Alexandra Fedorovna's jewelry. Treasures of the Romanovs
The luxury and radiance of the exhibits of the Diamond Fund just rolls over. Despite the fact that many jewels were sold at auctions by the Bolsheviks, this museum has something to be proud of.
The Diamond Fund is located in the building of the Armory, it occupies two halls.
Peter I can rightfully be considered its founder. It was he who in 1719 collected all the jewels for storage in one of the rooms. In the middle of the 18th century they were moved to the Winter Palace, to the Diamond Room.
But the war began, and in the summer of 2014 the collection was urgently evacuated to Moscow. They were brought in eight chests without any inventory and transfer certificates. Also, without verification, they were accepted.
For almost eight years they lay in the cellars of the Kremlin, littered with other goods. And only in 1922 the treasure chests were handed over to the Gokhran, where they took up their disassembly and census. And, starting from 1926 to 1938, on the personal instructions of Lenin and the Soviet government, a lot of jewelry was sold at auctions in Europe and New York. But then they stopped anyway.
"Seven Wonders of the Diamond Fund"
An amazingly transparent 189 carat diamond, iridescent greenish and blue. The largest and most valuable diamond in the collection. It has 180 facets and is shaped like an Indian rose. Initially, the diamond was in India, but as a result of a series of abductions and sales, it ended up with Count Orlov. And he, in turn, presented it to Catherine II.
This is the second most valuable diamond in the collection, also distinguished by perfect transparency, weighing 88 carats. Found in India, it has almost retained its original shape, with only a few faces slightly tweaked. On this diamond, inscriptions made in Persian are clearly visible - these are the names of its three previous owners. In 1824, for the purpose of reconciliation, this magnificent diamond was brought as a gift to Nicholas I after the cruel massacre in Tehran of Alexander Griboyedov, our ambassador, diplomat and famous writer.
Diamond-"portrait"
One of the largest, so-called portrait, diamonds. It has a flat shape and an area of 7.5 square centimeters. And since this diamond is also completely transparent, it can be used as a portrait, which, in fact, was done - a portrait of the emperor was placed under it.
The weight of this magnificent, unusually transparent gem is 399 carats. It is he who adorns the Russian Great Imperial Crown.
It is also one of the most famous and valuable stones, its weight is 136 carats. It has a very beautiful rich color and stepped cut. Looks very nice framed with diamonds and silver vine leaves.
Legendary, the world's largest faceted sapphire of 260 carats. Its upper surface has more than a hundred faces. This beautiful stone in an openwork frame, emphasizing its beauty, Alexander II acquired in 1862 in London for his wife.
A completely unique stone weighing 192.6 carats, extremely transparent, with a magnificent cut.
In addition to these unique diamonds, the museum has other exclusive exhibits and, first of all, these are the main regalia of the monarchy.
Imperial scepter
The scepter with a double-headed eagle on top was made for Catherine II. Since 1774, it has been adorned with the luxurious Orlov diamond, a gift from the count to his empress.
Imperial power
Title="Imperial orb 1762 Gold, diamonds, sapphire (200 carats), diamond (46.92 carats), silver
Height with cross 24 cm Ball circumference 48 cm" border="0" vspace="5">!}
Orb Imperial 1762 Gold, diamonds, sapphire (200 carats), diamond (46.92 carats), silver
Height with cross 24 cm Ball circumference 48 cm
The power, otherwise called the "Royal Apple", is a creation of the jeweler Eckart, made for the coronation of Catherine II. Already under Emperor Paul I, it was additionally decorated with a magnificent sapphire and diamond.
Grand Crown of the Russian Empire
This crown, rightfully considered the most beautiful and expensive in the world, is the creation of the court jewelers Georg-Friedrich Eckart and Jeremiah Pauzier. It was also created on behalf of Catherine II for her coronation in 1762 in record time - in just two months. After the revolution, this main symbol of the Russian Empire was in Ireland for about 30 years, the crown was transferred there as a pledge for the financial assistance provided. They were able to redeem this masterpiece only in 1950, then the crown returned to Moscow.
Other museum exhibits
Small Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire
Previously, it was assumed that it was made for Elizabeth Alekseevna by the Duval brothers. Now they believe that the crown was created by the jeweler Zeftigen for Maria Alexandrovna.
Crown of Empress Anna Ioannovna
A magnificent crown, sparkling with two and a half thousand precious stones inlaid in its silver frame. Dark red tourmaline taken from the crown of Catherine I was also used as decoration.
Diamond tiara Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna
This tiara, adorned with a pink diamond, is from the wedding set of the Grand Duchesses of the Romanov dynasty.
Large agraph buckle and earrings
The portrait of the emperor is not enclosed under glass, it is covered with an extraordinary diamond of rare purity.
Signs of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called
Order hat decoration
One of the badges of the Order of St. Catherine.
Order of the Golden Fleece
This ancient and honorary order was established in 1429. They were awarded only to representatives of the most ancient noble families.
Medallion with emerald
"Big Bouquet"
Portbouquet
This decoration was pinned on the dress as a miniature vase, into which a small bouquet of fresh flowers was inserted.
tourmaline pink
The stone of rare beauty was presented to Catherine II by King Gustav III of Sweden in 1777 during his visit to Russia. For a long time it was believed that it was a ruby. Its engraving in the form of a bunch of grapes is very unusual.
Parure "Bow-clavage" of Empress Catherine II
Title="Clavage bow and earrings of Empress Catherine II. Silver, diamonds, spinels, gold
11.5x11 cm. 1764. Master Leopold Pfisterer" border="0" vspace="5">!}
Klavage bow and earrings of Empress Catherine II. Silver, diamonds, spinels, gold
11.5x11 cm. 1764. Master Leopold Pfisterer
A clave is a small necklace worn on wide ribbon from lace or velvet. Although in fact the necklace is quite massive, but it looks very light, openwork.
There are jewels of the royal Russian court among.
When the Danish king was informed of the death of his aunt on October 19, 1928, he could hardly contain a sigh of relief. In recent years, the presence of the Dowager Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna in Copenhagen has caused a lot of trouble... Behind the funeral chores, Christian X did not even immediately remember the empress's casket, in which she kept the jewelry taken out of Russia. Giving shelter to the old woman, Christian believed that some part of her treasures would have to go to him, but the casket disappeared!
The joy of Christian X was so great that, during the funeral chores, he did not even immediately remember the casket of the Empress, in which she kept the jewelry taken out of Russia. Sometimes she put on some kind of brooch or necklace, and then rarely anyone who saw it did not have a feeling of inferiority. Giving shelter to the old woman, Christian believed that some part of her treasures would have to go to him, but the casket disappeared, and the feeling of relief from the aunt's death was replaced by rage, and then anger. And he took it out on the youngest daughter of the Empress Olga Alexandrovna ...
