GUSTAV II ADOLF, ENGRAVING, 1797.

Portrait depicting Gustavus Adolphus (Gustav II Adolf), engraved by Io. peace. Bause after an original by Fittler, 395 x 280 mm.

PROVENANCE: Christopher O'Regan Collection

Christopher tells us:
He made no secret of the fact that Gustaf III was the third Gustav on the throne, and in countless different ways he showed his homage to his predecessors of the same name. During his reign, the statue of the “riksbyggaren” Gustaf Vasa was unveiled at Riddarhustorget, and in 1786 the national opera was given to Gustaf Vasa, for which The King had written the draft; while “The Lion from the North”, Gustaf II Adolf, was also celebrated with spectacle and statue. And of course it was no accident that the King's own son, the Crown Prince, was given the name Gustaf Adolf. And the craze for Gustaf II Adolf did not abate when Gustaf IV Adolf came of age King in November 1796. Possibly it is precisely in connection with the celebration of this that the copper stick of the 17th century hero king was added. It was staked in Leipzig by the widely-renowned Johan Friedrich Bause; one of Germany's “supreme copper-knitters,” according to a contemporary voice. When he engraved the King's portrait, he was a newly elected member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Stockholm.
Among those who commissioned the portrait in advance, we find, in addition to Gustaf IV Adolf himself, who commissioned twelve copies, as well as the rest of the Royal Family, also a number of the more famous people of Stockholm and Sweden. In February 1797, the newspaper Daglig Allehanda reported that the engraver Bause “through an accident” had not had time to complete the portrait before the winter, as promised, and that in addition, the ice in the Öresund had settled unusually early and contributed to the “early closure of shipping”.
Once the beautiful copper stick arrived in Stockholm, it could be picked up in the cellar of the chamberlain Ekmansson at Skomakargatan in Gamla stan. Wall to wall today is a shop selling Pokemon cards. O tempora, o mores!