This is a small portrait bust of the Russian dancer and teacher, Princess Serafina Astafieva, whose teaching provided a direct link between Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and British dancers of the second half of the 20th century. She was born in St Petersburg in 1876, studied at St Petersburg Theatre School and graduated into the Maryinsky Ballet in 1895, a year later marrying the famous character dancer Jozef Kshessinsky. Astafieva subsequently danced with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes from 1909 to 1911. She later opened a school in London where her pupils included Alicia Markova, Anton Dolin and Margot Fonteyn. The bust by Emmy Haskell dates from about 1927.

Serafina Astafieva died in 1934 and there is a blue plaque outside The Pheasantry, her former studio at 152 Kings Road, where Diaghilev was a frequent visitor. The Pheasantry currently (2005) houses apartments, shops and a restaurant which has retained Madame Astafieva's mirrors and practice barre as a feature on the first floor.