Three days later, the loss of the casket became known in Moscow. And although they were only a small fraction of the royal treasures left in Russia, there was still a danger that the proceeds from them would be used against the USSR. It was decided to find out who and for what purpose stole the imperial casket.
hidden treasures
“The treasure, in addition to brooches, necklaces, bracelets and collars embroidered with diamonds, also included several Easter eggs made by Faberge” Born Princess of Denmark Maria-Sophia-Frederika-Dagmara was born on November 26, 1847 in Copenhagen in the family of King Christian IX and Queen Louise. Among her many brothers and sisters, she was distinguished by her special beauty and strength of character.
She was not yet sixteen when she was married to the eldest son of the Russian Emperor Alexander II, Nicholas, but he died young, having managed to ask for his younger brother fulfill their marriage obligations. And on September 1, 1866, on the Danish ship Schleswig, accompanied by the royal yacht Standard, the princess left Copenhagen. One of the legends says that almost all Danes saw her off, and Hans Christian Andersen, who knew the princess from childhood, even seemed to predict her long happy, but in the end full of tragic losses life.
And so it happened. The marriage with Alexander III turned out to be quite happy. The children were loved and respected. At the same time, everyone, knowing Maria Fedorovna's reverent attitude to her own beauty (she was almost the first to use subcutaneous injections to smooth wrinkles) and her love for jewelry, gave her jewelry for all family and religious holidays. It was they who made up the contents of the notorious casket of the Empress. According to the description of one of the connoisseurs, made even before the revolution, in addition to brooches, necklaces, bracelets and collars embroidered with diamonds, the treasure also included several Easter eggs made by Faberge (including the famous Colonnade egg), low black pearls , a lot of emeralds, green as a jungle, sapphires shining like an oriental night, diamonds of the purest water, rare Byzantine jewelry, a large number of rubies, ruby tiara with large diamonds, a set of pink diamonds, as well as a belt of diamonds and diamonds.
Casket with masterpieces jewelry art Maria Fedorovna always carried with her. He was with her during a difficult conversation with her son, when Nicholas II decided to abdicate the throne. And in Kyiv, where she went after that. And in the Crimea, where she was overtaken by the news of the execution of the royal family. And, finally, on board the English battleship Marlboro, which took her and her daughters to Europe, where a real treasure hunt began.
But for all the time of a rather modest life in Europe - Queen Alexandra literally forced her son to give her aunt a pension of 10 thousand pounds - the Empress did not sell a single piece of jewelry. Possession of them still distinguished her from other monarchs - none of them had anything like that!
Will
Unlike Olga, last years caring for her sick mother, Ksenia lived pretty well in London. She became friends with May, she was given one of the royal cottages to live in, and her many children were quite well arranged. Suffice it to say that the eldest daughter of Xenia Alexandrovna - the beautiful Irina - was married to Rasputin's killer Felix Yusupov. And this family, possessing innumerable riches, always kept some of them abroad.
Olga married for love. Her marriage to Nikolai Kulikovsky was recognized as morganatic, and therefore she could not count on the help of royal relatives.
Maria Feodorovna died on October 19, 1928 at the Villa Widøre in Copenhagen, bought by her together with her sister Alexandra (the Dowager of England). And the day after the funeral, her will was opened. According to him, with the exception of a small allowance to the servants who arrived with her from Russia, the empress bequeathed all her property (including jewelry!) to her daughters. At the same time, the shares of both Xenia and Olga were determined to be the same. But the notorious casket was no longer in Copenhagen by the time the will was announced.
Having learned about the absence of the casket and without even trying to find out who and when stole it, Christian X blamed Olga Alexandrovna for everything. Having summoned her, he sank to the square and announced that "from now on he will cross out the Russian cousin not only from his relatives, but also from his acquaintances."
Olga Alexandrovna's husband, in order to feed his family, was forced to get a job as a groom - he was not taken to a more prestigious job in Denmark, while the daughter of Alexander III herself was starving for several days. Only in 1932, when the Widöre villa was sold almost for next to nothing, Olga and her husband bought a small farm in Ballerup, and until leaving for Canada in 1948, her family lived exclusively by peasant labor.
But here, too, the vindictive cousin insisted that Olga's share in the proceeds from the sale of Vidöre should be set at only two-fifths. The rest of the amount was sent to Xenia, who even before that had taken all the most valuable things from the house, including the famous limousine of the Empress of the Belleville brand.
While the Danish king "showed nobility" in relation to his Russian cousin, Moscow already knew where the casket had disappeared so quickly. Perhaps this was due to the proximity of one of the agents to the last tsarist finance minister P. L. Bark. After the revolution, he emigrated and worked as an adviser to the director of the British Bank.
It was Bark who was instructed to take out the jewels. And, having arrived in Copenhagen, he first met with Xenia, who was there. And she secretly gave him jewelry.
Undescribed Collection
The casket was opened six months after the death of Maria Feodorovna on May 22, 1929. Here is how the manager of the royal finances, Sir F. Ponsonby, who was present with him, describes this event: “The box was with me. The Queen and the Grand Duchess entered, who made sure that the ribbon with which the box was sealed was not damaged. Then they opened it and began to get jewelry. Below the wonderful pearls, selected by size, the largest pearl was the size of a cherry. Cabochon emeralds, large rubies and magnificent sapphires were laid out in heaps. I saw nothing more, because I considered my presence inappropriate.
In general, in this case there are no more or less complete inventories of the property left after Maria Feodorovna. Okay, there are jewels - the manner of describing private collections and compiling their catalogs appeared a little later. But even the catalog of the property sold at the auction of Villa Videre has not been preserved. But he was: there is a number of evidence that a number of things went to buyers who acted through intermediaries who got acquainted with the lots precisely from the catalog. The same Queen May acquired some of the things that belonged to the Empress, but in the English archives, no descriptions and catalogs have either been preserved, or they are still not being issued. In the 1980s, the author heard that a similar catalog was in the archives of the Lubyanka - sent by one of the agents who were instructed to investigate this case. But when in the early nineties there was an opportunity to get acquainted with the description of the trades in Wider, he was gone.
The first "lit up" was the wife of the already mentioned Bark. At one of the receptions, an emerald bracelet with diamonds was noticed on her. When the lady was asked where she got this thing from, she left the answer, but she did not deny that she belonged to the imperial collection: “This is a memory of our dear empress.” Most likely, Bark received the bracelet as payment for the brilliantly executed operation to steal the casket from Copenhagen.
