Eugene Barilo von Reisberg has this among his notes about this portrait, "...The black dress of the countess reflects her status as widow (her husband died in 1847), but also as a sign of mourning for her father, Wilhelm Malthus, 1st Fürst v.u.z. Putbus who died in September 1854. The portrait, therefore, was quite likely to have been commissioned to commemorate her succession to her father’s sovereign titles, and would have been painted in the late autumn or early winter of 1854, which also explains the reason why the countess poses wrapped in furs..." These notes also include good biographical information.
From the Sotheby's site.
Gräfin Clothilde sports a full neo-hurluberlu coiffure above her subdued mourning dress in this Winterhalter portrait.
Keywords: 1854, Winterhalter, Clothilde von Wylich und Lottum, Gräfin von Wylich und Lottum, zu Putbus family, von Wylich und Lottum family, Countess, German, neo-hurluberlu coiffure, vee décolletage, lace collar, ruching, close sleeves, fur stole, mourning dress