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Lot Essay
King James II was the third surviving child of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria. On the death of his brother, King Charles II, James ascended to the throne as James II of England and VII of Scotland until he was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and exiled to the château of St Germain-en-Laye in France. He was replaced on the throne by his protestant elder daughter, Mary II and her husband, William III. James attempted to recover the throne in 1689 but the Jacobite forces were defeated and he spent the rest of his life as a pretender at the court of his cousin and supporter, King Louis XIV.
During the reign of his elder brother, Charles II, James had held the office of Lord High Admiral from 1660 to 1673, during which time he commanded the Royal Navy during the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch wars. Murdoch suggests that the background depicting ships at sea is a reference to his appointment as Lord High Admiral and compares it with a miniature by Cooper of Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland (1602-1668), which has a similar background. Painted circa 1636-40, the portrait coincides with Percy's appointment as Lord High Admiral from 1637 to 1642 (see J. Murdoch, op. cit., pp. 151 and 119-120). The suggested date of execution of circa 1660 for the present miniature is supported by comparison with a portrait of James II by Cooper, signed and dated [16]61, in the Victoria and Albert Museum (see J. Murdoch, op. cit., no. 85), in which the sitter appears to be a similar age. A slightly later portrait by Cooper is in the British Royal Collection (see G. Reynolds, The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, London, 1999, no. 142). An even later one, dated 167[.] is in the National Maritime Museum (see exhibition catalogue D. Foskett, Samuel Cooper and his Contemporaries, London, 1974, no. 131).
An almost identical portrait, catalogued as 'James II, as Duke of York, Circle of Samuel Cooper' was in the Edward Grosvenor Paine Collection, sold Christie's, London, 20 March 1989, lot 158. This or another version was also sold Christie's, London, 10 October 1978, lot 96 (as James II, as Duke of York, perhaps by DM, afterSamuel Cooper) and Sotheby's, London, 11 July 1991, lot 236 (as James, Duke of York, English School after Samuel Cooper).
During the reign of his elder brother, Charles II, James had held the office of Lord High Admiral from 1660 to 1673, during which time he commanded the Royal Navy during the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch wars. Murdoch suggests that the background depicting ships at sea is a reference to his appointment as Lord High Admiral and compares it with a miniature by Cooper of Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland (1602-1668), which has a similar background. Painted circa 1636-40, the portrait coincides with Percy's appointment as Lord High Admiral from 1637 to 1642 (see J. Murdoch, op. cit., pp. 151 and 119-120). The suggested date of execution of circa 1660 for the present miniature is supported by comparison with a portrait of James II by Cooper, signed and dated [16]61, in the Victoria and Albert Museum (see J. Murdoch, op. cit., no. 85), in which the sitter appears to be a similar age. A slightly later portrait by Cooper is in the British Royal Collection (see G. Reynolds, The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, London, 1999, no. 142). An even later one, dated 167[.] is in the National Maritime Museum (see exhibition catalogue D. Foskett, Samuel Cooper and his Contemporaries, London, 1974, no. 131).
An almost identical portrait, catalogued as 'James II, as Duke of York, Circle of Samuel Cooper' was in the Edward Grosvenor Paine Collection, sold Christie's, London, 20 March 1989, lot 158. This or another version was also sold Christie's, London, 10 October 1978, lot 96 (as James II, as Duke of York, perhaps by DM, afterSamuel Cooper) and Sotheby's, London, 11 July 1991, lot 236 (as James, Duke of York, English School after Samuel Cooper).