A number of items - pearl collars, a corsage of diamonds ... - ended up in the hands of the wives of English bankers and Wall Street businessmen. They were most likely sold by the Grand Duchess Xenia. Until her death in 1960, she considered it necessary to help all her relatives, with the exception of a distressed sister and nephews.
But the most valuable items of the collection ended up in the possession of the English Queen May and, after her death, adorned numerous ladies of the Windsor dynasty. So, a brooch with a huge oval sapphire with a diamond clasp and a drop-shaped pearl pendant, which was given to Maria Feodorovna by her father-in-law Alexander II, can often be seen on the current Queen of England, Elizabeth II. And the oval diamond brooch with a clasp, presented to the Empress by her husband, is on the Duchess of Kent. In the same family, a V-shaped diamond tiara with a sapphire in the center was also seen, in which Maria Feodorovna is depicted in many pre-revolutionary photographs. And a collar made of diamonds and pearls, which adorned it during the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.
Bolshevik dumping
The history of imperial jewelry began to be actively discussed in the 60s of the last century after the publication of an authorized biography of Olga Alexandrovna Romanova-Kulikovskaya. She herself, in a conversation with a journalist, avoided this topic in every possible way, but he still felt her resentment because of the forced poverty of her family.
At the same time, the first explanations of how and when the English royal family acquired the royal jewels appeared. A statement from the royal court came out that they were acquired legally, but when restless journalists began to seek the amount that was paid to Xenia Romanova for her mother's jewelry, discrepancies began.
It turned out that the very next day after the opening of the casket, one of the co-owners of the Hennel and Sons jewelry company, Mr. Hardy, was invited to Buckingham Palace. He, after a preliminary and rather cursory assessment, offered 100,000 pounds as security for the imperial jewels, which, based on jewelry practice, amounted to no more than 10-15% of the amount for which the jewelry could be sold. That is, they cost at least 700 thousand, which, in terms of the current exchange rate, is approximately 12 million pounds sterling. However, they refused the services of a jeweler, saying that no one was going to sell jewelry.
In any case, the question arose of how 700 thousand turned into 100, which were either paid or not.
And then, in order to muffle the "diamond scandal", out of nowhere, a witness appeared who claimed that some amount of money was paid to Ksenia Alexandrovna, but it was not 700, not 350, not 100 thousand, but about 40 - 60 thousand pounds: since at the beginning of the thirties the treasures of the Romanovs sold by the Bolsheviks flooded the market, and the empress's jewelry, they say, then no longer cost.
Helping relatives at their own expense
The scandal in the English press had been going on for about a year, and perhaps the appearance of a new witness would have helped to drown it out - well, who, in fact, will delve into stock reports of such a prescription to find out how much in the price of diamonds?
Rumors of the English scandal reached Canada, where the Romanov-Kulikovskiys moved after the Second World War. Olga Alexandrovna died in 1960, but her youngest son Gury Nikolaevich Kulikovsky was alive. In 1965, he turned to Khennel for an explanation: how many items were sold, for what amounts, who is their current owner?
For some time, Khennel did not respond to inquiries, then it said that information about the new owners of Maria Feodorovna's jewelry was a trade secret, while a list of items put up for sale could be obtained for 80 guineas, that is, for 225 Canadian dollars.
Guriy Nikolaevich, who lived rather modestly like his mother, sent the required amount to London, but never received a catalog of grandmother's jewelry. Representatives of "Hennel" even got lost in the number of items sold through their firm. There were either 65 or 76 of them, and for some reason only 24 items were mentioned in one letter.
In the end, Kulikovsky’s correspondence with the jewelry company died out, but in one of the interviews given before his death in 1984, Gury Nikolayevich suggested that only the part that went to his aunt was sold through Khennel, while the Windsor collection was replenished with items selected by May for free. And the English queen took them in compensation for a pension of 10 thousand pounds, which the British paid to her grandmother when she lived in exile.
"Why aggravate relations?"
Neither Olga Alexandrovna nor her sons ever challenged Xenia's personal distribution of her mother's inheritance. The Grand Duchess patiently and courageously endured the blows of fate and did not raise the issue of inheritance even at the only meeting with her cousin May, which took place in 1949, when the Kulikovsky family moved to Canada.
When a journalist working on her biography asked Olga Alexandrovna why she did not do this, she replied: “Why aggravate relations?”
The story of the empress's casket, which surfaced only decades after the death of Maria Feodorovna, left its mark on international relations, however. The British were the only ones who in the thirties did not protest against the sale of the royal property by the Bolsheviks. Apparently, they understood (or were they given to understand this?) that they were not entirely honest with their relatives.
Since photographs of the jewelry of the Russian Empress have not been preserved, sketches of Russian court jewelers are used in this post. Perhaps it was precisely such jewelry that was kept in the casket of the Empress.
Jewelry collection of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, like all German princesses, came to Russia with a very modest set of girlish rings. On the other hand, she was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England, and her jewelry collection began to form from childhood. As you know, gifts for Christmas, birthdays and namesakes were obligatory.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in one of the crown diadems
After acquiring the status of empress in November 1894, Alexandra Feodorovna had at her disposal financial resources that were completely prohibitive for her. But at the same time, she completely retained the habit of taking care of money. At first, she was wary of large expenses, so common for the Russian Imperial Court, gradually getting used to the amounts of bills. Over time, having received the levers of managing the family's finances, she still treated every ruble as if it were the last in the family wallet. Alexandra Fedorovna always remembered that a rainy day could come at any moment. Therefore, she was very sensitive to jewelry, realizing that their compactness and great value could help the family out if this rainy day came.
During the 23 years of the reign of Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna became a very rich woman. One of the manifestations of this wealth was her jewelry collection. By 1917, she had a brilliantly curated collection of jewelry worth a fabulous sum. According to some estimates, its value was about 50 million dollars in 1917 prices. It is noteworthy that Alexandra Feodorovna kept her collection of jewelry literally at hand, in her bedroom in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoye Selo. Part of the collection was kept by half of the imperial family in the Winter Palace. These jewels were not dead weight. Alexandra Feodorovna actively used them both in Everyday life as well as during the parade.
The beginning of the formation of the jewelry collection of Alexandra Feodorovna was laid in April 1894 during the already mentioned engagement in Coburg with the heir-tsarevich of the Russian Empire. Then the wedding gift of the Tsarevich was a ring with a pink pearl, a pearl necklace, a brooch made of sapphires and diamonds, a unique chain-bracelet with a large emerald pendant. Future father-in-law Alexander III sent his daughter-in-law a luxurious pearl necklace.
Large tiara with pearls. Work of the first quarter of the XIX century.
