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Born in Tübingen, Jeremiah Meyer (Majer) was brought to England by his father Wolfgang Dietrich Majer, where he studied enamel painting with Christian Friedrich Zincke in the years 1757–1758. Not long after he first received Royal patronage. In 1760 as an engagement present, King George III gave to Princess Charlotte of Mecklemburg-Strelitz an enamel profile portrait of himself by Meyer, contained in a diamond-set frame mounted on a pearl bracelet - this jewel may be seen in Johan Zoffany's portrait of the Queen painted in 1771 (Royal Collection, RCIN 405071). In 1768 he was a founding member of the Royal Academy, exhibiting at its annual exhibitions until 1783. With the passage of time many of Jeremiah Meyer's portrait miniatures on ivory have suffered from heavy fading; by contrast his enamels, such as the present example, are as fresh as the day they left his studio.
The sitter, Josiah Martin (1735–1786), born in Dublin, was a British army officer and colonial official who served from 1771 to 1776 as the ninth and last governor of North Carolina. He failed in his attempts to suppress the colonial revolt, finally quitting America in 1781, his health permanently damaged by fatigue. He died five years later in London and was buried in St George's Hanover Square.