CARL AUGUST HOFFMANN-SCHOLZ TREASURER OF THE PRINCE OF CURLAND PIOTR BIRON, 1827, Oil, canvas; 75.5 x 60 cm

Inscription on the back: Carl August Hoffmann-Scholz genant / Herzog Kurlandt Hoffrath Konig / Preuss Krieges u. Domainenrath / besitzer des Guths Birkendorf / geboren zu Grünberg d. 1. May 1759 / gestorben zu Glogau d. 8 May 1826 / gemalt zu Glogau im May 1825 / von G. F. Raschke, copiert 1827 / Nr. 1954 (transl. Carl August Hoffman-Scholz called, court counselor to the Duke of Courland, member of the war council and domain of the King of Prussia, owner of the Brzeżany estate, born in Zielona Gora on May 1, 1759, died in Glogau on May 8, 1826, painted in Glogau in May 1825 by G.F.raschle, copied in 1827, No. 1954)
Asking price 18000
Estimate 22000 - 25000
Carl August Hoffmann-Scholz (1759 Zielona Góra - 1826 Glogow) graduated in law from the University of Königsberg and took a job as a lawyer in Courland. He became court counsel to the Duke of Courland Peter Biron. The latter, as Duke of Courland, was a fief of the King of Poland. After the Third Partition, when Courland was annexed by Russia, he abdicated and moved to Zagan (he was also Duke of Zagan). Hoffman-Scholz also moved to Zagan, but soon transferred to the service of the King of Prussia and took a position as a counselor in the royal domain chamber of the annexed Polish lands. In 1800 he became administrator of the Wschowa estate. In 1819 he purchased the Birkendorf estate (now Brzeżany in the Górowski district, Lower Silesia province), where he spent the rest of his life.
Peter Biron (Peter von Biron) (1724 - 1800) - prince of the Polish fiefdom of Courland and Semigallia with its capital in Mitava.(1769-1795), count of the Holy Roman Empire, prince of Żagań (1786- 1800).
He was the son of Ernest John Biron. He spent his youth in St. Petersburg, where his father was the chief advisor and favorite of Empress Anna Ivanovna. In 1735 he was typified as the husband of her niece Anna Leopoldovna. However, his dynastic plans were derailed by a court intrigue by Minister Artemi Volynsky against Ernest Biron.
In 1740, following Anna Leopoldovna's court plot, Peter Biron found himself exiled in Siberia, where he stayed with his parents until Peter III took over. In 1762 he was rehabilitated and appointed a general of Russian cavalry.
After Ernest John Biron returned to the throne of Courland and Semigallia in 1763, Peter Biron was appointed his successor and assumed regency in the principality. In 1764, he paid a fief tribute to Stanislaw August Poniatowski.
He formally assumed power in 1759 after his father's abdication. He began to accumulate landed property. In addition to the Syców he inherited, he also became the owner of many estates in Silesia and Bohemia, including Żagań (from 1786) and Nachód (from 1792). He was a patron of the arts. He collected paintings and maintained a court band and theater.
During the partition of the Republic, he remained neutral to events, obeying the orders and will of Empress Catherine II. In 1781 he became formally a sovereign ruler, but in fact came under the close dependence of the Russian Empire. In 1795, after the Third Partition, he decided to cede Courland and Semigallia to Russia. In exchange for his abdication, he received a high state pension of 60,000 thalers for life and financial compensation for his lost estates of 2,000,000 thalers.
After relinquishing the throne, he spent the last years of his life in his estates in Silesia and Bohemia. He resided mainly in Zagan, which he made into a magnificent residence rivalling the courts of other German princes.