This jeweled bust of King George IV portrays him in the classical pose and tunic of Imperial Rome’s emperors. Elaborate jewelry adorning the king—a diamond-studded tunic with ruby neckline and an emerald fibula and pendant—testifies to the opulence of his reign. The bust was made by the London jewelry firm Rundell, Bridge, and Rundell, which served Britain’s royalty and the nobility, and was based on a marble bust by Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey. The royal family presented this bust to Sir Henry Halford, physician to George III, George IV, William IV, and the young future Queen Victoria.

The bust sits on a hexagonal plinth decorated in the Gothic style with an enameled coat of arms from the House of Hanover. A gold medallion mounted on the back commemorates George IV’s coronation on July 19, 1821.

This jeweled bust of King George IV portrays him in the classical pose and tunic of Imperial Rome’s emperors. Elaborate jewelry adorning the king—a diamond-studded tunic with a graduated, channel-set ruby neckline and an emerald fibula and pendant—testifies to the opulence of his reign.1 The bust was made by the London jewelry firm Rundell, Bridge, and Rundell, which served Britain’s royalty and the nobility, and was based on a marble bust by Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey, a sculptor of international renown.2 The royal family presented this bust to Sir Henry Halford, physician to George III, George IV, William IV, and the young, future queen Victoria.3

The bust sits on a hexagonal plinth decorated in the Gothic style and features an enameled coat of arms from the House of Hanover. A gold medallion mounted on the back by Benedetto Pistrucci commemorates George IV’s coronation on July 19, 1821.

Yvonne J. Markowitz, “Bust of George IV” in Artful Adornments: Jewelry from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston by Yvonne J. Markowitz (Boston: MFA Publications, 2011), 68.