Speaking about the formation of the jewelry collection of Alexandra Feodorovna, one should also take into account the peculiarities of the relationship between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law. There was an immediate tension between them. There were many reasons. We have already mentioned that the wedding ceremony of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna took place exactly one week after the funeral of Alexander III. Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna, studded with crown diamonds, of course, made the prescribed happy face, but what did it cost her ... On November 16, 1896, she wrote to her son George: “For me it was a real nightmare and such suffering ... To be obliged to appear in public like this with broken, bleeding heart - it was more than a sin, and I still do not understand how I could have decided on this.
Among other things, there was the question of the use of crown jewels. The fact is that while still being the reigning empress, Maria Feodorovna, using her right, picked up a collection from among the crown diamonds, which had no equal. Having been widowed, she continued to wear them, since, according to the decree of Paul I, the dowager empress had the right of primacy over the ruling empress. Alexandra Feodorovna was ambitious and noted for herself that the Empress Mother was not going to cede crown diamonds to her. It was not even about the uniqueness or high cost of these products. It was about the women's championship. In 1894, Alexandra Feodorovna turned 22, and the Dowager Empress Mother turned 47, but she was not going to give up the battlefield at all. Therefore, Alexandra Feodorovna was forced to use those decorations that “the princess traditionally wore; besides, she had at her disposal large and old-fashioned diadems of Catherine II, which turned out to be too heavy for Empress Maria. In part, this prompted her to form her own jewelry collection.
Let us also mention that the desire of the young empress to form her jewelry collection, including items in the Art Nouveau style she loved so much, caused misunderstanding in the high society of St. Petersburg. One of the memoirists mentioned in her diary on November 1, 1897: “The young queen is so spoiled that she does not like anything, the most expensive diamonds and so on. “Everything is not enough for her, she doesn’t like everything.”
The Empress, like any woman with opportunities, loved and understood jewelry. For 1895–1896 Alexandra Fedorovna bought a lot of jewelry. Bulk purchases of jewelry by the Empress began in 1896. In May and June, two bills (for 3,025 rubles and 420 rubles) were received from C. Faberge. Among the items purchased are a green enamel cigarette case (750 rubles), an electric lamp "Dolphin" (800 rubles), etc. litter on the account of Nicholas II: "Underlined prices in half Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and I."
The Empress, like the entire royal family, highly appreciated the talent of the masters of the Faberge firm and bought things from his firm until 1917. Of course, for the imperial couple jewelry did not focus only on things “about Faberge”. The couple willingly bought jewelry from other craftsmen, including items “by the artist Tifany”. From February to March 1899 in St. Petersburg in the Museum of Baron Stieglitz there was an International Art Exhibition organized by the editors of the magazine "World of Art". This exhibition was visited by the imperial couple and diplomatically purchased two vases "from Tifany" for 353 rubles. However, vases "by Tifany" were only an episode, and things "by Faberge" were everyday life.
So, in 1896, the Empress bought a lot of little things in Carl Faberge's shop, but for a very decent amount - 8899 rubles. 50 kop. Among them were animal figurines (21 pieces), three pairs of cufflinks, two crosses, 11 photo frames, a glass, a cup, a buckle, a fold, a scapular, a medallion, two magnifiers, a pagoda, an easel, a notebook, a pin and a knife. Judging by the date, they were gifts for Christmas.
Then, in January 1896, the young Empress Alexandra Feodorovna took part for the first time in a series of traditional large imperial balls in the Winter Palace. Naturally, the young spouses were worried about how their debut would go in a new capacity?
On January 11, 1896, the first big court ball took place. Taking into account the fact that this was the first ball of the new reign, quite a lot of invitations were sent out (3500), in fact, 2500 people came to the ball. Naturally, the ladies carefully traced all the features of the Empress' outfit and, of course, her jewelry. One of the memoirists mentioned that Nicholas II was in a “scarlet horse guard uniform”, and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was “in a pale green” dress “with rubies”.
Emperor Nicholas II absorbed the Russianness of his father from childhood. And he, in turn, continued the tradition of "historical" balls. To some extent, this was a demonstration of ideological continuity. The grand costume ball held in the Winter Palace in 1903 was the last big ball of the Empire that was remembered by contemporaries. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich wrote in his Memoirs: “On January 22, 1903, ‘all’ Petersburg danced in the Winter Palace. I remember this date exactly, as it was the last big court ball in the history of the empire.” Let us clarify that there were big balls in the Winter Palace later, but it was this ball that ran into the memory of contemporaries as “the last ball of the Empire”.
Nicholas II in fancy dress. 1903
Given the scale of the action, dozens of tailors were involved in preparing the costumes. Just as during the historical ball of 1883, archival research was carried out in order to create the effect of maximum reliability of the costumes of the times of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
Note that the "small royal outfit" of Nicholas II was, indeed, partly genuine. The sketch of the costume for the tsar was developed by the director of the Hermitage, I.A. Vsevolozhsky and the artist of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theaters E.P. Ponomarev. Fabrics were ordered from the supplier of the Imperial Court, the Sapozhnikovs' firm - two types of velvet and golden brocade. 38 original items of royal costumes of the 17th century were discharged from the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. Of these, 16 items were selected for the costume of Nicholas II. Among them are pearl wrists that belonged to the son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsar Fedor Ioannovich. As an addition to the costume, they used an authentic baton of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The buttons and stripes on the suit were Russian work of the 17th century.
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich. 1903
The costume for the tsar was sewn by theatrical costume designer of the Imperial Theaters I.I. Kaffi, who was assisted by two dressmakers whose names have not been preserved. The royal cap was made in the hat workshop of the Bruno brothers, suppliers of the Imperial Court since 1872.
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich described the costumes of the ball participants as follows: “Xenia was in the outfit of a noblewoman, richly embroidered, shining with jewels, which suited her very well. I was dressed in a falconer's dress, which consisted of a white and gold caftan, with golden eagles sewn on the chest and back, a pink silk shirt, blue trousers and yellow morocco boots. The rest of the guests followed the whims of their imagination and taste, remaining, however, within the epoch of the 17th century ... Alix looked amazing, but the sovereign was not tall enough for his luxurious outfit. At the ball there was a competition for the championship between Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (Ella) and Princess Zinaida Yusupova. ... The ball was a great success and was repeated in all details a week later in the house of the richest Count A.D. Sheremetev".
The famous ball was preceded by only one dress rehearsal, which took place February 10, 1903 All the dancers rehearsed the intended action in the Pavilion Hall of the Winter Palace. All the ladies were in sarafans and kokoshniks, the men were in costumes of archers, falconers, etc. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna personally looked at the prepared “material” and her elder sister Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. It was assumed that in these costumes will pass three balls.
