17th Century gold mounted portrait miniature of Louis XIV, attributed to Jean Petitot, Paris c.1670

36mm long x 25mm wide

Jean Petitot was born in 1607 in Geneva, of a Huguenot Burgundian family after they fled France. After his apprenticeship in Geneva he traveled to England with an introduction to Charles I’s court. After Charles’ execution he moved to Paris, where he executed many portraits of the king, his family, and the most-celebrated figures in the king’s entourage. He is described as the first “great” portrait miniaturist in enamel.

The quality of this miniature is truly remarkable, as one would expect. It has acquired some small scratches over the last 350 or so years, these can be easily restored but I have left them as is for now. It is very nice to see an original gold mounting

The largest collection of Petitot’s work is the Jones Bequest at the Victoria and Albert Museum. There are many in the Louvre, sixteen at Chantilly, and seventeen at Windsor. Petitot was collected by Earl Beauchamp, the Earl of Dartrey, the Duke of Rutland, the Duke of Richmond, Alfred de Rothschild, the Portland Collection and Baroness Burdett-Coutts

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