Lot 18: Charles Rosenberg (British, 1745-1844)

A silhouette of George IV (1762-1830), when Prince Regent (1811-20), profile to the left, wearing the uniform of the 10th Light Dragoons (Hussars), scarlet jacket with gold frogging, fur-trimmed pelisse with gold frogging, white breeches, brown boots, sash and breast star of the Order of the Garter, busby with red bag and white plume, red sabretache embroidered with royal insignia and light cavalry sabre at his side, he sits astride his horse on leopard skin saddlecloth and red shabraque embroidered with royal insignia, a seafront of houses and boats in the background
painted on flat glass in colour against a watercolour background, verre églomisé border titled H.R.H. THE PRINCE REGENT, gilded wood frame with acanthus and bead borders, the reverse with trimmed trade label no.9
Rectangular, 317mm. (12 1/2ins.) high

The present lot is a rare and ambitious example of Rosenberg's full-length work. Although other examples are known where he used gold and occasionally a little colour to delineate the details of 'constitutional trappings', the present lot is painted in so many colours and shades of grey that it almost ceases to be a silhouette in the usual sense. No doubt the flamboyant Prince Regent would have been delighted to have been portrayed in such a grandiose manner, so different from Rosenberg's profiles of his father King George III. The detailed watercolour background is also unusual for Rosenberg. Whilst it has not been possible to identify the seafront with any certainty, one might surmise it to be Brighton where the Prince Regent spent so much of his time.

Lot Notice:
The background shows the Marine Pavilion at Brighton. It is depicted after its first modification, executed circa 1801-2, based on designs by Henry Holland. A drawing of the Pavilion by Holland is illustrated in Patrick Conner, Oriental Architecture in the West, London, 1979, p 108, fig 68.