This antique watercolour was executed ca. in 1840s and depicts street scene in front of the "Cottage", one of the summer residences of Russian Emperor Nikolas I and Empress Alexandra Fedorovna in Alexandria Park in Peterhof. On the background - the Church of Alexander Nevsky, built as Gothic chapel .The  Palace "Cottage" built in 1828-1829 by architect A.Menelas. In 1842-1843 to this two - story building was attached dining room with marble terrace. Our watercolor shows a cottage without a dining room and terrace ,and this fact proves that it was painted   before the restructuring of Cottage in 1842. For comparison, see the modern look of the palace at the following link in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Êîòòåäæ_2007_05.jpg

View of Gothic Chapel see on following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gothic_Chapel,_Church_of_Saint_Alexander_Nevsky_in_Alexandria_Park,_Peterhof.jpg

Despite the absence of  the signature but due to the identical style , motive and time of creation we attributed our Russian watercolour to the hand of famous Russian architect and painter Aleksey Gornostaev (1808 - 1862). For comparison see in Russian google view of Aleksandrovsky palace in Tsarskoe Selo by the same artist:

http://www.posterlux.ru/rus-artists/gallery/gornostaev-aleksei-maksimovich-1808-1862/8922/page/1

Alexey Maksimovich Gornostaev (Russian: Àëåêñåé Ìàêñèìîâè÷ Ãîðíîñòàåâ), born February 18, 1808 – died December 18, 1862, was a Russian architect and watercolour painter of views nearby St.Petersburg, notable as a pioneer in Russian Revival the builder of Valaam Monastery hermitages, Trinity-Sergius Convent in Saint Petersburg and Uspenski Cathedral in Helsinki. He is credited with the rebirth of traditional tented architecture of Russian North.

Literature: wikipedia, lexicons (in Russian) by Solovjev and Kondakov, Thieme/Becker (in German).Inscription: unsigned.

Material: watercolour on paper , gallery frame.

Measurements: unframed 11 3/4" x 8 3/4" (30 x 22 cm), matted and framed 18 3/4" x 15 3/4" (47,5 x 40 cm)

Condition: overall good condition,