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna. 1903
The next day, 11 February, took place first ball. In the evening, the guests began to gather in the Romanov Gallery of the Winter Palace. Then the participants, marching in pairs, gave a Russian bow to the hosts of the ball in the Great (Nikolaev) Hall. Then there was a concert at the Hermitage Theatre. After the performance in the Pavilion Hall, the participants of the ball danced "Russian". Dinner was held in the Spanish, Italian and Flemish halls of the Hermitage, where an evening table was served. Then the participants of the ball proceeded again to the Pavilion Hall, and the evening ended with dancing.
February 13 1903 took place second part of the ball. 65 dancing officers in costumes of the 17th century took part. Members of the royal family gathered in the Malachite Hall, the rest in the adjacent premises. At 11 p.m., all participants moved to the Concert Hall, where behind a gilded lattice on the podium there was a court orchestra dressed as trumpeters of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and 34 round tables for dinner. Buffets were located in the Concert Hall and the Small Dining Room, tables with wine and tea - in the Malachite Dining Room. After dinner, the hosts returned to the Concert Hall and danced until one in the morning. General waltzes, quadrilles and mazurkas began after the performance of three specially prepared dances: Russian, round dance and dance. Cavaliers were cavalry guards, horse guards and uhlans.
The 14th of February the final third the ball, which took place in the house of Count A.D. Sheremetev.
As we already mentioned, part of the jewelry from the costume of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna is still in the Diamond Fund of the Moscow Kremlin.
Alexandra Feodorovna retained her jewelry preferences literally until 1917. If we look at the accounts of the Empress for 1914, we will also see three solid bills from Carl Faberge's shop: August 17 - for 1245 rubles; August 22 - for 25,560 rubles. and December 18 - for 1845 rubles.
Commenting on the dynamics and range of jewelry acquisitions of the Empress in 1914, I would like to note that purchases for very serious sums were made by the Empress in the second half of August 1914, when Russia had already entered the First World War. At the same time, a number of studies rightly draw attention to the fact that after the start of the war, the volume of purchases in the shops of Faberge and other jewelers increased sharply. This is explained by the fact that after the outbreak of the war, the Russian aristocracy began to invest free funds in jewelry, insuring their savings in case of military upheavals and inflation. In this context, an invoice dated August 22, 1914 from Faberge for 25,560 rubles. very characteristic, especially since the practicality of the Empress is well known.
The Empress also bought jewelry from other craftsmen. For example, Edward Bolin. In 1895, he presented the Empress with two invoices (January 23 and March 9) for Easter gifts. Among the purchased jewelry, there are a diamond brooch (120 rubles), a blue enamel egg with roses (45 rubles), a red enamel egg (70 rubles), a ruby egg with diamonds (60 rubles), a red enamel egg with roses (45 rubles). .). Only 340 rubles.
On two May invoices (May 13 and 28), the following items were purchased: a ring with a sapphire and diamonds (320 rubles), a bracelet with a sapphire and diamonds (1300 rubles), a necklace and two bracelets with rubies and diamonds (4440 rubles). Alexandra Fedorovna bought all these things in half with her husband.
Also among the jewelers of the Empress, the names of Butz, Gan, Gau, Grachev, Kekhli, Kuznetsov, Lyubavin, Ovchinnikov are constantly mentioned. Most of the purchased jewelry was given as a gift. To whom and what did they give? Gifts were given to relatives, dignitaries close to the court, maids of honor, doctors, etc. It is curious that even servants were honored with jewelry gifts. So, at the end of 1895, Alexandra Feodorovna, having “dropped off” with Nicholas II, presented the village nurse Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna with a “modest” golden parure for 200 rubles.
Jewelers were also ordered such exclusive items as a stone jade seal engraved with the Small Emblem of the Empress (450 rubles) and a steel seal engraved with the Small Emblem of the Empress (240 rubles).
A significant part of the jewelry collection of Alexandra Feodorovna was made up of gifts from relatives. Every year, on a name day and namesake, she received gifts from her husband, mother-in-law and numerous relatives. In addition, according to tradition, after the birth of children, a grateful husband gave his wife expensive jewelry gifts.
Nicholas II was impressed by his wife's weakness for jewelry. The Empress knew how to impress, appearing at official exits studded with diamonds. Nicholas II constantly gave his wife expensive jewelry gifts. Some idea about them can be obtained from the letters of the camera-frau of Empress M.I. Geringer. There are references that in May 1903 the tsar presented Alexandra Feodorovna with a diamond brooch with pink topazes. In June 1903, on his name day, Nicholas II presented his wife with a cross adorned with 11 large diamonds, a large brooch with five large and nine small aquamarines, and a Galique comb with three large and small diamonds. A silver chain with 12 balls made of various precious stones was presented by her elder sister, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. At Christmas 1902, Nicholas II presented Alexandra Feodorovna with a diadem adorned with small diamonds and five pink topazes. And there are many such examples.
I.S. Galkin. Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. 1894
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. 1899
Since the royal spouses were few places, leading a secluded life, having moved to live in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoye Selo, the Empress used her jewelry collection to appear daily at dinner (at 8 pm) "in an open dress and diamonds."
This family tradition dressing diamonds for dinner was preserved regardless of where the imperial couple was, in their permanent residence or on vacation, on the imperial yacht Shtandart. On the yacht, as in the palace, dinner began at 8 pm. By dinner, all those invited changed their clothes, and after everyone gathered in the large dining room of the yacht, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna came out. Unlike Nicholas II, who in everyday life was quite democratic, of course, not for a second forgetting that he was the emperor and dozens of eyes were constantly fixed on him, Alexandra Feodorovna always demonstrated that she empress, and she is came out“in the mass of precious stones, and this assortment changed every day; if the empress was wearing diamonds, then they were on her head, in a diadem, and on her hands, in bracelets and various brooches. If it was emeralds, then everything consisted of them, as with sapphires and rubies.
K.E. Makovsky. Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in coronation dress
Lily Den, who entered Alexandra Feodorovna's inner circle in the last years before the revolution, testified that "the Empress really loved rings and bracelets and always wore a ring with a large pearl, as well as a cross studded with precious stones (probably sapphires)." The officer of the yacht "Standard" mentions that "usually the empress wore, in addition to her wedding ring, only one huge pearl and an emerald, rather unimportant, but probably expensive from some memory."
