Antique French Grand Tour Miniature Portrait of Queen Louise of Prussia, Gutta Percha Frame

Instantly recognizable as Queen Louise of Prussia (1776-1810), this mid-1800s tourist souvenir portrait, painted in miniature after the full sized original by Gustav Richter (1823-1884). A very popular portrait of her, this painting is often copied as a souvenir, 19th century, and also a painted KPM porcelain by Wagner exists of the same pose, all from the original painting. Ours is hand painted in miniature on a thin wafer, gouache, and housed in a c.1850-60  gutta percha frame which is, itself, a valuable antique. As I've often written about, there are basically 2 types of portrait miniatures, the more important being individual one of a kind paintings of living individuals in their time. The second are these little paintings done for Grand Tour tourist souvenir trade. Interestingly, this painting is framed in a mat with convex cover glass, then is further framed within the old gutta percha frame (visible in our images).  You will want to learn more about Queen Louis of Prussia, and