Lot 558: Circle of Andrea Soldi (Florence c. 1703-1771 London)

Circle of Andrea Soldi (Florence c. 1703-1771 London)
An historical portrait of a Queen, or Empress, full-length, in a fur-lined ermine robe emblazoned with a counterchanged coat-of-arms
oil on canvas
80½ x 43½ in. (204.5 x 110.5 cm.)
in an English 18th Century carved and gilded running pattern frame

A Catalogue of some of the Pictures at Tissington Hall the seat of Sir William FitzHerbert Baronet, 1859, possibly 'Front Drawing Room - 13 A Female portrait. Subject and Painter not known.'
Catalogue of Pictures and Curios at Tissington Hall, 1887, by Ida, daughter of Sir William FitzHerbert, 4th Bt., possibly 'Portrait of a Queen or Empress ... painter unknown ... This picture is supposed to have been brought from Russia by Lord St. Helens & left by him to Sir Henry FitzHerbert, 3rd Bt.'
Nora FitzHerbert, Tissington Hall - Pictures, 1938, 'No. 148. Billiard Room unhung.' as 'Russian Empress'
G. Jackson-Stops, 'Tissington Hall, Derbyshire - III', Country Life, 29 July 1976, p. 289, fig. 11

Probably acquired by Alleyne FitzHerbert, 1st Baron St. Helens (1753-1839) when in Russia either circa 1783-7, or circa 1801-2.

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