John Haslem's enamel miniature is signed, dated and inscribed around the edge of the counter-enamel in black paint: Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg Saalfeld now King of the Belgians / J no Haslem 1848. However the only indication of the source on which this enamel copy is based is an inscription on the front of the frame which gives the date of the original image as 1805 and identifies the sitter as Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. The source, a pastel by the Coburg court artist Carl Ruprecht (1779-1831) showing the sitter in Austrian military uniform, is untraced.

This enamel was commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1848 and listed in her private accounts: 'To Haslem for Enamels of Pcess Sophia & Uncle Leopd £29.18.0.' (28 guineas) (RA VIC/ADDT/231/136); it was then given to Prince Albert by Queen Victoria at an undisclosed date and recorded in the Prince Consort's Writing Room, Buckingham Palace, in 1875 and again in 1877, before hanging at Windsor Castle (WC 2793). The sitter was uncle to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and proved a respected mentor and adviser to them both.