Prince Charles Edward Stuart, popularly known as 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', was the son of James Francis Edward Stuart and the grandson of the exiled King James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland (known as the 'Old Pretender'). After James's exile, the Jacobite cause aimed to return the Stuarts to the united thrones of England and Scotland.
Bonnie Prince Charlie was known as 'the Young Pretender' and is particularly remembered for his role in the 1745 Jacobite rising and his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, after which he escaped to France, so ending hopes for the return of the Catholic Stuart monarchy.
This small portrait in oil on wood by an anonymous French artist is derived from an engraving after a portrait by Louis Tocqué of 1748. It shows the Prince bust-length in armour after his defeat and return to France. The portrait is damaged and is in reverse to the engraving.
Credit: Bequeathed by Miss Julia Emily Gordon, 1896