ENGRAVED PORTRAIT - GERMAN RABBIAN 18th century Famous etching portrait of Michel Hirsch (Jechiel Michel) (c. 1719-1777), rabbi of Potsdam from 1743.) He made his fortune as the owner of a hemp factory in Westphalia and Potsdam, and held a monopoly on hemp products throughout Brandenburg. He was also treasurer of the Jewish community. The engraver is Georg Friedrich Schmidt (1712-1775), a pupil of Nicolas Larmessin. In 1742, he was admitted to the Académie française. In 1744, he accepted a position as court engraver in Berlin and in 1757 in St. Petersburg, where he engraved, among other works, the portrait of Empress Elisabeth and organized an engraving school. From 1762, he worked again in Berlin, where he died on January 25, 1775. His style was inspired by Rembrandt. Proof of the first known state before erasure of the letter. A fine copy. 13.1 x 17 cm (bowl), 13.8 x 17.6 cm (paper). Letter: Hirsch Michael / praesentirt an Isaac Onis durch Aaron Monceca zu Berlin in Jahre 1762 ; G.F. Schmidt ad vivum faciebat Berol. (G. F. Schmidt executed from life in Berlin, 1762) (Wessely 69).