Charles Jervas (c. 1675-1739)
Queen Caroline (1683-1737) with her Son Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721-1765) c.1728
Oil on canvas | 233.7 x 166.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 402595
Private Dining Room, Hampton Court Palace
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Jervas was an Irish pupil of Kneller who succeeded him as Principal Painter to the King in 1723, but had very little encouragement in the role. This image was produced in Jervas’s studio in c. 1727 created out of two separate portraits. The original (single) portraits of the Queen and the Duke of Cumberland are known in several versions. The Queen here appears in robes of State resting her right hand on the shoulder of her son who stands beside her in robes of the Bath, with his coronet in his right hand in front of a table on which is his mother's crown. Such a powerful dynastic image of a younger son is rare indeed and may allude to George II's plan to split his realms upon his death, giving Hanover to his eldest son, Frederick, and Britain to his younger favourite, William.
Provenance
Presented to George IV by John Carpenter, 4th Earl of Tyrconnel (1791-1853) in 1812; recorded in store at Carlton House in 1816 (no 240) and 1819 (no 354); in the Queen's Private Chamber at Hampton Court in 1861 (no 770)
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
233.7 x 166.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Caroline of Ansbach (1683-1737) with her son Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721-65)
