Bonhams 1793 : French School, circa 1715 A Boy, possibly Francis I, Duke of Lorraine (1708-1765), wearing red hunting dress embroidered with gold over white lace-trimmed chemise, brown boots, a blue cloak passed around his shoulders and caught at the waist, holding a cap trimmed with red, white and blue plumes in his right hand, a bow in his left hand, a quiver of arrows on his back

A Boy, possibly Francis I, Duke of Lorraine (1708-1765), wearing red hunting dress embroidered with gold over white lace-trimmed chemise, brown boots, a blue cloak passed around his shoulders and caught at the waist, holding a cap trimmed with red, white and blue plumes in his right hand, a bow in his left hand, a quiver of arrows on his back.
Watercolour on vellum, elaborate gilt-metal frame surmounted by double-headed eagle and crown.
Rectangular, 136mm (5 3/8in) high
Provenance: Bonhams, 28 April 1999, lot 188

Sold for £5,400 inc. premium

Footnotes

The tricolore, apparent in this portrait, suggests that the sitter is of French origin, whilst the double-headed eagle indicates that he is a member of the Austrian Hapsburg dynasty. A possible candidate would therefore be Francis, the son of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine, and Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess of Orleans, who married Empress Maria Theresa in 1736 and thus became the father of the ill-fated French queen, Marie Antoinette. Francis was himself the Duke of Lorraine between 1729 and 1735, Grand Duke of Tuscany between 1735 and 1745 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1745 until his death twenty years later.

Category: Fine Art / Portrait Miniatures

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