CHARLES ROBERTSON (IRISH 1760-1821) Portrait miniature of an unknown Officer to the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards, circa 1780 wearing a red uniform with blue facings, gold epaulettes and buttons embossed 22 Watercolour on ivory Gold frame, the reverse with gold monogram JB on blue glass, surmounted with pearls in star formation, within plaited hair border Oval, 70 mm (3 in) high Exhibited: Comerford Collection at the Irish Architectural Archives, Dublin, 2009 Literature: Paul Caffrey, John Comerford and the Portrait Miniature in Ireland c 1620-1850, Kilkenny Archaeological Society, 1999, p. 27, Number 39, illustrated in colour p. 36; The Comerford Collection: Portrait Miniatures, (privately published, Dublin, 2009) pp 8, 33 (# 117) The regiment was formed in 1788 by the union of the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards and 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. It fought in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo. The monogram on the reverse suggests that the sitter might be either Felix Buckley, Lt. Col. in the 2nd Life Guards from 18 November 1790, or John Henry Bates, Adjutant and Lieutenant 8 April 1766. He was probably a former ranker, given that he held this appointment in the regiment for more than 30 years.