Timofei Yashchik was one of Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna’s Cossack bodyguards. His acts of loyalty and bravery for the Empress’s family after the Revolution probably resulted in the commission of this portrait. The artist was a Russian emigré who settled in Paris and earned his living from portraiture.

Commissioned by Empress Maria Feodorovna; purchased by Queen Alexandra, 1921.