<p>Russian School, second half 18th Century
A PORTRAIT OF EMPRESS CATHERINE THE GREAT (1729-1796), BUST LENGTH, WEARING A BLUE DRESS WITH AN ERMINE-LINED CLOAK; A PORTRAIT OF HER GRANDCHILD, GRAND DUKE ALEXANDER PAVLOVICH (1777-1825), FULL LENGTH, SITTING ON A PILLOW, HOLDING A RATTLE
Estimate  3,000 — 4,000  EUR
LOT SOLD. 66,250 EUR (Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium)
</p><p>CATALOGUE NOTE
Catherine II, the Great (1729 - 1796) born in Stettin as Sophie Auguste Friederike Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, crowned Empress in 1762. She is wearing the sash of the order of St. Andrew. The child is her grandchild Grand Duke  Alexander Pavlovich (1777 - 1825), son of Grand Duke Paul, the later Emperor Paul I, and his wife Princess Sophie-Dorothea of Württemberg. The child also wears the sash of the order of St. Andrew.
This portrait of Catherine the Great can be compared to a portrait after Vigilius Eriksen, see Sotheby's London The Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Collection, London 18 &amp; 19 September 2007, lot 34.
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These two portraits have been in the family since many generations and were the property of the late Countess Nina Stauffenberg, now removed from her house in Bamberg. It is possible that these paintings were originally the property of Otto Christian Freiherr von Stackelberg (1735 - 1792), born in Tallin, Estland, Russian Imperial Chamberlain and Major of the Imperial army. He was married to Anna Gertruda von Dücker (1750 - 1820), a wealthy heiress and great art lover and collector. Their great-great-granddaughter Anna Freiin von Stackelberg (1880 - 1945) married in Warsaw in 1907  Gustav Freiherr von Lerchenfeld (1871 - 1944). Their daughter Nina Freiin von Lerchenfeld (1913 - 2006) was married in Bamberg in 1933 to Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907 - 1944).
<table cellspacing="8" cellpadding="0" style="width:100%; clear:both; margin:0.5em auto; border:1px solid #aaa; background:#FAEBD7;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Young_painter_by_Ivan_Firsov_(1760s).jpg" class="image"><img alt="Young painter by Ivan Firsov (1760s).jpg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Young_painter_by_Ivan_Firsov_%281760s%29.jpg/40px-Young_painter_by_Ivan_Firsov_%281760s%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="40" height="50" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Young_painter_by_Ivan_Firsov_%281760s%29.jpg/60px-Young_painter_by_Ivan_Firsov_%281760s%29.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Young_painter_by_Ivan_Firsov_%281760s%29.jpg/80px-Young_painter_by_Ivan_Firsov_%281760s%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="729" data-file-height="914"></a>
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<td>Anonymous Russian painter <i>(1670s-1917)</i>
<p><small>Public domain image <i>(according to <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-RusEmpire" title="Template:PD-RusEmpire">PD-RusEmpire</a>)</i></small>
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second half 18th Century
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