GERMAN SCHOOL, circa 1780/1783

Details

GERMAN SCHOOL, circa 1780/1783

Duchess Elisabeth-Wilhelmine of Württemberg, Archduchess of Austria, with high-piled powdered hair, wearing a low-cut pink dress trimmed with white ruched lace; oval -- 50 mm high, rectangular gold frame with canted corners engraved with scrolls and foliage.

Provenance

Formerly in the collection of Katharina Schratt (1855-1940), famous actress at the Wiener Burgtheater and friend of Emperor Francis Joseph I of Austria and his wife Sissi; her sale, Lucerne, Galerie Fischer, 21-25 November 1950, lot 593 (sitter unidentified).

Lot Essay

Elisabeth-Wilhelmine of Württemberg, born 1767, was married in 1788 to the future Emperor Francis I of Austria (see lots 118 and 229). She died in 1790 at the early age of twenty-three: The sight of Emperor Joseph II on his deathbed caused Elisabeth to faint and subsequently give premature birth to her daughter which resulted in her own death even before Joseph II.

More from Fine Portrait Miniatures

View All