NICOLAS-FRANÇOIS DUN (FRENCH, 1764-1832)

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Details

NICOLAS-FRANÇOIS DUN (FRENCH, 1764-1832)
Ferdinand IV (1751-1825), King of Naples and the Two-Sicilies 1759-1825, in blue coat with red collar, wearing the breast-star of the Royal Neapolitan Order of St Januarius, the red badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece and other orders
signed 'Dun' (mid-right)
on ivory
oval, 2 1/8 in. (53 mm.) high, silver frame, the border engraved 'Fernando IV Rey de Napoles a la S^r^a Doña Josefa Ceballos y Alvarez de Faria Marquesa de Espeja', coronet surmount, mother-of-pearl reverse

Provenance

According to the inscription on the frame, given by the sitter to Doña Josefa Alvarez Cevallos and Faria, daughter of Don Pedro Cevallos, minister of Carlos IV and Fernando VII, and later ambassador to Naples and Vienna. She was the wife of Don Luis Alvarado (b. 1783), a distinguished solider in the War of Independence for which he was awarded the Cross of San Fernando.
Blas Pérez Collection, in 1953.
Robert D. Brewster (1916-1995) Collection, New York; Sotheby's, Geneva, 15 November 1995, lot 280.

Literature

M. Tomás, La miniature retrato en España, 1953, illustrated in colour pl. XL.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

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Lot Essay

Ferdinand IV, King of Naples and Sicily and from 1816 styled Ferdinand I, King of the Two Sicilies, was the third son of Charles III, King of Spain. When Charles III ascended the Spanish throne in 1759, Ferdinand succeeded him in Naples, under a regency, as Ferdinand IV. After his marriage on 12 May 1768 to Maria Carolina of Habsburg, he fell completely under her influence and lost popularity. He joined England and Austria against France in 1793 but in 1801 was forced to make a treaty with Napoleon. A violation of this treaty compelled him in 1806 to take refuge in Sicily, under English protection. The French took possession of Naples but Ferdinand was reinstated by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and the following year united the two states into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. He married secondly in 1814, Lucia Migliaccio (1787-1826), Duchess of Floridia. He was succeeded by his son Francis I.

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