Lot 21: Fedor Petrovich Tolstoi (1783-1873)

Red and white currants
signed and dated 'Comte Théodore de Tolstöy 1834.' (lower right)
pencil and watercolour, heightened with white, on brown paper
7 1/8 x 9 5/8 in. (18 x 21.9 cm.)

Currants were popular motifs for Fedor Tolstoi: after presenting a similar work to Empress Elisabeth Alekseevna, wife of Emperor Alexander I, the artist was presented with a diamond ring and thereafter was commissioned to repeat the composition whenever the Empress required a gift for a member of the Imperial family or an important member of the court. According to his daughter, M. F. Kamenskaia, Tolstoi claimed that his '...whole family was fed by a single currant'. An earlier version of the present lot, dated 1818, is in the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.