Live Auction 7397British Art on Paper
Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A. (1803-1878)

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Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A. (1803-1878)
Study for a portrait of Queen Victoria out riding, accompanied by Lords Melbourne and Conyngham (illustrated); and Study of the head of Queen Victoria
one with inscription 'The Queen' (lower right) and with a further inscription as title, one with inscription 'is most ...' (upper centre) and with a further inscription 'Portrait of Queen Victoria' (lower centre)
pen and brown ink and brown wash, one on music staves, unframed
11 x 9 in. (28 x 22.8 cm.); and 3 1/8 x 3 in. (8 x 7.6 cm.) (2)

Specialist note

The finished oil to which this sketch relates, Queen Victoria riding out, is in the Royal Collection (O. Millar, The Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen: The Victorian Pictures, Cambridge University Press, 1992, I, p. 83, no. 270, and II, pl. 216). Sittings for this portrait of the Queen with Lord Melbourne, Lord Conyngham and other members of the Household took place throughout 1839. Although Victoria recorded her delight in the preliminary likenesses that Grant took, her judgement on the finished product was somewhat more severe. It seems that she preferred the spontaneity of Grant's early ideas and sketches.

A similar sketch, this time showing the Queen and her horse alone, is in the Royal Collection.