Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine miniature portrait of a Coldstream Guards Officer.
A well executed early 19th Century miniature portrait of Ensign H. F. Griffiths, Coldstream Guards, the subject shown in full dress uniform, oil on ivory, mounted in a gold frame in the form of a circular brooch with serpent surround, with glazed front, the hinged backplate engraved ‘Henry F Griffiths’, 34mm in diameter, extremely fine condition £400-£500

Provenance: From the recently disbursed collection of family portrait miniatures of the Griffiths-Williams family of Llwynyworwood, west Wales.

Henry Frederick Griffiths was commissioned Ensign in the Coldstream Guards on 25 January 1814, and was severely wounded at the Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815. Advanced Lieutenant, he later died at the Tower of London on 19 January 1821, whilst still in service, apparently as a result of his wounds, and is commemorated on a memorial tablet in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London.

Sold with a copy of the Book ‘A Royal Home in Wales’ by Mark Baker, 2008, in which the miniature is illustrated. The Griffiths-Williams family reached their zenith in 1815 when a baronetcy was conferred upon them, but later fell into financial decline, and the estate is now the property of the Duchy of Cornwall.