Lot 128Y
24 May 2006, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £2,160 inc. premium
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Find your local specialistRussian School (late 18th Century)
Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (1729-1796), wearing white jewel-encrusted dress under scarlet robe embroidered with gold sunburst design, a gold diadem set with pearls and laurel leaf with translucent veil hanging from her powdered hair.
Rectangular shaped and gilded composition frame with Russian imperial coat-of-arms surmount, the reverse with label inscribed, Tuileries/ 1870/ Napoleon/ III.
Oval, 75mm. (2 15/16ins.) high
Provenance: Obtained from the Tuileries after the siege of Paris, 1870/71 by James Burnley and thence by descent
Rectangular shaped and gilded composition frame with Russian imperial coat-of-arms surmount, the reverse with label inscribed, Tuileries/ 1870/ Napoleon/ III.
Oval, 75mm. (2 15/16ins.) high
Provenance: Obtained from the Tuileries after the siege of Paris, 1870/71 by James Burnley and thence by descent
Footnotes
The present lot is typical of the type of diplomatic miniature distributed by Catherine. This example was presumably sent to the French Royal family and found a home in the Tuileries, Paris until its removal in May 1871.
This portrait is based on a version by Heinrich Friedrich Füger (1751-1818). Füger painted several important Russian portraits, including Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailowitch and Catherine Ivanowna Vadkovsky.