Live Auction 17442The Desmarais Collection: A pied-à-terre in New York
A PAIR OF LATE LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED AND WHITE MARBLE PORTRAIT MEDALLIONS
Lot 132

A PAIR OF LATE LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED AND WHITE MARBLE PORTRAIT MEDALLIONS

CIRCA 1792, POSSIBLY VIENNESE

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USD 5,250

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A PAIR OF LATE LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED AND WHITE MARBLE PORTRAIT MEDALLIONS
CIRCA 1792, POSSIBLY VIENNESE
Depicting the Franz I and Maria Theresa of Austria, later inscribed to the reverse, Franz.I.D.Kais.Kais.K.Osterr. 1768 1835 and Maria Theresina von Sicilien D.Kaisin.Kais.V.Oster. 1772 1807
6 ¾ in. (17 cm.) high, 5 ¾ in. (14.5 cm.) wide

The Alexander Collection; Christie's, New York, 30 April 1999, lot 21.

Specialist note

An identical pair of portrait silhouettes of the Emperor Franz (Franz I of Austria - 1768-1835) and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa (1772-1807), is in the James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire (T. Hodgkinson, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Sculpture, London, 1970, nos. 44-5). As Hodgkinson concluded, the portraits probably date from 1792, when Franz I was appointed Emperor, as only then was he entitled to wear the insignia of Grand Master of the Order of Maria Theresa. Maria Theresa of Sicily was the Emperor's second wife, whom he married in 1790.