LONDON.- Recognised as expert in important European sculpture, Tomasso Brothers Fine Art also specialises in Old Master paintings. At TEFAF 2015 the gallery unveils an exquisite pair of portrait miniatures by one of the most sought-after masters of the genre Jean-Etienne Liotard (1702-1789) depicting Princes Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788) and Henry Benedict Stuart (1725-1807), last in the lineage of Stuart Kings in Scotland and England. The asking price for these miniature masterpieces is £275,000.

One of the most romantic figures in British history, celebrated in folklore as Bonnie Prince Charlie, Prince Charles Edward Stuart the led the final Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 that was to end in defeat on the battle field of Culloden.

Born to French parents in Geneva, Jean-Etienne Liotard trained in Paris under the miniaturist and printmaker Jean-Baptiste Massé. While in Rome between 1736 and 1738, Liotard was commissioned by the exiled ‘Old Pretender’ James Edward Stuart (1688-1766) “the king across the water”, to paint portraits of his young sons Princes Charles and Henry. Powerfully compelling, imagery of the Stuart royal family was easily dispatched abroad as portraits miniatures, engravings and prints, to garner loyalty and raise funds for the Jacobite cause to re-claim the throne of England. These particular miniatures may have been part of a group of three Stuart portraits sent to Vienna to be seen by Empress Elizabeth, wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI.

The attribution of these portraits is confirmed by Professor Marcel Roethlisberger, author of the definitive monograph on Jean-Etienne Liotard; they are illustrated in his 2008 catalogue. In addition to the evidence that miniatures were sent to Empress Elizabeth in Vienna, a miniature of Prince Charles is recorded as having been sent to Dorotea, Dowager Duchess of Parma and mother of the Queen of Spain. Other miniatures of the Stuarts were sent to England and France.

These extraordinary works will be a highlight at Tomasso Brothers Fine Art, stand 165, TEFAF 2015, and will be offered for sale priced at £275,000. The fair, which is the world’s leading art and antiques event, takes place at the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre (MECC) from 13-22 March 2015.

Based at Bardon Hall, Leeds, Tomasso Brothers Fine Art was established in 1993 and opened their London gallery in St James’s in 2013. Dino and Raffaello are recognised internationally for specialising in important European sculpture from the early Renaissance to the Neoclassical periods with a particular knowledge of European Renaissance bronzes. They have promoted and supported, through loans and exhibitions, major international institutions and were one of the sponsors of the landmark show Bronze at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2012. Significant sales have been made to some of the world’s most prestigious museums, including the Bode Museum, Berlin; The Liechtenstein Collection, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Yale Center for British Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.