Queen Charlotte is here shown wearing a fashionably laced silk dress under a black shawl, her pearl bracelets matched by a pearl necklace, earrings and the pearls that dress her hair. The pearl bracelets had been given to her by the King. The clasp of the bracelet on her right wrist is decorated with his miniature portrait by Jeremiah Meyer. Rich textiles surround her, the mauve drapery behind her head complementing the blue shades of her dress. The portrait was recorded on display in the Queen’s Gallery at Kensington c.1785-90.

The flowers beside the Queen remind the viewer of her interest in botanic studies. Her pleasure in fresh flowers was recorded by Mrs Philip Lybbe Powys (born Caroline Girle) in 1767 after a visit to the Queen’s Apartments at Buckingham House: ‘tho’ but in March, every room was full of roses, carnations hyacinths &c.’. The jewellery in the Queen’s wedding gift had been admired by Elizabeth Percy, Countess (later Duchess) of Northumberland, including ‘amazing number of Pearls of a most beautiful Colour & prodigious Size’. Zoffany’s skill at painting details and textures precisely is exemplified here by the still life of flowers and the sumptuousness of the Queen’s dress with triple lace ruffs at the sleeves and lace on the dress meticulously depicted. Lace was one of the most expensive items in the royal wardrobe. The richly decorated (and carefully delineated) table and chair, probably of French manufacture, contrast markedly with the more sober and robust pieces in the King’s portrait. In both cases it is likely that Zoffany has recorded actual pieces, but none of them appears to have survived.

The German artist Johan Zoffany arrived in London in 1760 and soon established a reputation for informal conversation pieces in which accurate and lively portraits were set in surroundings showing the sitters’ taste and circumstances. John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, commissioned portraits of his children from Zoffany c.1763-4 and probably introduced the artist to the King and Queen. The King nominated Zoffany to the new Royal Academy in 1769. He remained in favour for a further ten years, but after the unfavourable reception of The Tribuna was supplanted by other, younger artists.

Catalogue entry adapted from George III & Queen Charlotte: Patronage, Collecting and Court Taste, London, 2004