Angelica Kauffmann

Probably the Countess of Courland, April 1785;
Probably thence by descent to the daughter of the sitter, Katharina-Jeanne (b. 1783);
Probably thence by descent to Napoléon-Louis, 3^rd Duke of Talleyrand-Périgord (Duke of Valençay and Prince of Sagan) [1811–1898], Château de Valençay, France;
His sale, Paris, Galerie Petit, May 29, 1899, no. 12, to Keller;
Kunstsalon Keller & Reiner, Berlin, by 1899;
Zacharie Birtschansky, Paris, by 1946;
Gift of Zacharie Birtschansky to The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles,1946, (acc. no. 46.33.1).

Lady V. Manners and Dr. G.C. Williamson, Angelica Kauffmann, R.A., her life and her works, London 1924, p.147;
P. Wescher and E. Feinblatt, Los Angeles Country Museum, Catalogue of Paintings II: Flemish, German, Dutch and English Paintings XV-XVIII , Los Angeles 1954, p. 36, cat. no, 36;
S.Schaefer, et al., European Painting and Sculpture in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles 1987, p. 52;
J. Vigué, Great women masters of art, New York 2003, p.143.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This canvas has an old wax lining and while the paint layer is stable, the cracking is slightly raised. The paint layer is more or less clean and apart from some retouches addressing some cracks in the red shawl, in the belt and a few very isolated spots elsewhere, there are very few if any retouches to the painting. The pigment in the darker portion of the hair is a little thin, as is the shadowed side of the neck. If the lining were to be reexamined, the cracking would be eliminated and the condition would immediately become considerably better, with only a few retouches required.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This beautiful portrait dates from the final phase of Kauffmann's career, after she left England with her new husband, Antonio Zucchi, eventually settling in Rome in 1782. During this period she painted some of her finest works, both for English patrons, with whom she kept in close touch, and for important continental patrons such as Grand-Duke Paul of Russia, and King Frederick of Naples. The years from 1782 to 1795 were Kauffmann's most productive and she was greatly helped by the support of Zucchi. She recorded a detailed Memorandum of Paintings and this portrait is probably listed under the entry for March 1785: "For the above Countess [of Courland] the portrait of her daughter taken from a coloured drawing life size head on canvas not including hands 25 Zecchini paid for on 6th April. 1785." This is one of four female portraits of a similar neo-classical type and format that Kauffmann executed from January to September 1785, the others including portraits of the Countess de Vechi (painted for Prince Youssoupoff), the Countess de Barry, and the daughter of the Countes Grabonska.

The sitter, Anna Charlotta Dorothea von Medem, Duchess of Courland (1761–1821), was the wife of Duke Peter (II), Biran of Courland, who ruled Courland, which encompassed the areas of Courland and Semigallia (modern day western Latvia), and existed from 1561 until 1795 as a semi-independent duchy when it was annexed to Russia. The couple had six children, two of which died in infancy.  Due to politcal struggles with the Duke's overlord, the King of Poland, Dorothea was sent to Warsaw and surrounding cities on extended diplomatic missions, during which time she became increasingly resentful of her husband, eventually moving away to Berlin, where she continued her heavy involvment in the arts. In 1794 she acquired the Gutsherrschaft Löbichau in Altenburgischen and spent her summers at the newly-built Schloss there. Inviting poets, philosophers, relatives and friends to Löbichau, it became known as the Musenhof der Herzogin von Kurland. Following the duke's death in 1800, the duchess was exiled from Berlin, eventually settling in Paris. Her youngest daughter, Katharina-Jeanne (b. 1783) married Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord in 1809. This painting was probably inherited by Katharina-Jeanne and brought with her to Valençay where it would stay in the same collection until it was sold by the family in 1899. Affixed to the verso of the painting is a wax seal which has been identified as that of the coat-of-arms of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen branch, which shows the Hohenzollern family motto "Nihil Sine Deo." This branch is the one that inherited the Duchy of Sagan, which later passed to the Talleyrand family.