Admiral George Churchill (1654-1710)

An oval head-and-shoulders miniature of Admiral George Churchill, to the sitter's left but with the head turned to face the viewer, in an oval gilt metal suspension frame with a label scroll below reading 'ADMIRAL CHURCHILL. / BY BOIT.' It is also signed on the reverse; 'C. Boit pinxt.' The miniature is executed in enamel on ceramic and shows Churchill in a full-bottomed wig and purple coat, with a white neck cloth. Churchill was the younger brother of John Churchill, Ist Duke of Marlborough, though, (unlike him), a Tory in his politics rather than a Whig. He had an active junior career as a lieutenant and captain, and in 1688 made an astute move in becoming leader of the first major naval defection to support the 'Glorious Revolution' that put William of Orange on the throne as William III, in place of his father-in-law James II. He fought at the resultant battles of Beachy Head and Barfleur, against James's attempts to regain his crown with French help, and in 1699-1702 was a commissioner of the Admiralty, though promoted to rear-admiral only in 1701. His influence as a naval adviser thereafter remained great until the death in 1708 of Queen Anne's husband and Lord Admiral, Prince George of Denmark. Churchill never commanded a fleet at sea but was notorious for considerably enriching himself from emoluments of office. Boit (1662-1727), the artist, was born in Stockholm of French parentage and became a master of the largely French art of enamel painting, which he pioneered in England from 1687. Here he became a protege of Dahl and copied some of his and Kneller's portraits in enamel, as well as doing miniatures in it from life. He worked in the Netherlands, Germany and Vienna from 1699 to 1703, then again in England until 1714, but spent his last years in Paris. Charles Boit