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Death Mask of Charles XII of Sweden (1682-1718)
Production: Unknown
Bronze, cast
History note: General Perroffski, Orenburgh, Russia, by whom given to Captain James Abbott in 1839; by descent to the donor
Given by Raymond Abbott in memory of his father, General Sir James Abbott KCB
Height: 18.5 cm
Method of acquisition: Given (1938-08-16) by Abbott, Raymond
18th Century
Circa
1718
CE
-
Circa
1800
CE
Charles XII of Sweden was shot, apparently by an enemy bullet, while inspecting the defences at Frederickshald in Norway on 11 December 1718. This bronze cast after a death mask, together with a cast of the death mask of his enemy, Peter the Great, was presented to Captain James Abbot as a parting gift by General Perroffski, while he was at Orenburgh in Russia in 1839. (See M.20-1938) .Abbot later described the gift: 'It was a pair of bronze casts from the masks (taken immediately after death), of Peter the Great and of his rival Charles XII of Sweden. There were but two casts made from the original masks. The Emperor of Russia has one, and James Abbot the other. I assured Perroffski in thanking him for these most precious relics, that the Russian empire contained no gem that I should value more highly. That they shoujld be preserved in my family as a sacred memento of the friendship and hospitality of Perroffski.' The careers of both rulers were well known, and one of the most influential historical biographies, 'L'histoire de Charles XII', had been published by the great French writer, Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) in 1731. In 1759 he published a two volume work on Charles XII enemy, Peter the Great, L''histoire de l'Empire de Russie sous Pierre le Grand. These works were translated into English by Tobias Smollett, and were published together in London in 1817 as 'The History of Charles the twelfth, King of Sweden; and Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia'. As a soldier, it seems very likely that Captain Abbot would have been familiar with either Voltaire's or other writers' descriptions of the careers of these two great military leaders.
Casting (process) : Bronze, cast
Accession number: M.21B-1938
Primary reference Number: 14069
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Death Mask of Charles XII of Sweden (1682-1718)" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/14069 Accessed: 2025-05-02 14:30:09
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/14069
|title=Death Mask of Charles XII of Sweden (1682-1718)
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-05-02 14:30:09|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-14069
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<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa20/M_21B_1938.jpg"
alt="Death Mask of Charles XII of Sweden (1682-1718)"
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<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Death Mask of Charles XII of Sweden (1682-1718)</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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