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Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

3 of 85 portraits of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, by (Isaac) Robert Cruikshank; Henry Meyer, circa 1810 -NPG 2788 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

attributed to (Isaac) Robert Cruikshank, after Henry Meyer
circa 1810
6 1/4 in. x 5 in. (159 mm x 127 mm)
NPG 2788

This portraitback to top

The attribution of this slight drawing to Cruikshank rests solely on the circumstancial evidence of an otherwise inaccurate letter of 1870. [1] Copied from an engraving by Henry Meyer published on 1 December 1818, two weeks after the Queen’s death, [2] NPG 2788 omits the background detail. Meyer’s engraving, described as ‘from an original drawing’, shows a head related to that in Beechey’s whole length of 1796, although the eyes are averted and the ruff collar is of a later period; it certainly does not reflect the appearance of the Queen in her seventies.

Footnotesback to top

1) Formerly attached to the frame: On showing this portrait of Queen Caroline (Wife of George III IV) to George Cruikshank, in London, May 17, 1870, he informed me that he had little doubt that it was the production of his father, Isaac Cruikshank. [signed] W Beles.
2) European Mag., November 1818.

Physical descriptionback to top

A plumed lace scarf over her head.

Provenanceback to top

Presented by Godfrey Brennan 1935.

Exhibitionsback to top

Princes & Palaces, Orleans House, Twickenham, 1973-74 (40); A Royal Subject, National Gallery London, 1977 (17).


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, 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.

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