Attributed to Alexander Ivanovich Sauerweid

Ilya Baikov was Alexander I's favourite coachman and constant companion, even accompanying the Emperor on State visits abroad. Of legendary strength, the bearded countenance of this well-known and much-loved figure has been immortalised in a number of portraits and he makes a brief appearance in Tolstoy's great novel War and Peace. Baikov had eight children with his second wife, one of whom, Fedor, a favourite of the sons of Nicholas I, Alexander I's younger brother and successor, would go on to attend the Imperial Academy of Arts and become a respected military artist himself.

Another version of this composition was sold at Sotheby's London, The Russian Sale, 19 December 1996, lot 87.