A cleric, possibly Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London,
 by Henry Edridge, A. R. A., circa 1805.

The Right Reverend Beilby Porteus (1731-1809), Bishop of Chester, 1776-1787 and Bishop of London 1787-1809, served as chaplain to King George III for 40 years.  Porteus was the son of a native of the Virginia colony, who returned to England in 1720.   As a bishop, Porteus was a reformer and an early abolitionist, becoming a vocal supporter of William Wilberforce and Hannah More.  Porteus' celebrated library is housed at Fulham Palace. He was painted by Romney and Hoppner (Fulham Palace); Edridge exhibited a portrait of Porteus at the Royal Academy in 1806, now known only from stipple engravings, examples in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
 
The reverse of this miniature has a magnificent love token painted in sepia of a lady in a pastoral setting, leaning on a pearl encrusted column, gazing at a miniature.

 

2 15/16 inches (7.5 cm) high.
 
Henry Edridge, A.R.A. (1768-1821) apprenticed to engraver William Pether, before  training at the Royal Academy Schools.  During his lengthy career, Edridge exhibited 260 works at the Royal Academy, were he was elected an Associate in 1820.  A favorite of the Royal Family, there are portraits of George III and six of his children by Edridge in the Royal Collection.  Examples of his work may be seen in the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Victoria & Albert Museum.  Edridge's sketch books are in the collection of the British Museum.