The motif by Fedor Karlovich Burkhardt with capercaillies was very popular. Thus, there exists at least one more motif variation with another background and measurements. However, this present painting must have been even more popular since it was also printed as a postcard.

In 1910 a painting by Fedor Karlovich Burkhardt with the title “Black Goose Dancing” was exibited as no. 235 on the XVIII Exhibition of St. Petersburg Society of Artists. The price was 250 roubles. It could be the present painting.

Provenance: Michael Schelderup Kobro (b. Vestre Moland in Norway 1881, d. Lillesand in Norway 1975) was a shipmaster for the Bergen Steamship Company (BDS) from 1915 to 1941. He sailed to St. Petersburg in the 1920s and acquired Russian art and antiques. This is evidenced by several letters that he sent home to his parents and which are still preserved by his family. This can also be seen in the local Norwegian newspaper Bergens Tidende, which on 2 April 1964, published an article about Michael Schelderup Kobro, where he is interviewed about his long and highly eventful life. Here, Kobro says that in 1920–1927, he led the steamers “S/S Saturn” and “S/S Castor” along the London-St. Petersburg-Riga-Reval route. In St. Petersburg, he acquired Russian porcelain and Russian paintings. The article in Bergens Tidende describes the porcelain as “a coffee service plus vases and teacups etc., which Kobro passed on to his daughter […], have all been used on the Tsar’s table. The porcelain is marked with the Tsar's monogram and shows the year of production as well. The oldest piece comes from Alexander III and was made in 1888”. The painting, which is offered at this auction, is referred to in the article as ”a fun painting with playful capercaillies in Siberia". Thence Michael Schelderup Kobro's grandchild until today. See also lot no. 2061.