<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Erdwin_Seyler" class="extiw" title="w:Ludwig Erdwin Seyler">Ludwig Erdwin Seyler</a> (1758–1836), merchant banker and politician from the city-republic of Hamburg. He was a son of the Swiss-born theatre director <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Seyler" class="extiw" title="w:Abel Seyler">Abel Seyler</a>. Following his mother's death in 1764 he grew up in Hanover with his uncle, the natural scientist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.G.R._Andreae" class="extiw" title="w:J.G.R. Andreae">J.G.R. Andreae</a>. Ludwig Seyler joined the Berenberg Company as an apprentice in 1775 and on 20 May 1788 he married Anna Henriette Gossler, the eldest child of the company's owners <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Hinrich_Gossler" class="extiw" title="w:Johann Hinrich Gossler">Johann Hinrich Gossler</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Berenberg" class="extiw" title="w:Elisabeth Berenberg">Elisabeth Berenberg</a>. Immediately after the marriage his father-in-law made him a partner in the bank, thereby continuing a tradition of passing the company on to sons-in-law. To reflect him joining the partnership the bank's name was changed to Joh. Berenberg, Gossler &amp; Co., a name that has remained unchanged since. Following his father-in-law's death in 1790, Seyler succeeded him as head of the firm, and served until his death in 1836, 61 years after he joined the firm and 48 years after he became a partner. His brother-in-law Johann Heinrich Gossler, 17 years his junior, joined him as a partner in 1798, and they jointly led the company, with L.E. Seyler as the more experienced partner. L.E. Seyler held many prominent public offices in Hamburg, especially during the Napoleonic era, when the Berenberg company's headquarters was moved to his own home. He was a Member of the Hamburg Parliament and President of the Commercial Deputation, one of the city-state's main political bodies, during the term 1817–1818; his brother-in-law became a Senator and his nephew later became head of state of the city-republic.
<bdi><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:19th-century_portrait_paintings_of_men,_artist_and_year_missing" title="Category:19th-century portrait paintings of men, artist and year missing">Unidentified painter</a>
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between circa 1810s and circa 1820s
This exact photograph is from the catalogue of <a href="https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blomqvist_Kunsthandel" class="extiw" title="no:Blomqvist Kunsthandel">Blomqvist</a>, Norway (2018). Unsigned painting, probably painted in the 1810s or 1820s, certainly before 1836. Provenance: Owned by his daughter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henriette_Wegner" class="extiw" title="w:Henriette Wegner">Henriette Seyler</a> and her descendants. It may have been given to her when she moved to Norway in 1824, or when her parents died in 1836, or at some point between those dates. Sold by Blomqvist art brokers in Norway along with the matching portrait of his wife, 2018. The portrait is also included in the book: Ingerid Hagen (2022). <i>Blåfargen fra Modum: storhetstiden: Blaafarveværket 1822–1848</i> (p. 317). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaafarvev%C3%A6rket#Museum_and_art_gallery" class="extiw" title="w:Blaafarveværket">Stiftelsen Modums Blaafarveværk</a>. <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9788290734584" class="internal mw-magiclink-isbn">ISBN 9788290734584</a>. Reproductions (black/white) have also been printed in various other works.