Based on Kneller’s 1688 painting, this image presents the infant James swathed in regal ermine with the closed crown of a royal prince above his head. Mezzotint (then a relatively new printmaking technique) produces deep, velvety black tones, and is used here to create a sense of richly textured opulence. The print is not dated, but it was made before the Stuarts went into exile and remained widely available in Britain in the following years. Although Kneller was not a Jacobite, we cannot make assumptions about the loyalties of the printmaker. One of the most highly-regarded and successful of English engravers, Smith later travelled to France to copy Largillière’s double portrait of the prince and his sister, but he also produced portraits of the rival dynasty back in England.