years, painting enamel miniatures, often copied after Franz Xaver Winterhalter's oil portraits, for her own collection and for distribution as gifts. His enamels were usually smaller than those by Henry Pierce Bone, William Essex or John Simpson, whose services she had previously employed, and many were set into items of jewellery, particularly Maid of Honour brooches. Queen Victoria's last payment to Bell, in July 1899, was for '6 Miniatures on Gold for Maid of Honour brooches'. Owing to his advanced years, the Queen then gave him no further work but awarded him an annual pension of £20.

This enamel is a posthumous portrait based on a photograph of c.1870 by Hills & Saunders Ltd of 36 Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, London (2912192).

Sylvain van de Weyer, son of Josse-Alexandre van de Weyer and Françoise-Martine Gobau, was instrumental in the events that brought Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the throne of Belgium in 1831. He was immediately appointed Envoy Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary Minister to the Court of St James. He held the position of Belgian Minister in London, 1851 – 67, and earned the admiration of Queen Victoria who regarded him as a 'most clever, clear-sighted, sensible little man' (RA QVJ: 10 January 1837).

Signed, dated and inscribed on the gilded counter-enamel in black paint: Sylvain / VAN / de Weyer / born 19th Jan 1802 / died 23rd May 1874 / Painted by W.C. Bell / 1877