Oval plate. Returning from a Bear Hunt

Nikolai Egorovich Sverchkov (1817-1898) was a famous painter of animals and people whose skill superseded his lack of formal artistic education. Interested in drawing from childhood, he received the title of free artist for his first work in 1839. In 1852, Sverchkov was ranked as an academician and in 1855 as a professor. His father worked for the palace stables where a young Sverchkov trained himself in the depiction of horses. He created a unique 'portrait' gallery of horses of different breeds and colours, perfectly representing their movements and habits. Gradually his works became famous throughout Europe; his paintings were acknowledged at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1863 and the French government awarded him the Legion of Honour. Sverchkov often worked on historical scenes as well as equestrian portraits of the Emperor (the portrait of Alexander II) commissioned by the Imperial court.

Sverchkov repeatedly depicted hunting scenes, which always attracted public admiration. Not only was he able to portray animals with accomplishment but he also captured the intense atmosphere of a hunting scene. Wolf hunting has always been the subject of Sverchkov's sketches and paintings and he was familiar with the ways of the hunter as well as the anatomy of horses and dogs.