Lot
40A
Lot 40A
James Tassie - Jugate busts of Czarevitch Paul and Maria Feo...
Estimate
£800 - £1,200
James Tassie - Jugate busts of Czarevitch Paul and Maria Feodorovna of Russia, white paste glass against a black ground after an original by Empress Maria Feodorovna, circa 1791, signed MARIA F - 21 April 1791 to the lower oval ground, mounted and set within an ornate gilded frame, panel measures 7cm by 5.5cm.
NB - An identical panel is held within the collection of the Metropolitan Museum - New York.
Catherine the Great’s daughter-in-law Maria Feodorovna, born Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, was an accomplished cameo carver. James Tassie produced several glass replicas of the cameo she made of herself alongside her ill-favoured spouse, the future Paul I. Most of the replicas, like the original hardstone in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, are dated April 21, Catherine the Great’s name day; the original was presumably Maria Feodorovna’s tribute when that occasion was celebrated in 1791. The Russian court had known contacts with Tassie, whose small glass portraits emulating cameos enjoyed wide circulation, and there can be little doubt that it was to him they turned for replications of Maria Feodorovna’s cameo.
More Information
In good order with only minor age related wear to the gilded frame
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