Lot 33: Studio of Jean Petitot (French, 1607-1691) Louis XIV of Bourbon (1638-1715), King of France (1643-1715), wearing white lace lawn collar and long natural wig

Louis XIV of Bourbon (1638-1715), King of France (1643-1715), wearing white lace lawn collar and long natural wig.
Enamel, gilt-metal frame.
Oval, 25mm (1in) high
Provenance: Sotheby's, 31 July 1958, lot 60, sold to S.H.R. Harris for £20

For identical examples by Petitot, see Graham Reynolds, The Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, 1999, p.234, pl.288. and p.236, pl.190.

Louis XIV, known as le Roi Soleil (the Sun King), was King of France and of Navarre. His reign, is the longest documented reign of any European monarch, lasting seventy-two years. For much of Louis' reign, France stood as the leading European power. Only one of Louis' six children survived to adulthood, the eldest known as le Grand Dauphin. Louis' mistresses were no secret and he had many illegitimate children, most of whom were married to members of cadet branches of the royal family. Louis proved more faithful to his second wife, whom he secretly married at the lavish Palace of Versailles in 1683. He was succeeded by his five year old great-grandson who became Louis XV.