SNUFF BOX WITH PORTRAIT OF PRINCE MIKHAIL KUTUZOV, CIRCA 1810
Lotto 188
5 0005 500
metal, gilding, chasing
4.8 x 7 x 1.5 cm
Kutuzov is represented in a general's uniform with a ribbon of the Order of Saint Andrew the First-Called (received in 1800) and a portrait of Emperor Alexander I (received in 1811).
Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky (1745 -1813) was a Field Marshal of the Russian Empire. He defeated Napoleon as commander-in-chief using attrition warfare in the Patriotic war of 1812. Alexander I would write that he would be remembered amongst Europe's most famous commanders and that Russia would never forget his worthiness.