Princess Catherina Bagration (1783–1857)
Emancipated, coquettish and stunningly
beautiful, Princess Catherina Bagration,
or “The Wandering Princess” led an
extraordinary if not scandalous life.
Born with impeccable lineage, Princess
Catherine Bagration was the daughter
of Count Pavel Martinovich Skavronsky,
Chamberlain of the Royal Court and
Minister Plenipotentiary to Naples and
Yekaterina von Engelhardt, niece of Prince
Grigory Potemkin. She was educated
in the court of Empress Catherine II the
Great. Princess Bagration married General
Pyotr Bagration, a Prince of the Bagrationi
dynasty. Despite the trappings of a royal
life, Princess Bagration left her husband
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in 1805 to travel extensively around the
globe. Such was the extent of her travels
that she was dubbed “The Wandering
Princess”. The Princess frequently
donned transparent and form fitting garb
made of thin muslin cloth. Her clothing,
coupled with her alabaster skin, inspired
her admirers to dub her le Bel Ange Nu
(“the beautiful nude angel”). Princess
Bagration’s notoriety extended beyond
her clothing choice. She embarked on
a number of high profile dalliances with
ambassadors and princes, even bearing a
daughter out of wedlock.
During her travels, the Princess most
notably opened her own anti Napoleonic
salon in Vienna, which attracted
intellectuals, the boulevardier and royals
alike. There, she befriended visionaries
such as Victor Hugo, and even served as
Honore de Balzac’s muse for his iconic
novel La Peau de Chagrin.
Our research suggests that Princess
Bagration bought the Breguet Nevau
N° 4730 pocket watch at age 52 in 1829,
a year before her second marriage to
British general and diplomat Sir John
Hobart Caradoc, Attaché to the British
Ambassador, distinguished as the British
Commissioner to the French Army.
However, they separated soon after, and
the watch was also sold back to Breguet in
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