Describe the characteristics of the Baumann's earlier mermaid paintings in this artwork's History.
An oil on canvas painting by Jerichau Baumann exhibited at the Salon in Paris in the spring of 1861 is believed to be her first painting of a mermaid. A French art critic described it as "a fateful creature, which, due to its attractiveness, would cause the 'Scandinavian Odysseus' to run aground".  When the just 19-year-old Wanda Zahrtmann visited Jerichau-Baumann's studio in December the same year, she was immediately struck by the mermaid's gaze. After the death of both her parents, former vice admiral and naval minister Christian Christopher Zahrtmann and Sophie Elisabeth Donner, in 1853 and 1858, respectively, she was given an annual allowance by her trustees which was at her disposal. On 24 December (in Denmark called Christmas Eve Day), she decided to buy the painting for 1,200 rigsdaler. In a letter to Jerichau-Baumann sent earlier the same day, she had described how she kept dreaming of the mermaid, both while asleep and awake, but how buying the painting would mean that she spent her entire annual allowance all at once. In a letter to Henriette Scavenius, Hans Christian Andersen commented on the sale and that he found the price rather high. The painting was a few months later presented to the public at the annual Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition. Zahrtmann was married to Christian Conrad, Count Danneskiold-Samsøe the following year.
Another mermaid painting was completed in June 1862. Baumann brought it with her to London for exhibition at the World's Fair. Baumann hoped that the Shah of Persia, whom she met at an event in Buckingham Palace, would be interested in the painting, but in her memoirs she comments that "he passed me without even seeing me, I guess I wasn't young enough to attract his attention". The painting was for sale for £200 (1800 rigsdaler) but failed to find a buyer. In a registry from 1883, Jerichau-Baumann's 1863 mermaid painting is recorded as belonging to Countess V. Danneskjold-Samsøe.
On 2 April 1868, Baumann gave one of her mermaid paintings to Hans Christian Andersen as a birthday present. Andersen thanked her with a small poem in an undated letter:You master the splendour of colours!A soul you have placed in the mermaid’s eyes:A wink from you, from the spirit’s power!My gratitude here expressed in mere wordsOne of Jerichau-Baumann's mermaid paintings (97×130 cm) belonged to baroness Sophie Lerche.
World's Fair rigsdaler Christian Conrad, Count Danneskiold-Samsøe Buckingham Palace London Hans Christian Andersen mermaid