Here is some of the research material that I used during the making of my latest illustration: “Portrait of Lady Zakharova”. I thought it may be interesting for you to see some memorabilia stuff about her enigmatic persona that I could find during the last few years. Most of these pieces I found them in antique shops in London’s Portobello Road and today I keep them as real treasures.
Arnaud Courbey’s medical notes of Folker Krause’s mummy
The first item is a series of sketches and notes from French doctor Arnaud Courbey, who had the pleasure of analyzing Folker Krause’s mummy doll on different occasions during the mid 1800′s. You may notice that there are several differences in the dufferent drawings. This gave birth to a legend about the hunted mummy of Folker Krause which changed it’s shape throughout the years.
These sketches were later published in several medical magazines and books. There are supposed to be more pages of the study with different medical illustrations and further notes about the mummy. Sadly, I couldn’t get hold of any of these yet. These drawing were very useful for me to have an idea of the real look of Krauser’s mummy.
Advertisement of F. Krause and R. Zakharova at London’s St. James Theatre
This is an advertisement from a performance by Folker Krause and Raisa Zakharova at London’s St. James Theatre, circa 1840. This is a very interesting piece because it makes reference to one of the most famous magical numbers from the couple: “The Progressive Disappearance of Lady Zahharova”.
The infamous magic number is considered by manymagic historians as the first strip tease show in the history of show business. Although the number would only include seeing Lady Zahharova’s underwear, it was a big scandal at the time, which provoked the closure of several theaters by the local authorities. The couple was fined in different cities for public scandaland they even spent several days in jail while playing in Barcelona. They didn’t get to perform this number very many times but it helped them build name very fast in the magic show business.
Lady Zakharova in the tabloids, 1840
This memorabilia item is a cutting from The Mirror newspaper, March 1840 tabloid. I found this during a research marathon at London’s Colindale Newspaper Library. It refers to Lady Zakharova seances in her London Mayfair residency. It also features the illustration by a pretty bad artist who obviously didn’t have an idea about Folker Krause mummy’s appearance and he just made up this silly version of his own. The image of Lady Zakharova looks pretty good though and I actually I must confess that it gave the inspiration to do my portrait.
Sí señor, interesantísimos documentos victorianos los que has rescatado. Que siga, que siga, que todos queremos saber más acerca de estos enigmáticos personajes. ¡Ah, en mi pueblo ya es viernes 24, así que… ZORIONAK!
Who can argue with such thorough documentation? You are clearly the world’s foremost authority on the subject! Loved your comment about reality/Wikipedia by the way.
ESKERRIK ASKO IBAN! Seguirá, seguirá…
Hoy abro tu paquete y te comento 
Thanks Leah! Actually I’m not. The world’s foremost authority was German proffesor Hans Bender from the Freiburg im Breisgau University. He died in 1991. And I believe this must be in Wikipedia
I got an interesting email today from an unknown lady that I thought it would be interesting to share with you. The email comes with the following picture:
http://www.koldobarroso.com/images/o978.jpg
“Dear Sir,
Since you already have a collection of artifacts I thought the following photo might be of interest to you. I knew your story reminded me of something I had seen on a Russian nesting doll site….this is supposed to be based on the Nutcracker story, but note just how much the Nutcracker figure looks like a pre-mummified Folker, especially in the nose and mouth area. Also note that the woman is holding and seemingly communicating with it in the next nesting doll; again, many similarities….red hair, the same shaped eyes (must be pre-arrow trick). My suspicion is that the next figure may be of the actual mortician that mummified his body (that would be the secret embalming fluid in his hand, probably made from an extract of walnuts). I also think it quite illuminating that the figure after that has an eye patch on the same exact eye as Lady Zakharova lost! Not exactly sure what the rat symbolizes…perhaps the person that dropped a dime to the Russian secret service?
There was no mention of the artist that created this nesting doll set, was there any mention of a child? Perhaps this comes from a story passed down through the generations.
Of course, there’s no proof that this is based on LZ’s sad tale, but often fairy tales are an embellishment of real life history…so do you think….maybe?
You have my permission to use this letter on your site if you wish to elaborate on the idea, but please keep my name anonymous, because if you do think this might be historically related to LZ’s period then I may want to purchase this piece to start my own collection, and I wouldn’t want them to drive the price up.
Sincerely,
a Raisa Zakharova fan”
These are really fun Koldo. I love all the historical background and documentation. She’s going to be quite a well-rounded character!
Hey – Happy Birthday. I hope you are finding some great new places to treat yourself and celebrate here.
Thanks Tara! It’s always exciting to celebrate things for the 1st time a different country but I keep getting the same older
Están fenomenal todos los dibujos. El retrato de la señora, magnífico. ¿Vas a publicar?
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my god, this site is like a treasure chest! thank you!
Thank you Zoe, I’m so glad that you enjoy it!