.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721-1765), third son of King George II, served with distinction at Dettingen in 1743. He defeated Prince Charles Stewart 'The Young Pretender' at Culloden and was nicknamed the 'Butcher' for his severity against the Jacobites. He was defeated at Laeffelt in 1747 and by the French in Germany in 1757 and resigned his command. He died unmarried.
D. Foskett (A Dictionary of British Miniature Painters, London, 1974, I, p. 560) notes that miniatures by Vertue are rare. A self-portrait of the artist, signed with monogram and dated 1729 is illustrated in R. Goulding, The Catalogue of the Miniatures at Welbeck Abbey, Oxford, 1916, no. 152, pl. XX, and a miniature of the Hon. Edward Hay, signed with monogram and dated 1738 is also in the same collection (op. cit., no. 189).
Vertue made his name as an engraver and antiquary and made a great collection of material for a history of the fine arts in England which Horace Walpole bought after his death and used as his Anecdotes of Painting in England (1761-1771).
The present miniature is based on the large-scale oil on canvas portrait by Charles Jervas in the National Portrait Gallery, inv. no. 802. J. Kerslake (National Portrait Gallery. Early Georgian Portraits, London, 1977, I, p. 64) quotes Vertue in 1728, stating that Jervas was 'imployd. by the Queen to paint the Picture of Prince William' which proved 'sucesfull' and that the success of this portrait lef to Jervas receiving further royal commissions. A head and shoulders variant after Jervas, in reverse, was engraved by Vertue in 1728.
D. Foskett (A Dictionary of British Miniature Painters, London, 1974, I, p. 560) notes that miniatures by Vertue are rare. A self-portrait of the artist, signed with monogram and dated 1729 is illustrated in R. Goulding, The Catalogue of the Miniatures at Welbeck Abbey, Oxford, 1916, no. 152, pl. XX, and a miniature of the Hon. Edward Hay, signed with monogram and dated 1738 is also in the same collection (op. cit., no. 189).
Vertue made his name as an engraver and antiquary and made a great collection of material for a history of the fine arts in England which Horace Walpole bought after his death and used as his Anecdotes of Painting in England (1761-1771).
The present miniature is based on the large-scale oil on canvas portrait by Charles Jervas in the National Portrait Gallery, inv. no. 802. J. Kerslake (National Portrait Gallery. Early Georgian Portraits, London, 1977, I, p. 64) quotes Vertue in 1728, stating that Jervas was 'imployd. by the Queen to paint the Picture of Prince William' which proved 'sucesfull' and that the success of this portrait lef to Jervas receiving further royal commissions. A head and shoulders variant after Jervas, in reverse, was engraved by Vertue in 1728.