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in the Lilac Drawing Room of the Alexander Palace
Few people outside the imperial family knew about the jewelry collection of the Empress. She did not like to shine in society, neglecting even the obligatory official ceremonies. Therefore, by the spring of 1917, the Provisional Government did not have accurate information about the structure and value of the Empress's jewelry collection. The "temporaries" simply asked to transfer the jewelry "for safekeeping" to the new authorities.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in the Maple Room of the Alexander Palace
It should be noted that in the jewelry collection of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, along with items of colossal value, there were rather cheap gizmos, dear to members of the imperial family for the memories with which they were associated. For example, in summer season In 1909, the officers of the imperial yacht "Standard" "introduced the custom of bringing small gifts to the princesses on the day of the angel and birthday, and this year Tatyana Nikolaevna received the first brooch, which depicted a lifebuoy made of white enamel, with a wind vane. The Grand Duchess was very proud that she was the first to receive this trifle, and not any jewel from Faberge. It is characteristic that the memoirist emphasizes the fact that the officers ordered the trinket not from the officially familiar Faberge, but from the ordinary St. Petersburg jeweler Kortman.
Returning to the summer of 1917, it must be said that Alexandra Fedorovna handed over to the Provisional Government what was well known: the famous Easter eggs masters K. Faberge and a number of products that were difficult to transport. And since the Provisional Government began to rapidly grow political problems, Alexandra Fedorovna managed to keep almost her entire collection of jewelry and she took some of it to Tobolsk, and then to Yekaterinburg.
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From the author's bookAnnex 2 Jewelry collection of Grand Duchess Olga
Quote message Jewelry of the royal house of the Romanovs.
The Russian imperial crown truly possessed fabulous wealth. Each piece of jewelry has its own story. Let's admire some of them, included not only in the history of jewelry art, but also in the history of Russia.
Miniature portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna framed with pearls by Johannes Zengraf. The red enamel frame in the shape of a heart is made using a complex guilloche technique. Idea - Faberge, master - Mikhail Perkhin. Maria Feodorovna presented this portrait to her own sister Tira, Duchess of Cumberland on Christmas Day 1905.
Miniature folding polyptych with portraits of the children of Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna, under which their dates of birth are indicated (from left to right: Nicholas, the future Emperor Nicholas II, George, Xenia, Mikhail and Olga) Faberge's idea, performed by master Mikhail Perkhin (until 1896) . Gold, enamel. The rocaille ornament, including motifs of flowers and leaves, is not repeated on any of the five wings of the fold.
The cipher in the form of the letter "M" - the initial letter of the name of Maria Feodorovna, crowned with the imperial crown. Apparently, this maid of honor cipher was worn on the blue ribbon of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called by one of the empress's confidantes.
A diadem made for Empress Maria Feodorovna in the early 1880s. All pearls - from the vault of His Majesty's cabinet - amaze with their impeccable regular shape and amazing brilliance.
On the right is a brooch from the parure mentioned above. In the center - a bracelet of three strands of oriental pearls with a clasp of an oval sapphire weighing more than 20 carats, bordered with diamonds. On the left - a brooch with a pearl, bordered with diamonds of impeccable purity, a pinkish diamond of a classic round cut weighing 9 old carats is attached to the brooch, below - a pendant of a pink oval pearl, edged with round yellowish diamonds.
Diamond necklace with drop-shaped pearls in pendants. From a parure created for Empress Marie Feodorovna in the early 1880s.
Magnificent collier russe (Russian necklace), presumably dating from the early 19th century. Indian and Brazilian diamonds set in gold and silver. The necklace can also be worn as a tiare russe - a tiara sewn onto a velvet kokoshnik. All ray-shaped pendants are numbered from 1 to 59 and have hooks on the back, which greatly facilitate the patching.
Empress Maria Feodorovna wearing the necklace and diamond Russian tiara shown above, and a 19th century brooch and several strands of pearls from His Majesty's cabinet vault.
The young Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in a tiare russe (the already familiar Russian tiara) and her favorite pearl necklaces by the court jeweler Bolin, which the Empress Dowager presented to her daughter-in-law. Also pinned to the dress is a pearl and diamond brooch-bow and a star of the Order of St. Catherine.
Large imperial crown ordered by Catherine the Great for her coronation in 1762. court jeweler, a native of Switzerland, Jeremiah Pozier and used for the coronation of all representatives of the Romanov dynasty, who later ascended the throne. The crown is crowned with a cross and a colossal dark red spinel weighing about 398.72 carats, which was bought in Beijing in 1676 by the Russian ambassador Nikolai Spafari.
According to the memoirs of Bozier: Catherine ordered the jeweler to revise the state-owned jewels, break what turned out to be in an out-of-date taste and use it for a new crown, which she wanted to have for the coronation. Despite all efforts to lighten the weight, the crown weighed 2.3 kg. Precious stones were taken from the royal treasury, 6 kg of silver and 0.5 kg of gold were also bought.
The orb was created by the jeweler Georg Frederick Eckart in 1784 and, like the great imperial crown, has come down to our time almost in its original form. Only at the end of the XVIII century. a large diamond and sapphire were added to it. A smooth, polished, hollow inside ball of red gold is entwined along the upper half with belts of garlands of silver and diamonds, which, apparently, were part of earlier state regalia - the time of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.
At the top of the power, an oval sapphire of 200 carats, brought from Ceylon, is fixed; the huge stone is bordered with diamonds, with which the cross crowning it is also studded. At the junction of decorative belts, an ancient diamond from the mines of Golconda is placed. Weighing 46.92 carats, this pristine stone has a light blue tint and tiny cracks. The shape of the cut - pear-shaped, with many facets and an almost flat base - is typical of ancient Indian stones.
The massive scepter consists of three smooth golden parts separated by paired diamond belts. The fourth pair of belts frames the famous Orlov diamond weighing 189.2 carats, set in silver with diamonds, crowning the scepter. The Russian emblem is fixed on the frame - a double-headed eagle, covered with black enamel and also decorated with diamonds. The eagle is removable - on special ceremonial occasions it was replaced by the coat of arms of Poland.
The Orlov diamond has a fascinating history. This stone, which has preserved an ancient Indian cut, is a fragment of a much larger crystal. It was found in the 17th century and cut into an octahedron. After cutting, the diamond lost a significant amount of weight. The stone is very clean and has a light bluish-greenish tint. According to legend, this magnificent diamond, along with another stone of similar beauty and value, was the eye of an idol in Seringan (South India), from where it was stolen by a French soldier in the early 18th century.
It is not known what happened to this stone until it was taken over by the ruler of Persia, Nadir Shah, after his death, the diamond was stolen a second time and the stone ended up in the hands of Grigory Safras, a merchant from Julfa in Armenia. Safras placed the stone in a bank in Amsterdam, and later sold the stone to his first wife's nephew, the court jeweler Ivan Lazarev, who subsequently resold the diamond to Count Orlov. Orlov presented the stone to Catherine II.
