Henry Pierce Bone

Henry Pierce Bone was taught the art of painting in enamel by his father, Henry Bone R.A. (1755–1834). He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1796 and exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Society of British Artists and British Institutions between 1799 and 1855. He held a number of positions at court, including being appointed enamel painter to the Queen, the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria in 1833, and to Prince Albert in 1841. The present enamel is dated to the following year and as well as referring to his new position at court, the inscription on the verso identifies the sitter as ‘Mrs Middleton’ and that he was copying a painting by Sir Peter Lely at Althorpe, the seat of the Earls Spencer.

The sitter was the daughter of Sir Robert Needham and his second wife Jane, née Cockayne. In 1600 she married the Welshman Charles Myddelton, son of Sir Thomas Myddleton of Chirk Castle and Kevenywerne, Ruabon, Denbighshire. A lady of great beauty and charm she received much attention at court and inspired the poets Edmund Waller and Saint-Evremond. John Evelyn described her as 'that famous and indeed incomparable beauty'. Both the King and the Duke of York attempted to take her as their mistress, but she resisted their advances. Only two of her would-be lovers appear to have had success, Ralph Montagu, later 1^st Duke of Montagu in the 1660s, and then Laurence Hyde, later 1^st Earl of Rochester.