Live Auction 5962Centuries of Style: Silver, European Ceramics, Portrait Miniatures and Gold Boxes
J. RICHARD SCHWAGER (BOHEMIAN, 1822-1880)
Lot 254 THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR

J. RICHARD SCHWAGER (BOHEMIAN, 1822-1880)

Closed28 November 2012

Price Realised

GBP 6,875

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J. RICHARD SCHWAGER (BOHEMIAN, 1822-1880)
Elizabeth 'Sisi' (1837-1898), Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, in lilac dress with black lace border, pearl necklace
signed and dated 'R Schwager' (lower right) '1868' (lower left) and inscribed on the backing card 'Elisabeth, Empress of Austria painted by Schwager 1859'
on ivory
oval, 2 5/16 in. (59 mm.) high, gilt-metal frame

Presented by the sitter to George, Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904).
Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge (1868-1927).
A Lady; Christie's, London, 16 December 1975, lot 54.

Specialist note

Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria, known to her closest companions as 'Sisi', married Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria in April of 1854, and together they had four children. Renowned for her beauty and liberal political leanings, she became a political and national icon throughout Austro-Hungary. Despite her popularity amongst her people, her life was marred by tragedy: her eldest daughter Sophie died at the tender age of two, and her only son, Rudolph, committed suicide at the age of thirty. She was later assasinated in 1898 on the shore of Lake Geneva by anarchist Luigi Lucheni.