Portrait miniature of Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York

Jacobite, Stuart, and Scottish Applied Arts | 429

Auction: 13 May 2015 at 12:00 BST

Estimate: £1,000 - £1,200

Description

watercolour on ivory in circular gilt brass frame

Dimensions

5.5cm (2.25in), diameter

Footnote

Note: This miniature depicts Henry in later life, with his clothing clearly demonstrating his on-going commitment to a long career in the Roman Catholic Church. Henry was the fourth and final Jacobite heir to claim the throne, though unlike his predecessors he made no explicit effort to actually seize the throne. Following the death of his brother, Charles Edward Stuart, in 1788 the Catholic church did not recognise him as ruler. A miniature such as this suggested the owner remained committed to the Jacobite cause, even as definitive action started to seem to belong in a distant past.