Lot 166
166
A GEORGE IV VARI-COLORED GOLD AND LACQUER BOX WITH PORTRAIT OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

Details
A GEORGE IV VARI-COLORED GOLD AND LACQUER BOX WITH PORTRAIT OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
CIRCA 1820, THE MINIATURE ATTRIBUTED TO HENRY BONE

Rectangular, the base and sides with black lacquer, the base with gold borders with thistles and fleur-de-lys, the rims with bands of acanthus, the hinged cover with gold thistle and fleur-de-lys border, set with a portrait of Mary Queen of Scots, the interior cover engraved with an inscription AEquam memento rebus in arduis Servarc mentem non secus in bonis, and with the Royal badge, Garter motto and crown, apparently unmarked
4in. (10.2cm.) long

Lot Essay

Henry Bone was born in Cornwall in 1755 and exhibited enamels at the Royal Academy between 1781 and 1834. As Charles Truman remarks, Bone "enjoyed the patronage of George III, George IV and William IV. His eyesight failed in 1832. His son, Henry Pierce Bone, was also a distinguished enameler." Both father and son specialized in historical subject matters.