87 - Circle of Antoine Pesne,

Circle of Antoine Pesne, French 1683-1757- Portrait of a young girl, traditionally identified as Princess Leopoldine Marie of Anhalt-Dessau (1716-1782), wearing a pink silk dress, clutching a basket of flowers in one hand and and holding a spaniel by a pink ribbon in the other; oil on canvas, 68.5 x 58.5 cm. Provenance: Anon. sale, Phillips, London, 8 December 1994, lot 159 (as 'Studio of Antoine Pesne'). Private Collection, UK. Note: Though French-born, Pesne served as a painter to the Prussian court and produced many portraits of the royal family and key court figures, including of the first two Kings of Prussia, Frederick I (1657-1713) and Frederick William I (1688-1740).The present work bears similarities to portraits by Pesne, including one sold at Dorotheum, Vienna, on 21 March 2002, lot 215 (€35,000), and bears a striking similarity to a portrait sold at Sotheby’s, London, on 3 December 1997, lot 35 (£25,300), depicting Friederike Charlotte Leopoldine Luise (1745-1808) as a young girl. Leopoldine Marie, Princess of Anhalt-Dessau was the daughter of Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (1676-1747), and his wife, Anna Louise Föhse (1677-1745). Born at Oranienbaum Palace, she married Frederick Henry, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1709-1788), on 13 February 1739. She was the sister-in-law of Frederick II, King of Prussia (1712-1786).