The celebrated painting of the Prince of Wales by Winterhalter is now in the Royal Collection at Osborne House. Prince Albert commissioned the portrait in 1846, and included it amongst his 1846 Christmas presents to Queen Victoria. The portrait was extremely popular and several copies were made.
The popularity of Winterhalter's painting extended even to the reproduction of the figure of the Prince in a three dimensional context. A bronze model of the figure of the Prince inspired by Winterhalter's painting is recorded in the National Portrait Gallery catalogue (op. cit.), and may be the same as the present example. The figure was also produced in Parian from 1848 and exhibited at the 1851 Great Exhibition.