3466

Prince Louis of Battenberg 1910

Half-length, wearing a cap and cape, the uniform of The Admiral of the Fleet

Oil on board, 90.2 x 69.9 cm (35 ½ x 27 ½ in.)

Indistinctly inscribed lower right: P. A. László / 1910 I London

Laib L16481 (789) / C2 (20A): Prince Louis of Battenberg (Lord Milford Haven)

NPG Album 1929-31, f. 18

Sitters’ Book I, f. 86: Louis Battenberg / Vice Admiral [among signatures of five other members of the Battenberg family and inscribed by the artist: 909 April 25 / in my studio / London]

Private Collection

De László painted the sitter in 1909 [3464], for which there also exists a preparatory drawing [3295], and in 1910 [3469]. He also painted numerous portraits of other members of the Mountbatten family.

There exists a copy of this portrait, which hangs in the Court Room at Trinity House, Tower Hill in London, which was painted by J. Cope and presented by the sitter’s son, Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was an Elder Brother of the Corporation of Trinity House from 1946.

LITERATURE:

•The Illustrated London News, Supplement: 21 February, 1959 (no page no.)

•Duff, David, Hessian Tapestry, Frederick Muller Ltd., London, 1967, pp. 288-289, ill. opp. p. 289

•Terraine, John, The Life and Times of Lord Mountbatten, London 1968, ill. between pp. 54-55

•Hough, Richard, Louis & Victoria: The First Mountbattens, London 1974, ill. front cover and facing frontispiece, title page

•Dictionary of British Portraiture, Vol. III, 1981, p. 142

KF 2016