William Grimaldi

Estimate

6,000 - 8,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

William Grimaldi
Portrait of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852)
Enamel, gold frame;
signed and inscribed: Prince of Waterloo 1817. / DUKE OF WELLINGTON. BY W. Grimaldi Enamel Painter to the / PRINCE REGENT; further inscribed verso: bishop's plate
69 by 52 mm

Provenance

Stacey Grimaldi, the artist's son, by 1826
by family descent until 2010

Literature

Probably, A Catalogue Chronological and Descriptive of Paintings, Drawings, & Engravings, by and after William Grimaldi, RA.,..., London 1873 (Privately Printed), p. 24, no. 198;
R. Walker, Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, The 18^th and 19^th Centuries, Cambridge 1992, p. 336

Catalogue Note

This enamel is dated 1817 and was made by William Grimaldi, a successful and fashionable painter of enamels and portrait miniatures. From 1790, he served as official painter to the Duke and Duchess of York, while in 1804 he was appointed Enamel Painter to the Prince Regent. The Duke of Wellington first sat to him in 1805 and the artist's records reveal that he created eleven enamels and fourteen watercolours of the Duke, each with variations and differences.

There are two theories as to the source of the present work. One suggests that Grimaldi looked to Nollekens' 1809 marble bust, while the other puts forward the idea that he was inspired by Pistrucci's, never finished, Waterloo Medal. Grimaldi created three other enamels of this particular type. One of these is in the collection of His Grace, the Duke of Wellington, another is in the Royal Collection, while a third is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.¹

1. C. Wellesley, Marquess of Douro, Wellington Portrayed, London 2014, p. 159