Figure 1.--The boy depicted in the painting here is Walter Otto Fergusson Tepper. His father was King Stanislaus II's babker. We are not sure when this portrait was painted or by whom, but the fact he is wearing a skeleton suit suggests the late 18th century. We would guess about 1790. A British reader has helped us refine that to about 1784.

The boy depicted in the painting here is Walter Otto Fergusson Tepper, the son of Petera Ferguson Tepper. He was a Polish banker. His most important client was Polish King Stanislaus II (1732–98). Stanisla was Poland's last king of Poland (1764–95). We are not sure when this portrait was painted or by whom, but the fact he is wearing a skeleton suit suggests the late 18th century. We guessed based on the fashions that it was painted about about 1790. The additional information provided by a reader below allows us to refine that estimate to about 1784. A British researcher tells us, "I am looking for an information not about Otto-Walter Ferguson-Tepper himself, but about his brother, Ludwig-Wilhelm (1768-after 1824). He was a rather successful musician and composer; studied music in Vienna; probably knew Mozart; came to Russia, was a member of the St Petersburg Philarmonic Society, and in 1816-1819 taught singing at the Imperial Lycee in Tsarskoe Selo where Alexander Pushkin was among his pupils. About 30-40 his musical compositions are known, and they are still performed. But until recently we did not know his date of birth (I found it); we still do not know the place and date of his death; there are no portraits of him; there was no clear idea about his family and relatives. The very existence of Otto-Walter Ferguson-Tepper (born 4th November 1779) adds some facts to our knowledge. Your portrait should be probably dated 'before 1794', as this extremely rich banker family was fully ruined in financial crisis of 1794, and father was killed in a Warsaw riot, defending his household . After that, they hardly were able to commission portraits."

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Created: April 4, 2004
Last updated: 6:58 AM 5/2/2008