Lot 218: MICHAELO ALBANESI 1816-1878 PORTRAIT OF THE MEYRICK FAMILY

the family seated or standing in an interior with a view of Vesuvius through the window beyond, Lady Laura seated on the right with a young child, William Henry Meyrick wearing uniform of the 3rd Foot Guards in the centre with two girls by his side, three children around the piano on the left of the composition, rectangular, in a plaster moulded gilt frame decorated with a miniature of the family coat of arms (separate)

CATALOGUE NOTE

Michaelo Albanesi was born in Naples in 1816 and was considered one of the best Italian miniaturists of the nineteenth century.

The present miniature appears to date from circa 1845 when the Meyrick family were in Naples. Although it is not so typical of Michaelo Albanesi's larger miniature portraits, it does bear a resemblance in the neat and tight handling to his signed miniature of Amazone, preceded by her dog, followed by her two horsemen (S.Mandl Coll., Vienna; see Leo R.Schidlof, The Miniature in Europe, 1964, Vol III, fig.11, pl.7).

The arms on the miniature included with the present lot and once part of the frame are those of Colonel William Henry Meyrick, 3rd Foot Guards, who died on 20th February 1865. His arms impale those of his wife, Lady Laura Vane, whom he married on 24th February 1828. Lady Laura was the 4th daughter of William Henry, bt Duke of Cleveland, K.G., by his wife Lady Katharine Margaret Powlett, 2nd daughter and co-heir or Harry, 6th and last Duke of Bolton. She died on 28th November 1882

14 by 25 cm., 5 1/2 by 9 3/4 in.