Nicholas II hugging his mother, Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna, whose head is decorated with a small imperial crown. On the left is Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. This drawing appeared in the Illustrated London News signed by a "special artist in Moscow" who collaborated with the magazine. On the head of Alexandra Feodorovna is a small imperial crown, created by the jeweler Gan in the model and likeness of the crown given as a dowry to the Empress Dowager. Only the stones used in its decoration were not taken from the crown jewels, but were selected by Gan himself and were of South African origin.
Small imperial crown. Made from antique Indian and Brazilian diamonds in 1801 by the sons of the court jeweler Louis David Duval, also by jewelers Jacob and Jean Duval. One of the documents of the imperial archive says: “Give 2,052 diamonds worth 37,854 rubles and 12 kopecks to jewelers Duval to decorate the crown of Her Imperial Majesty Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna.” This crown is not inferior to the large imperial crown in terms of craftsmanship and magnificence of stones.
Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna wearing a small imperial crown, worn on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II. The Empress's hair is tied into two braids that fall on her shoulders, as required by the court protocol for coronation and wedding ceremonies since the time of Catherine the Great.
One of the reasons for the cooling between the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was the crown jewels: according to the protocol, they were supposed to pass from the Dowager Empress to the reigning one. However, Maria Feodorovna refused to obey this rule, and even the intervention of Nicholas II, at first, seemed to have no effect on her. In the end, at the insistence of her son, who appealed to the tradition that the wife of the Sovereign had the right to wear certain jewelry from the imperial treasury, the dowager empress nevertheless conceded, although she kept some of the most valuable jewelry for herself.
Fragments of the diamond chain of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, consisting of twenty removable links; it alternates rosettes with the monogram of Paul I (at the very top), with the St. Andrew's Cross and a double-headed eagle.
Small diamond chain of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, consisting of twenty-three links, interconnected by rings and studded with diamonds with a total weight of more than 180 carats. Dated in the inventory of 1798 - that is, the period of the reign of Paul I, this chain, no doubt, was created in the first half of the 19th century.
Crown from a magnificent parure commissioned in 1900. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna to the court jewelers Bolin and Faberge. The parure was decorated with large, cabochon-cut emeralds and diamonds (diamonds are of South African origin); all stones were set in silver with gold settings, all elements were numbered and could be replaced by others. The crown and necklace (not shown) were made in great haste by the jeweler Schwerin of Bolin. The crown is decorated with a large, quadrangular, with a cone-shaped crown, a cabochon-cut emerald, weighing about 23 carats.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with a crown on her head is depicted in a portrait painted by N.K. Bodarevsky in 1907
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in fancy dress. The dress of the Empress is a copy of the ceremonial attire of Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna, the wife of Alexei Mikhailovich, sewn on the model of a plaid, an old Russian dress with wide sleeves, which was worn on special occasions - during festivities and ceremonies. The chain, suspended on the sides of the board under the Empress's crown-cap, is modeled after a cassock of polished egg-shaped, diamond-encrusted elements, alternating with grains of pearls and ending with two "tassels with a fringe" of pear-shaped Brazilian diamonds. The creator of this beautiful piece of jewelry of the late XVIII century. considered to be the famous St. Petersburg jeweler Jean-Jacques Duke.
Tiara from a sapphire and diamond parure, which was made for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna at the beginning of the 20th century. Friedrich Kehli, a Swiss by birth, who became a court jeweler in St. Petersburg in 1902. The design of the tiara is made up of intertwined semicircles, into which 16 large sapphires are inserted in a gold frame with small gold rail rivets. The diamonds are set in silver on a gold base. Next to the tiara is a corsage decoration or a brooch from the same parure.
Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna by Friedrich-August von Kaulbach. On the head of the Empress is a tiara made of sapphire and diamond parure.
A tiara in the form of a Russian kokoshnik, created at the beginning of the 19th century. The tiara originally belonged to Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, wife of Alexander I. The tiara is covered with ancient Brazilian diamonds with a total weight of 275 old carats, set in gold and silver.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in a tiara in the form of a Russian kokoshnik.
This gorgeous necklace is made up of 21 diamond cabochons set in sterling silver with gold rail setting; The diamonds are connected with silk threads, which provide the necklace with great flexibility. The 15 pendants of the necklace form ancient pear-shaped diamonds topped with smaller diamonds cut, presumably in the 17th or 18th century. The total mass of these stones of Indian origin is 475 old carats. Some of them have a bluish or pinkish tint, which enhances the effectiveness of the product.
Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna; portrait by Emil O. Wiesel, 1905 On the Empress's neck is the necklace depicted above.
This luxurious tiara, which adorned the head of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna during the ceremony opening I State Duma, in the catalog of A. Fersman "The Diamond Fund of the USSR" (published in 1924-1926) dates back to the beginning of the 19th century. But it is more likely that it was made by the court jeweler Bolin especially for the Empress, using diamonds and pearls from His Majesty's Cabinet. Fersman considered this tiara to be the most beautiful piece of jewelry in the entire imperial collection. All traces of the tiara are lost after the 1922 inventory; perhaps, together with other pieces of jewelry from the collection, it was sold, whole or in parts, at the Christie's auction in London in 1927.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in a ceremonial dress worn on the occasion of the opening I-st State Dumas in 1906. Photographer - Karl Bulla. The empress' costume is complemented by jewelry: a tiara, a small diamond chain of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (it was mentioned above), a diamond-pearl necklace and a diamond cluster necklace - both made, in all likelihood, by Bolin, as an addition to the tiara. None of these necklaces are mentioned among the described and cataloged crown jewels; perhaps they were taken by the Empress to Tobolsk and disappeared there.
Jewelry of the 2nd half of the 18th century: massive (not hollow) silver flowers - typical decorations that were sewn on the ceremonial dresses of Russian empresses. In the center - aigrettes with diamonds and pearls (to decorate the hairstyle).
Similar flowers are sewn onto the black velvet wrapping around the neck of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna; The Empress is pictured playing cards at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen with her sisters - Alexandra, Queen of Great Britain and Tyra, Duchess of Cumberland, as well as her brother Frederick VIII of Denmark.
After admiring the jewelry belonging to the imperial family, let's look at jewelry belonging to other members of the Romanov dynasty.
Alexander II ordered for his beloved and only daughter Maria (1853-1920) for her wedding with Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria (1844-1900), which consisted in 1874 of a full parure, spectacularly sparkling with rubies and diamonds. The parure was made by the court jeweler Bolin.
The set includes: a diamond crown with a vegetal pattern accented with red rubies,
necklace of cushion-cut diamonds alternating with ruby cushions, a ring with a cushion-cut ruby of 9.19 carats,
a bracelet of 12 cushion-cut diamonds that increase in value as you approach the central Burmese ruby of 8.40 carats; earrings and a large brooch - once the central link - a large oval ruby of which, weighing over 12 carats, is closed in a ring of equal diamonds.
