Flanking the mirror in a carved walnut frame are portraits of Menshikov's daughters Maria and Alexandra, by the German artist Johann Gottfried Tannauer.
Maria's first fiance was Piotr Sapieha, a member of the distinguished, all-powerful, extremely rich Polish-Lithuanian princely clan. But that marriage did not take place. Menshikov obtained Catherine I's consent to Maria's betrothal to Peter the Great's grandson Peter (the future Emperor Peter II). But again his far-reaching plans were not destined to come to fruition. Intrigues led to Menshikov and his family being banished to Siberia. The Emperor broke off his engagement to Maria who left St Petersburg with the rest of the family and died in Beriozov in 1729. Empress Anna Ioannovna brought the surviving Menshikov children back from exile. Alexandra was given in marriage to Gustav Biron, the younger brother of the Empress's favourite, but died in childbirth in 1736.