This genre scene with Russian cossacks and white horse was executed in the first quarter of 19th century by famous German historical, genre and portrait painter Carl Wilhelm Kolbe (1781 - Berlin - 1853).

The artist worked and lived in Berlin during Russian liberation of Prussia from Napoleon and entry of Russians under Count Witgenstein into Berlin in late February 1813. It's known that Kolbe dedicated to this event in the same time his painting (now missing) " First cossacks in Berlin on 20.02.1813" We found on-line wikimedia the pencil drawing by Kolbe to this work and in the British Museum a aquatinta after this Kolbe painting, both you can see on our additional photos. With a high probability we can say that " our " painting also depicts the scene in Cossack camp near Berlin in 1813. Due to the ownership printing on the horse's croup it can be assumed that this is the horse of the Ataman Platov himself (in other famous paintings he is depicted exactly on a white horse) .

Carl Wilhelm Kolbe, a nephew of the copperplate engraver Carl Wilhelm Kolbe the senior, studied at the Academy of his hometown Berlin, especially under Daniel Chodowiecki. His first great historical composition, the chalk drawing Frobens death in the Battle of Fehrbellin, won 1796 the first prize of the Academy.

In oil painting he was influenced by the Dutch painters. His great painting Albrecht Achilles conquered a flag at Nuremberg (1806) was bought by the city of Berlin as a gift for Princess Luise of Prussia on her departure to Holland. His romantic genre paintings depict horsemen scenes, historical battles and from fairytale world.

Of his historical representations are still to be mentioned:The Ascension of Christ (1816), for the Castle Church in PotsdamOtto of the great battle against the HungariansCharles V on the runBarbarossa´s corpse at Antioch (Berlin National Gallery).To the ten glass windows in the castle to Malbork, Kolbe delivered both the cartons and the colour sketches (two in the National Gallery to Berlin). They represent the battles and victories of the Teutonic Order.

From 1815 to 1853, Kolbe was a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of the Arts in Berlin and belonged to the Senate from 1846.

On the following link in Russian you can read history of the Russian European Liberation Campaign 1813-1814 with images of different paintings including a lithography after famous Cossack painting by Kolbe:

https://pro100-mica.livejournal.com/171464.html

Literature: artist dictionaries by Thieme/Becker and H. Vollmer , in on-lne: wikipedia in German.

Inscription: signed with artist´s proved monogram CK (source: dictionary by Thieme/Becker), lower left; on the back of the panel - old label with the artist´s dates and old inscription "C.Kolbe pinx. 1820".

Technique: oil on wood panel. Original period gold-plated frame.

Measurements: unframed w 17 1/3" x h 11 1/4" (44 x 28,5 cm), framed w 22" x h 16 3/4" (56 x 42,5 cm).

Condition: in very good condition.