No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more

A PAIR OF AUSTRIAN REVERSE-PAINTED GLASS PORTRAITS OF MARIE THERESE AND FRANZ I STEPHAN OF AUSTRIA

CIRCA 1777

Details

A PAIR OF AUSTRIAN REVERSE-PAINTED GLASS PORTRAITS OF MARIE THERESE AND FRANZ I STEPHAN OF AUSTRIA
CIRCA 1777
One inscribed to the reverse Marie-Therèse Impératrice d'Autriche mere de Marie-Antoinette, Reine de France, the other inscribed Francois 1er Empereur d'Autriche pere de Marie-Antoinette Reine de France épouse Louis XVI, and labelled D...D ex dono CAESARIS LE DUC, Presbyteris, nec non Syn- dici Communitatis Santi Se bastiani, anno 1777, in apparently contemporary giltwood frames
Each 12½ in. (32 cm.) high; 9½ in. (24 cm.) wide (2)

Provenance

Apparently given by Caesaris le Duc in 1777 to the Community of Saint-Sebastian. Acquired from Röbbig, Munich.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Maria Theresa (1717-1780) was the eldest daughter of Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel and Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, and succeded to the throne of Austria as a result of the death in infancy of her only brother. She married Francis I, Duke of Lorraine (1708-1765) in 1736 and in the following year Francis became the Grand Duke of Tuscany on the death of the last Medici Duke. However, Maria Theresa's position was disputed, sparking the War of Austrian Succession in 1740 and the throne was subsequently claimed by Charles VII. When Charles died in 1745 Maria Theresa re-claimed the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire for her husband, though she continued as de facto ruler of the Empire, establishing herself as a key figure in the politics of Europe in the 18th century.
Among her sixteen children, her youngest daughter Maria-Antonia (b.1755) married Louis XVI of France and became better known as Marie-Antoinette.

More from A Rococo Fantasy Treasures from a Bavarian Collection

View All