This portrait was painted by Charles Boit around 1710 when he was already established as a prominent miniature painter in England and held the title of Court Enameller. His subject is Lady Anne Churchill (d.1716) daughter of the Duke of Marlborough and wife of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland. Boit was born in Sweden and lived in both Stockholm and Paris before arriving in England in 1687. In 1704 he was commissioned to make an ambitiously large enamel plaque commemorating the Battle of Blenheim, one that he would never complete despite being paid more than one advance on it. His debts in England eventually forced him to leave in 1714 for France, where he died in 1727.

In the 17th century, new techniques of painting enamels allowed delicate portraits resembling tiny oil paintings to be created. This enamel portraiture in miniature was a truly international art. Many enamellers travelled in order to find new markets, while others migrated to escape religious persecution. Enamel miniatures were first fashionable in continental Europe, but were particularly in vogue in Britain from the 1720s to 1760s.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world’s great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.