William Brown

This beautifully executed cameo by the celebrated English gem engraver William Brown represents the 9th-century French King Charles the Bald (Charles le Chauvre; 823-877). It follows an engraving of the same subject from Mezeray's Histoire de France depuis Faramond jusqu'au règne de Louis le Juste, Paris 1685 (cf the print in the British Museum, London, inv. no. 1874,0613.1699).

The present cameo belongs to a series of glyptics engraved by Brown which represent legendary Frankish and French monarchs. The majority of these were acquired by Catherine the Great of Russia and are today in the Hermitage, St Petersburg. The Hermitage gems compare closely with the present cameo and include portraits of: Merovech (inv. no. К-882); Childebert I (inv. no. К-890); Clovis III (inv. no. К-899); Chlothar I (inv. no. К-888) Childeric II (inv. no. К-903); Hugh Capet (inv. no. К-871); Philip I of France (inv. no. К-876); Louis IV of France (inv. no. К-884); Henry I of France (inv. no. К-891); Raoul Rudolph of France (inv. no. К-880); Louis V of France (inv. no. К-872); Lothair of France (inv. no. К-886); Robert II of France (inv. no. К-885); Louis VII of France (inv. no. К-873); Louis VIII of France (inv. no. К-879).

William Brown was a significant English gem engraver who exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1770 and 1830. His most important patron was Catherine the Great of Russia, but he also counted George Prince of Wales (later George IV) as one of his patrons. See the intaglio sold in these rooms on 10 December 2015, lot 433. William Brown worked with his brother Charles (1749-1795) first in Gloucester Street and then in Pall Mall from 1776. There is a trade-card for the brothers at 4 Pall Mall from 1781 in the British Museum (inv. no. D,2.2249).