Princess Louisa Frederika von Hohenzollern married Prince Radziwill in 1796. The Radziwill were one of the oldest Polish families; in 1518 they were given the title of Princes of the Holy Empire. Anton Heinrich von Radziwill (1775-1833) was a diplomat, who later became Lieutenant of the King of Prussia and Governor of the Great Duchy of Posen. He was also a remarkable musician.

The present pastel along with the two following lots were drawn in Berlin in 1801 in preparation for the portraits later painted in Paris: 'Je devais plus tard copier tous ces pastels à l'huile, ce que j'ai fait aussitôt mon arrivée à Paris', E. Vigée-Le-Brun, Souvenirs, Paris 1837, III, p. 110. The final painted version signed and dated 1802 was at one time in the National Museum in Warsaw, J. Mycielski and S. Wasylewski, Portrety polskie Elzbiety Vigée-Le Brun, Lvor, 1928, no. 21, illustrated facing p. 92. This portrait was later sold by the Radziwill family in these Rooms, 26 May 1978, lot 175. Another pastel drawn by the artist of Princess Angélique Aniele Radziwill later Princess Czartoryska is in the Petit Palais, Paris, the final painted version of which is in the National Museum, Warsaw.

Joseph Baillo confirms, on the basis of a colour transparency, the attribution of the present pastel. He intends to include it in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné