Lot 1: Augustin Christian Ritt (Russian, 1765-1799)

AUGUSTIN CHRISTIAN RITT (RUSSIAN, 1765-1799) Countess Maria Ursula Franziska Esterházy (1765-1814), née von Hallwyl-Mydorge (1765-1814), in grey dress with pink sash Signed ‘Ritt’ (lower left) On ivory Oval, 93 mm. high, gilt-metal frame, a paper label on the reverse inscribed in pen with sitter’s name

PROVENANCE: Probably by descent from the sitter to Paul von Levetzow, Baron von Levetzow (1886-1960), Schloss Divak, Moravia, by 1924. Albert Kende Auktionshaus, Vienna, 17-19 May 1933, lot 120. With Leo R. Schidlof, from whom acquired by Ernst Holzscheiter in Paris, 18 February 1934 (inv. nos. MD/0038 and 472).