The sitter was the fourth daughter of Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (a brother of Queen Charlotte of Great Britain) and Princess Frederica of Hesse-Darmstadt. In 1793, she married Crown Prince Frederick William, later Frederick William III of Prussia (see lot 153). Her sister Frederica married his brother, Louis, two days later. Luise and Frederick had nine children, seven of whom survived into adulthood, including the future King Frederick William IV (see lot 152) and the future Emperor William I of Prussia (see lots 208 and 293). She is remembered fondly for her attempts to negotiate with Napoleon during the talks of the Peace of Tilsit (1807).
Another version of the present miniature, also signed with initials and dated 1802, is in the British Royal Collection (RCIN 420533, see R. Walker, The Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, Cambridge, 1992, pp. 434-435, illustrated p. 434). A circular version was sold Sotheby's, Zurich, 13 November 1979, lot 86 (as German School, circa 1800). The miniatures derive from a pastel portrait by J. H. Schroeder in Schloss Grünholz, home of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. An oil copy is in Schloss Höflig, Regensburg, in the collection of the Prince of Thurn and Taxis.
For a portrait miniature of the sitter's sister, Charlotte, see lot 90.