​CROSSE, LAWRENCE (1650?–1724), miniature-painter (erroneously called ‘Lewis’ by Walpole and others), had a high reputation as a limner in the reign of Queen Anne. He was a careful imitator, perhaps a pupil of Samuel Cooper (1609–1672) [q. v.] He signed his miniatures with his initials interlaced in gold, the monogram being very similar to that used by Sir Peter Lely, to whom some of Crosse's miniatures have in consequence been attributed. Crosse was extensively employed by royalty and the nobility, and his miniatures are to be met with in most of the great collections, notably the royal collection at Windsor and the collection of the Duke of ​Buccleuch; some from the latter were exhibited at the winter exhibition at Burlington House in 1879. He is stated to have been commissioned to repair a small portrait of Mary Queen of Scots in black velvet and ermine, in the possession of the Duke of Hamilton, with instructions to make it as beautiful as possible, and to have faithfully executed his commission, thus creating an entirely erroneous type of the features of that ill-fated queen. Crosse possessed a valuable collection of miniatures by the Olivers, Hoskins, Cooper, &c., which were sold at his residence, the ‘Blue Anchor’ in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, on 5 Dec. 1722. He died in October 1724, being, according to Vertue, who knew him, over seventy years of age.

L. C.