Lady Emma Louise von Rothschild. The Rothschild House, Frankfurt am Main.

(ROTHSCHILD).

c. 1880(?)

Watercolor on card, laid down on board. Inscribed on verso by the artist and signed with her initials “EvR.” Framed.

The ancestral home of the Rothschild family - the House of the Red Shield - was located on the Judengasse in the Old City of Frankfurt am Main. Purchased around 1780 by the dynasty’s founder, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the building dates to the 17th-century. In 1884, the surrounding buildings were demolished, suggesting the present watercolor was executed prior; although it does bear a striking resemblance to the photograph by (Carl?) Hertel, c. 1880. Lady Emma Louise von Rothschild (1844-1935), who composed this picture, was married to Lord Nathaniel Mayer (“Natty”) Rothschild (1840-1915).