Caroline Wilhelmina of Brandenburg-Ansbach

This portraitback to top

Like the companion portrait of her husband, NPG 369 is but an average version of the coronation portrait by Jervas. The originals are not certainly located although a better version of Caroline, framed as a pair with George II, [1] was seen in the Amherst sale, Sotheby's, 29 January 1964, lot 9, as by Lawrence. Among several versions, a pair is at the Guildhall and a portrait of the Queen inscribed and dated 1728, is at Rokeby. Her dress, in keeping with Hervey's waspish reminiscence of the coronation, is described 'as fine as the accumulated riches of the City and suburbs could make it; for besides her own jewels (which were a great number and very valuable) she had on her head and on her shoulders all the pearls she could borrow of the ladies of quality at one end of the town, and on her petticoat all the diamonds she could hire of the Jews and jewellers at the other ...’. [2]

Footnotesback to top

1) Lot 10 of the sale, catalogued as Ramsay though of the Shackleton type, face mask, reversed; very close to NPG 670 by Hudson (see George II).
2) Some Materials Towards Memoirs of the Reign of King George II by John, Lord Hervey, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1931, I, p 66.

Physical descriptionback to top

Fair hair dressed with diamonds, blue eyes, pale grey eyebrows, fresh complexion; grey half-sleeved dress with gold and red flower pattern, dark blue robe of state with pearls looped at shoulders, black diamond motif down front of bodice and skirt, long corded girdle loosely knotted at waist; behind her a pillar, right, and, left, a table with crown on which she rests her right hand; yellow stone floor.

Conservationback to top

The chest over-cleaned in the past; an old horizontal damage in the floor, bottom left, about 4 ½ in. above the stretcher bar; cleaned and re-varnished, 1957.

Provenanceback to top

See George II, NPG 368, Provenance.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Kerslake, Early Georgian Portraits, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1977, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.

View all known portraits for Caroline Wilhelmina of Brandenburg-Ansbach