Lot 43: GILES HUSSEY

GILES HUSSEY 1710-1788 PORTRAIT OF PRINCE CHARLES EDWARD STUART (1720-1788) head and shoulders, looking to the left, in armour, feigned oval pencil, pen and grey ink and grey wash, held in an English Rococo frame, mid 18 th Century 26 by 19.1 cm.; 10 1/4 by 7 1/2 in.

Lord Hartwell, M.B.E., T.D. (1911-2001);
His executors sale, Christie's London, 31 October 2002, lot 6

Giles Hussey was born in Dorset but received his early education in France. A devote Catholic, between 1733 and 1737 he lived in Rome and was closely connected to the Jacobite court. His contemporaries held him in the highest esteem, one describing him as the 'most celebrated master in drawing in Rome' (see J. Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800, 1997, p. 540).

The present drawing is one of a small series of known portraits of the 'Young Pretender' by Hussey. Here the Prince is depicted wearing highly polished armour and the Sash of the Order of the Garter. He is represented as an iconic, dashing and heroic figure whom Jacobite supporters could admire.

Lord Hartwell, a previous owner of this drawing, served as managing editor of the Financial Times between 1937 and 1939. He was awarded a life peerage in 1968.