Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

The Twinight Collection
Lot 17*

Jeremiah Meyer, RA
(British, 1735-1789)
Josiah Martin (1737–1786), wearing white coat with blue collar and lining, matching blue waistcoat, frilled white chemise and powdered wig worn en queue

4 July 2024, 12:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £5,312 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our European Ceramics specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Jeremiah Meyer, RA (British, 1735-1789)

Josiah Martin (1737–1786), wearing white coat with blue collar and lining, matching blue waistcoat, frilled white chemise and powdered wig worn en queue.
Enamel on copper, gold frame with blue and white enamel borders.
Oval, 35mm (1 3/8in) high

Provenance:
The Collection of the late Nigel Davis
Bonhams London, 20 May 2009, lot 23;
The Twinight Collection

Footnotes

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.

Additional information

Bid now on these items