King William III & Queen Mary II Mezzotint Portraits, Circa 1690

A pair of mezzotint portraits of King William III (1650–1702) & Queen Mary II (1662–1694) 
by John Simon (Anglo-French c.1675-1751)
after Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723) (William III)
and Jan van der Vaart (1647-1721) (Mary II)
Published by Edward Cooper (d. 1725),
Circa 1690
38.5 cm x 27.4 cm

Each half-length within an oval, William head turned to his left and glancing towards the viewer, wearing long wig with ringlets, lace cravat, ermine trimmed robes, the Garter Collar and Great George at his neck, tied with bows at the shoulder. Mary head turned slightly to her right, wearing baroque, drop-pearl earing, pearl necklace and hair adorned with pearls. Gown trimmed with lace and ermine and neck and shoulders adorned with jewels and ropes of pearls.

Lettered beneath the images:
William III
"Gulielmus DG Angl: Scot: Fran: & Hiber Rex &ct" 'G. Kneller Eques Pinxit" left "I. Simon fec." centre left "Cum Privilegio Regis." centre "Sold by E Cooper at the 3 Pidgeons in Bedford street." right
Mary II
"Maria D:G: Angl: Scot: Franc: / & Hiber: Regina. &ct." 'I Vandervaart Pinxit' left, 'J.Simon fecit secundum solam similem Originalem.' centre left, 'Cum Privilegio Regis' centre right, and 'Sold by E. Cooper at ye 3 / Pidgeons in Bedford Street' right. Scarce second state with Faithorne's original image retouched by Simon.

Edward Cooper received a fourteen year Royal Licence (or privilege) to publish his prints in 1686 (hence the publication line "Cum Privilegio Regis").

Provenance: 
Private Collection UK

For William III see BM 1888,0515.52

For another imprint of this very scarce portrait of Mary see BM P,7.129 where it is recorded that "This state, with Fairthorne's name replaced with Simon's but retaining the address of the publisher Edward Cooper, is not described by Chaloner Smith."