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Lot Essay
The enamel is after Robert Thorburn's half length portrait depicting Prince Albert in armour wearing the neck ribbon and badge of the Order of the Garter, 1844 (Royal Collection inventory no. 421665). Queen Victoria recorded in her diary on 24 May 1844 'My twentyfifth birthday....[Prince Albert] has again loaded me with such beautiful things, amongst them his miniature, a large one, painted by Thorburn, - a 'chef d'oeuvre', and so like. My beloved Albert painted in armour, which I so much wished, - with a very dark blue background. I cannot say how beautiful it is, nor how it exactly portrays the dear original.', V. Remington, Victorian Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, London, 2010 II, p. 491 and 494. Two enamels signed and dated 1859 by Bell of Prince Albert after Thorburn and Queen Victoria after Winterhalter (see lot 106), mounted on a gold bracelet are in the Royal Collection, see V. Remington, op cit., I, no. 19.