The Old Pretender. Oil on Copper.

Although James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766) never succeeded in reclaiming the British throne, his legacy lived on through his son, Charles Edward Stuart, who led the more famous 1745 Jacobite Rising. The Old Pretender remains a symbol of the enduring conflict between the Stuarts and the new Protestant monarchy established by William and Mary.

Such miniatures were kept by his followers as keepsakes, and marks of their loyalty to the Catholic Succession.