Sir Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (1676-1745) was born at Houghton Hall, Norfolk and was the third son of Robert Walpole and his wife Mary Walpole. He was a Whig politician who served during the reigns of King George I and King George II and is generally recognised as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, though this position was not officially in use at that time. He was the father of Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford and grandfather of George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford (see lot 204).
The present miniature derives from a large-scale oil on canvas portrait by John Wootton (c. 1682-1764) of Sir Robert Walpole as Master of the King's Staghounds in Windsor Forest, now in the Cholmondeley Collection at Houghton Hall (see exhibition catalogue Houghton Revisited. The Walpole Masterpieces from Catherine the Great's Hermitage, Houghton Hall, State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2013, illustrated in colour p. 46, fig. 16). We are indebted to Dr Stephen Lloyd, Curator of the Derby Collection at Knowsley Hall, for drawing our attention to this.