King George IV

1 portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence

King George IV, by Johann Paul Georg Fischer; Sir Thomas Lawrence, before 1875, based on a work of 1815 -NPG 6295 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Regency Portraits Catalogue

King George IV

by Johann Paul Georg Fischer, after Sir Thomas Lawrence
before 1875, based on a work of 1815
3 in. x 2 1/2 in. (76 mm x 64 mm) oval
NPG 6295

Inscriptionback to top

Label on back of frame: Paul Fischer/181- (last numeral obscured).

This portraitback to top

The miniature is a glamourised copy of the head in Lawrence's whole-length portrait painted in 1814-15 for Lord Londonderry. Fischer was born in Hanover, came to England in 1810 and from 1817 lived in Pimlico. He doubtless saw Lawrence's portrait at the RA in 1815, or one of the many versions in Lawrence's studio. In spite of Moore's cut about Lawrence's Adonis, the portrait was popular among miniature copyists and many versions exist in both miniature and enamel by Bone, Doe, Essex, Raven and others; one by an unidentified artist was at Sotheby's 28 February 1972 (46). A fine enamel copy by Henry Bone was in the 'Queen Mary's Art Treasures' exhibition, V&A Museum 1954; others were at Sotheby's 8 December 1982 (254) dated 1814 and at Christie's 28 June 1966 (242 and 243) dated 1815 and 1821.

Physical descriptionback to top

Head and shoulders to left in field marshal's uniform, copied from Lawrence's 1815 whole-length at Wynyard Park (see NPG 2503).

Provenanceback to top

Paul Fischer (1865); Alan Evans bequest and lent by the National Gallery 1975.

Exhibitionsback to top

Possibly RA 1817 (781); possibly First Exhibition of National Portraits, South Kensington, 1865 (1436) lent by Paul Fischer; Burlington Fine Arts Club, Miniatures, 1889 (44) and Exhibition of the Royal House of Guelph, New Gallery, 1891 (986) lent by Jeffery Whitehead on both occasions.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, 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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