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1 of 253523 objects
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) Signed and dated 1843
Enamel on copper | 14.7 x 12.2 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 422373
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Henry Bone made a notable success during his career of producing historical sequences of portrait enamels for exhibition and sale. This enamel is from the series of English Sovereigns and Queens from Edward III to Queen Victoria which was completed by Henry Pierce Bone after his father's death in 1834, building on a group of 11 historical copies by Henry Bone dating from as far apart as 1815 and 1831. To this were added 22 of his own enamels, all but one being completed in 1835 – 7. These were then united and presented for sale as a group of 33 with a 'Catalogue of a Series of Portraits of the Sovereigns of England from the Earliest Period … to the Present Time; together with several of the Queens Consort Painted in Enamel by the late Henry Bone R.A. … and Henry Pierce Bone Enamel Painter to Her Majesty The Queen Dowager & H.R.H. The Duchess of Kent' (City of Westminster Archives, D86/fol. 16). Prince Albert purchased the series in 1843, paying two instalments each of £200 in July and October for Henry Bone's 'Enamels of the Kings & Queens'.
Henry Pierce Bone's enamel is after Sir George Hayter's Coronation Portrait of Queen Victoria completed in 1840 (401213). As a significant commission given by Queen Victoria to Prince Albert, this enamel is unusual in being a faithful rendition of the Queen's figure in Hayter's composition. Many of Bone's versions of this image were set in jewellery and given away as gifts, and he generally adapted the prototype to show the Queen without the Imperial State Crown
Signed, dated and inscribed on the yellow counter-enamel in red paint: Queen Victoria / London Augt 1843: Painted by Her / Majesty's command, by Henry Pierce / Bone Enamel Painter to Her Majesty / & H.R.H. Prince Albert &c. / From the Original by Sir George / Hayter Principal Painter in / Ordinary to Her Majesty M.A.S.C &c.Provenance
Given to Prince Albert by Queen Victoria for his birthday, 26th August 1843 [Victoria & Albert: Art & Love, London, 2010, pg 460]
Purchased by Prince Albert in 1843 as part of the 'Bone Set of Enamels of the English Sovereigns and Queens from Edwd. III to Queen Victoria' -
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Medium and techniques
Enamel on copper
Measurements
14.7 x 12.2 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
23.1 x 20.4 x 2.95 cm (frame, external)
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