Bibelotslondon Ltd is a UK registered company based in London Bridge dealing in ephemera and curiosities from Britain and around the world. Our diverse inventory is carefully chosen and constantly evolving. We work very hard to offer the highest quality works at competitive prices. Our inventory is listed online, and we strive to keep our website completely up to date, so our customers can easily check availability. We believe in offering clients items that are unique and rare for aficionados of the antique and collector's world. Bibelot is a late nineteenth century word derived from the French word bel ‘beautiful’, meaning a small item of beauty, curiosity or interest. The word ephemera is derived from the sixteenth century Greek word ephmera meaning a printed or hand written paper not meant to be retained for a long period of time.
Fine contemporary engraving of Catherine the Great of Russia (1729 -
1796), by the great 18th century engraver William Dickinson (1746 -
1823), from an original painting belonging to Baron Dimsdale. Published
June 20th 1773 by Hooper of Ludgate Hill. Housed in a contemporary
mahogany frame.
Catherine was the most renowned and the
longest-ruling female leader of Russia, reigning from 1762 until her
death in 1796 at the age of 67. She is one of the three women commonly
referred to as "The Great", the others being Tamar of Georgia and
Gertrude the Great. Born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia as Sophie
Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, she came to power
following a coup d'état when her husband, Peter III, was assassinated.
Russia was revitalized under her reign, growing larger and stronger than
ever and becoming recognized as one of the great powers of Europe.
In
both her accession to power and in rule of her empire, Catherine often
relied on her noble favorites, most notably Grigory Orlov and Grigory
Potemkin. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Pyotr
Rumyantsev and Alexander Suvorov, and admirals such as Fyodor Ushakov,
she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by
conquest and diplomacy. In the south, the Crimean Khanate was crushed
following victories over the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish wars,
and Russia colonised the vast territories of Novorossiya along the
coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. In the west, the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth, ruled by Catherine's former lover, king Stanisław August
Poniatowski, was eventually partitioned, with the Russian Empire gaining
the largest share. In the east, Russia started to colonise Alaska,
establishing Russian America.
Catherine reformed the
administration of Russian guberniyas, and many new cities and towns were
founded on her orders. An admirer of Peter the Great, Catherine
continued to modernise Russia along Western European lines. However,
military conscription and economy continued to depend on serfdom, and
the increasing demands of the state and private landowners led to
increased levels of reliance on serfs. This was one of the chief reasons
behind several rebellions, including the large-scale Pugachev's
Rebellion of cossacks and peasants.
The period of Catherine the
Great's rule, the Catherinian Era, is often considered the Golden Age of
the Russian Empire and the Russian nobility. The Manifesto on Freedom
of the Nobility, issued during the short reign of Peter III and
confirmed by Catherine, freed Russian nobles from compulsory military or
state service. Construction of many mansions of the nobility, in the
classical style endorsed by the Empress, changed the face of the
country. She enthusiastically supported the ideals of The Enlightenment,
thus earning the status of an enlightened despot. As a patron of the
arts she presided over the age of the Russian Enlightenment, when the
Smolny Institute, the first state-financed higher education institution
for women in Europe, was established.
He was born in London.
Early in life he began to engrave in mezzotint, mostly caricatures and
portraits after Robert Edge Pine, and in 1767 he was awarded a premium
by the Society of Arts. In 1773 he commenced publishing his own works,
and in 1778 went into partnership with Thomas Watson, who engraved in
both stipple and mezzotint, and who died in 1781.
Dickinson
appears to have been still carrying on the business of a print seller in
1791, but he later moved to Paris, where he continued to engrave, and
died in the summer of 1823.
Size: 40 x 52.5 cm approx