Portrait of Polish Lancer Officer – November Uprising 1831

Portrait of Napoleon Kazimierz Szczygielski, second lieutenant of 4th Lancers Regiment in his field uniform. The regiment was formed in 1815, fought in numerous battles of the November Uprising 1830-1831 against the Russian Empire. After the failed uprising most of Polish soldiers and elite went into exile known as the Great Emigration. 

 The largest centres of the Polish Emigration were in France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. This portrait was most likely drawn in the United Kingdom or France by a British artist, Albin Roberst Burt (1783-1842), a known portrait painter and engraver. 

 Officer in a standing pose with his right hand at his waist. Blue coatee with two rows of buttons , blue trousers, on his head a peaked cap. Uniform is correct with the regulations of the Congress Kingdom. The peak cap regular is known as a “stable cap”, rarely portrayed in paintings. 

 The portrait is signed in the lower right corner by pencil “Drawn by A.Burt 1832”. At the bottom of the portrait it is inscribed in French “Napoleon Casimir Szczygielski sous lieutenant 4 Regi: Lancier Polonais” meaning “Napoleon Kazimierz Szczygielski, second lieutenant 4th Polish Regiment of Lancers”.

A beautiful souvenir of the Great Emigration. Good condition as in photographs, framed.

 The tradition of the 4th Lancers Regiment of the Congress Kingdom was continued by the 4th Zaniemeńskich Lancer Regiment during the 2nd Polish Republic.