Ferdinand of Orleans, Duc de Chartres,
later Prince Royal of France
 by Jean-Baptiste-Jacques Augustin,
signed & dated 1815.

Ferdinand-Philippe-Louis of Orleans (1810-1842) was the eldest son of future King of France, Louis-Philippe and his wife, Marie-Amelie, Princess of Naples.  An officer and leader of exceptional talent and promise, the Prince died tragically in a carriage accident.  His parents built a memorial chapel in Sablonville on the spot where he was thrown from the coach which may still be seen today.

Set in the original gilt-bronze frame with palmette and lotus border, anthemion spandrels, the reverse inscribed with the initials MA (for the sitter's mother, Marie-Amelie) surmounted by the royal French crown and with inventory number 633.  The miniature is signed obverse lower left, Augustin/1815.

3 3/4 inches (9.5 cm) high.

Jean-Baptiste-Jacques Augustin (1759-1832) was, with Isabey, "the two greatest French miniaturists of the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century."  Such was Augustin's importance that he moved seamlessly from Official Painter of the Imperial Court of Napoleon to Painter in Ordinary of the Cabinet of Louis XVIII.  In 1821 Augustin was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. 

Provenance:              By descent
                                        Private collection, Paris
                                        Christie's London, 15 October, 1996, lot 157
                                        Private collection, New York