Details
ZAHAROFF, BASIL (1850-1936). Photograph inscribed and signed on verso ("Basil Zaharoff"), by Numa Blanc Fils, Monte-Carlo, n.d. [circa 1919]. 265 x 178 mm. (10½ x 7 in.) including mount, 3 small tape-stains on edges of mount. A full-length seated portrait, signed on mount and inscribed on verso: "A Daniel son ... Zaharoff 1919." Very rare.
"Known as 'the mystery man of Europe,' this munitions manufacturer was accused of fomenting warfare and being a cause of World War I. He was so fearful for his life that until a very old age he did not allow himself to be photographed; this hitherto unknown photograph may be the only existing one of him at an earlier age"--W.M.
"Known as 'the mystery man of Europe,' this munitions manufacturer was accused of fomenting warfare and being a cause of World War I. He was so fearful for his life that until a very old age he did not allow himself to be photographed; this hitherto unknown photograph may be the only existing one of him at an earlier age"--W.M.
Provenance
The Cornelius Greenway Collection (sale, Part II, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 4 May 1971, lot 9).