An old German inscription on the backing paper of the frame indicates the provenance and suggests that the miniature may come from the Ott or Muralt family.
Signed miniatures by von Muralt, an officer from Zurich who excelled as an amateur miniaturist and musician, are extremely rare. One, of 1790, was sold Sothebys, Geneva, 11 November 1981, lot 282, and one of 1797 is illustrated in J.-C. Genoud (ed.), 100 ans de miniatures suisses 1780-1880, Geneva, 1999, p. 96 fig. 130.