Although portrait miniatures painted in watercolor on vellum or ivory are more commonly found today, those painted in enamel were also popular from the 17th through the 19th centuries. The technique was difficult and exacting but resulted in a brilliantly-colored likeness which would never fade.

Henry Pierce Bone was one of the most accomplished enamellists in 19th-century England. He eventually became enamel painter to Queen Victoria. Bone´s work for the Royal family possibly led to the commission for this impressive portrait of Frederick VI (1769—1829), Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. Frederick, an officer in the Austrian Army, served during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. Late in life he married Elizabeth, the third daughter of King George III.