Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa, Princess Royal, later Empress Friedrich of Germany and Queen of...

Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa, Princess Royal, later Empress Friedrich of Germany and Queen of Prussia, 
British 1840-1901- 

Portrait of Princess Margaret of Prussia, wearing a black hat and a red jacket with a furred collar; 

oil on canvas, bears inscription 'Painting of Princess Margaret / by Her Mother Princess Royal of England and Empress Frederick of GERMANY' on the upper horizontal stretcher bar, 51.5 x 44.5 cm. 

Provenance: 
Acquired by Alexander Lamont Henderson (1838-1907), 'Photographic Enameller' to Queen Victoria; 
thence by descent to the present owner (the great grand-daughter of Alexander Lamont Henderson). 

Note: 
Princess Victoria was the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and was created Princess Royal in 1841. In 1857, she married Prince Frederick William of Prussia, when she was only seventeen. In 1888, when her husband succeeded to the throne, she became the Queen of Prussia, and after her husband's death in the same year, she became widely known as Empress Frederick. Princess Victoria was an accomplished artist. The UK's Royal Collection holds thirteen oil paintings by her, of which six are portraits. Two, in particular, share close similarities with the present work: 'Princess Victoria of Prussia (1866-1929) when a child', who is the older sister of the present subject [RCIN 406220] and 'Princess Marie of Edinburgh, later Queen of Roumania (1875-1938)', the artist's niece [RCIN 403997]. Other examples of her works are catalogued by Oliver Millar in his 'Victorian Paintings in the Collection of HM The Queen', 1992, nos 1069-1078 and 1096. Paintings by her however rarely come onto the market. 

Margaret of Prussia (1872-1954) was the youngest child of Frederick and Victoria. She was also the younger sister of Emperor Wilhelm II and the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She married Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse, the elected King of Finland, making her the would-be Queen of Finland had he not decided to renounce the throne on 14 December 1918. In 1926, they assumed the titles of Landgrave and Landgravine of Hesse. The couple had six sons and lost three in the First and Second World Wars.