Henry (1594-1612) was the eldest son of James I and brother of the future Charles I. In his teens he proved a great patron of the arts, forming the first Royal collection of art and launching important artists including architect Inigo Jones. He was regarded by many as embodying national hopes for a new age in English art and politics. The country was plunged into grief upon his death from typhoid fever at the age of only 18.

In the 17th century, new techniques of painting enamels allowed delicate portraits resembling tiny oil paintings to be created. These enamel miniatures were first fashionable in continental Europe, but were particularly in vogue in Britain from the 1720s to 1760s. Henry Bone (1755-1834) was a successful enameller in England. As a boy, he worked in William Cookworthy’s porcelain factory in Plymouth. It was there that he was introduced to the art of enamel painting. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1781 and became a Royal Academician in 1811. Many of his enamel portraits are copies of older full-scale paintings, including a series depicting prominent men and women from the Elizabethan period. His sons, Henry Pierce Bone (1779-1855) and William Bone Senior (active 1810-43), followed in his footsteps and became enamellers. Like his father, Henry Pierce Bone made enamel copies of paintings of historical figures.

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.