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.