Portrait of Princess Ekaterina Nikolaevna Lopukhina, née Shetneva (1763-1839), wearing a Lady of Honour insignia and the Order of St Catherine

Details

Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825)
Portrait of Princess Ekaterina Nikolaevna Lopukhina, née Shetneva (1763-1839), wearing a Lady of Honour insignia and the Order of St Catherine
signed in Cyrillic and dated 'V. Borovikovskii 1805.' (lower left)
oil on canvas
32 x 24½ in. (81.2 x 62.2 cm.)

Provenance

Prince Nikolai Petrovich Lopukhin-Demidov (1836-1910/1), Korsun estate, Kiev Governorate until at least 1906.
Prince Serge Obolensky (1890-1978) and Ava Alice Muriel Astor (1902-1956), London, circa 1925.
By descent to the present owner.

Literature

Exhibition catalogue, Vystavka russkikh portretov [Exhibition of Russian Portraits], St Petersburg, 1905, listed pp. 101 and 146, no. 148.
Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, Portraits Russes des XVIIIe et XIXe siècles, St Petersburg, 1906, vol. II, 1st ed., no. 18, listed p. II.
Exhibition catalogue, Exposition de l’Art Russe, Paris, 1906, listed p. 41, no. 103.
Exhibition catalogue, Exhibition of Russian art, London, 1935, listed p. 27, no. 119.
T. Alekseeva, Vladimir Lukich Borovikovskii i russkaia kultura na rubezhe 18go-19go vekov [Vladimir Lukich Borovikovskii and Russian culture at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries], 1975, illustrated p. 156, listed p. 355, no. 175, and p. 408, no. 90.
Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, [S. Nikitin (ed.)], Russkie porttrety XVIII i XIX vekov [Russian portraits of the XVIII and XIX centuries], Moscow, 2003, illustrated p. 35 no. 18, listed p. 152 II, no. 18.

Exhibited

Probably: St Petersburg, The Tauride Palace, Vystavka russkikh portretov [Exhibition of Russian Portraits], 1905, no. 148.
Paris, Salon d’Automne, Exposition de l’Art Russe, 1906, no. 103 (label on the reverse).
London, Belgrave Square, Exhibition of Russian art, 4 June-13 July 1935, no. 119 (label on the backboard).

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Brought to you by

Sarah Mansfield

smansfield@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2210

Lot Essay

Ekaterina Nikolaevna Lopukhina was the daughter of Lieutenant-General Nikolai Lavrentevich Shetnev and Ekaterina Nikolaevna Matiushkina. In 1786 she became the second wife of Petr Vasilievich Lopukhin and mistress of estates at Vvedenskoe (near Moscow) and Aspen Grove. In 1798 she became a lady-in-waiting and her husband was appointed Attorney-General. After the death of Paul I, the Lopukhins returned to Moscow. In 1827 Ekaterina Nikolaevna was widowed. She died in St Petersburg in 1839. Four children resulted from her marriage to Lopukhin (two sons and two daughters). Ekaterina was completely uneducated, was known in society for her bigotry and superstition, and enjoyed the most unenviable reputation. Varvara Golovin described her thus: ‘Not only was she of low birth, her manners revealing her complete lack of education, but furthermore, she was known for her erratic behaviour’.
In this portrait Ekaterina Nikolaevna is shown with a lady-of-honour insignia with the portrait of the Empress Maria Feodorovna, as well as the Order of St Catherine.
We are grateful to Dr Ludmila Markina, Director of the 18th and 19th century paintings department at the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, for providing this note.

More from Russian Art

View All