Portrait of a boy, full-length, in a blue coat, with a spinning top on a terrace

Philip Mercier was born in Berlin, of French extraction, and moved to London in 1716. He had been recommended to King George I by the King's family in Hanover, perhaps by Frederick, Prince of Wales, to whom Mercier became Principal Painter when the prince and his family came to England in 1729. Mercier's association with the Royal Family continued when he was appointed as drawing master to the young princesses. However, he retired from Court life in 1737 and moved to York in 1739, where he became immensely popular with the local gentry. His conversation pieces and sentimental genre scenes were very influential on English painting, because his works embodied the new French taste that had been introduced by artists such as Watteau.