Lot 220: GILES HUSSEY (BRITISH, 1710-1788)

GILES HUSSEY (BRITISH, 1710-1788)
Portrait of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788) 'The Young Pretender', small half-length, in profile to sinister, in armour and a sash, in a feigned oval
inscribed 'Prince Charles/called The Pretender/drawn by Hussey/From the collection of Matw. Smith Esq./Lt. Govr of the Tower' (on an old label attached to the reverse)
pencil on vellum
5¼ x 3¾ in. (13.3 x 9.5 cm.)
In an early 19th Century carved and gilded frame

Matthew Smith, Lt. Gov. of the Tower (by repute of the label).
Lord Arundell, Old Wardour Castle, Wiltshire.
Purchased by Roger Warner at Woolley and Wallis' house sale in September 1952.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
This drawing relates to a series of portraits of 'The Young Pretender' executed by Hussey while he was in Rome between 1733 and 1737, during which time he was possibly acting as private secretary, to the Prince, he certainly mixed in Jacobite circles (see J. Ingamells A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800, London, 1997, p. 540).

Other versions of the drawing, which show the Prince in an embroidered coat and sash include a drawing formerly in the Ilchester Collection at Holland House, London, one in the collection of the Duke of Atholl, Blair Castle, one formerly in the collection of Lord Montague at Cowdray Park and another from the collection of the late Lord Hartwell, M.B.E., T.D., sold Christie's Edinburgh, 31 October 2002, lot 6.
The present drawing, formerly in the collection of Lord Arundell of Wardour Castle, depicting the Prince in armour, may date towards the end of Hussey's stay in Italy as the Prince is presented as an heroic figure, the focus of the Stuart cause. These depictions were perhaps intended as iconic images of the exiled leader for his Jacobite supporters in Britain.