<p>Lot 205: Signed "Eriksen", 128 x 89 mm, circa 176290th Auction: Important Watches, Clocks &amp; Snuff-Boxesby Auktionen Dr. Crott
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Description: A very fine and rare miniature on ivory "Catherine the Great in Uniform on Horseback" Watercolour on ivory, under glass and in a frame decorated with tortoiseshell and gold and mother-of-pearl inlay. Portrait of the young Grand Duchess Catherine on horseback: she sits proudly on a brocade saddle upon a white horse. She turns to the right; her hair is loosely gathered at the nape of her neck and she wears a tricorn hat and a red officer's uniform with a green sash. She holds a raised sword in her hand. In the background is a hilly landscape with shrubs and trees. In the lower right corner is the signature "Eriksen". The original portrait by Eriksen was painted in 1762 and shows Catherine the Great on her horse Brilliante before the monastery of St. Sergej. Next to her stands vice chancellor Prince Golitsyn holding the documents of her accession.Princess Dashkova recalls in her memoirs how the empress borrowed a uniform of the Preobrazhensky Regiment from Captain Talyzin. A larger version of this portrait is in the Russian Museum in Leningrad. As with most of Catherine's manoeuvers, the portrait performs multiple functions: it establishes her as a commanding figure worthy of the crown, indicates her planned style of rule, signals her support for the military, and distances her from the disastrous policies of Peter III-all while hinting at her intent to lead Russia by the principles of Enlightenment.
after Eriksen
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