13. JONAS FORSSLUND (1754-1809). Attributed to. Portrait depicting General Nils Mannerskantz (1738-1809).

Pastel on paper attached to canvas, oval 62 x 52 cm.
Contemporary gilt frame.

PROVENANCE: Christopher O'Regan Collection

Christopher tells us:
Lieutenant Nils Kellander served in 1772 at Suomenlinna Fortress, and during Gustaf III's enthronement in the same year served as a messenger between the King and the royal forces in Finland, and for his efforts he was promoted to captain and ennobled under the name Mannerskants (later Mannerskantz), and enjoyed the grace of being the King's companion on his Eriksson. Street to Värmland. We meet him in the portrait as a self-aware officer, promoted after a comet career to colonel and commandant at Suomenlin—one of the world's largest naval fortresses. Over the chest, the quilted commander's ribbon of the Order of the Sword arcs alongside the gleaming crachan. He died at Djursholm Castle in July 1809, barely a year after his successor Carl Olof Cronstedt had surrendered the fortress of Suomenlinna to the Russian troops, effectively losing Finland. What the aged Mannerskants' thought and thought we can only imagine.