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna Romanova
Another wedding gift for the daughter of Alexander II is a luxurious diamond tiare russe (Russian tiara). This tiara was inherited by the daughter Mary Alexandrovna, Queen of Romania Maria.
Maria Duchess of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, wearing a Russian tiara.
The ballroom fan made of feathers was made for the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna (1875-1960), daughter of Alexander III, in the workshop of Faberge. The gold disc, in which the feathers are fixed, is covered with transparent pink enamel applied using the guilloche technique; The handle of the fan is made of rock crystal.
Grand Duchess Xenia in the dress of a Russian noblewoman, sewn for the Bal des Costumes Russes, given by the emperor in the Winter Palace in 1903. The costume is complemented by jewelry presented to Xenia by her parents and husband for the wedding. In her hand, Xenia holds a fan made in the workshop of Faberge.
Necklaces from His Majesty's Cabinet, made of Indian diamonds set in silver with gold studs. According to Fersman's catalog, the center stone of the longest necklace comes from the mines of Golconda (Central India) and has a pale bluish tint.
Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna (1882-1960), daughter of Alexander III in ceremonial court dress in 1908. On her head is a tiare russe (Russian tiara) on a kokoshnik made of fabric, and on her neck are diamond necklaces from the Cabinet of His Majesty, borrowed for her along with a corsage decoration by her mother. In her hand, Olga Alexandrovna holds a Faberge fan decorated with enamels and diamonds - one of wedding gifts her brother, Nicholas II.
Large emerald and diamond corsage decoration of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Elizaveta Fedorovna (Elizaveta Alekseevna Louise Alisa of Hesse-Darmstadt) (1864 - killed in 1918), Native sister Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. This amazing decoration, which is a triple cascade of pear-shaped emerald cabochons, appeared in November 1911. among the jewels of the Turkish Sultan Abdul-Hamid II, put up for sale in the Georges Petit Gallery in Paris. When, after the assassination attempt on her husband in 1905, Elizaveta Feodorovna sold her jewelry in order to raise funds for the foundation Martha and Mary Convent, she was probably aware that such luxurious jewelry as this corsage jewelry was so valuable and recognizable that it was imprudent to sell them in Russia. Apparently, for this reason, the necklace came to the international market and was purchased by the Turkish Sultan.
Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna with her maid of honor in 1897. The luxurious dress of the princess is complemented by no less luxurious jewelry: the corsage jewelry shown above and an emerald and diamond necklace. On the cloth kokoshnik of Elizabeth Feodorovna, elements of her emerald and diamond tiara (work by the court jeweler Bolin) are sewn on, alternating with diamond leaves dating from the era of the reign of Catherine II. Subsequently, Elizaveta Feodorovna handed over the emerald and diamond necklace and kokoshnik to her niece, Grand Duchess Mary Pavlovna (younger), and over time he bought them for the queen Mary Her Serbian husband is King Alexander.
Vladimir tiara "Lovers knot" ("Knots of love"), made for the Grand Duchess Mary Pavlovna ( Mary Alexandrina Elisabeth Eleonora of Mecklenburg-Schwerin - 1854-1920, great-granddaughter of Paul I) on the occasion of her marriage to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847-1909), the second son of Emperor Alexander II in 1874 by the court jeweler Bolin. Its design is formed by intertwined rings, studded with diamonds and connected on top, on the back side, with a wavy diamond ribbon, to which pearl pendants are attached.
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna in the palace, in a ceremonial court dress trimmed with Russian sables. On the head of the princess is the Vladimir tiara.
In August 1920, the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna died. She bequeathed her famous collection to her children. Moreover, according to the type of stones. Kirill - pearls, Elena - diamonds, Boris - emeralds, Andrey - rubies. Many of the pieces were sold to jewelry houses, American millionaires and royalty. Emeralds of the princess, through the mediation of Cartier, were sold to the heiress of the Woolworths, Barbara Hutton. Daughter Elena sold the Vladimir tiara to the queen in 1921 Mary wife of George V, King of Great Britain. Today, this piece of jewelry is one of those favorite jewels that Queen Elizabeth II wears more often than others.
Brooch with a large natural pearl in the center, framed on both sides by two cushion-cut diamonds; all three stones are enclosed in an oval band of old-cut diamonds, to which are attached three detachable pendants - each with a pear-shaped diamond. This jewelry is from the collection of the Grand Duchess Mary Pavlovna also survived the revolution and was subsequently sold.
Emerald and diamond necklace from the parure of the Grand Duchess Mary Pavlovna, presented to her by Emperor Alexander II for the wedding with Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich in 1874. The mass of the central stone in the form of a hexagon is 100 carats.
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna in the costume of a Russian noblewoman, which she wore to the Bal des Costumes Russes in 1903. Parure elements are used in the costume set. On the headdress of the Grand Duchess, the necklace indicated above is fixed.
Necklace made of a string of pearls interspersed with 15 diamond motifs, to which are attached pendants with large drop-shaped pearls in belts of old-cut diamonds repeating their shape, set in gold and silver. This wonderful example of jewelry art of the mid-19th century. kept in the Diamond Room.
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (right) and her daughter-in-law the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna) at the coronation ball in 1896. On their heads Mary Pavlovna - a velvet kokoshnik, on which her pearl necklace with diamond pendants is fixed, very similar to the necklace from the Diamond Room (listed above). The pearls that wrapped around her neck and shoulders became a legend.
On the occasion of his coronation, Nicholas II presented his uncle Vladimir and his wife, the Grand Duchess Mary Pavlovna, this box, made by Mikhail Perkhonin from the Faberge firm. The lid of the box is decorated with a diamond monogram of the emperor on a rhombus of white opaque enamel, edged with diamonds. The monogrammed rhombus is placed on a field of iridescent green enamel framed with motifs of bay leaves and ribbons.
Tiara with diamond fountains, made by Chomet in 1899. Maria Pavlovna was often in Paris and was an ardent admirer of his magical creations and remained his client until 1914. The elements of the tiara imitate flowing streams of water, effectively sparkling in the rays of light with small diamonds and about to “spill” with large drops of pear-shaped diamonds that flutter at the slightest movement. The total weight of diamonds in this fabulous piece of jewelry is over 75 carats. Presumably, this tiara was presented by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich to his wife, Grand Duchess Mary Pavlovna, on the occasion of their family anniversary - a silver wedding - which they celebrated that year.
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna in a tiara made in the form of an aigret; a photograph taken in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century was published in The King magazine on February 20, 1904. Photographer - Otto Wegener.
Necklace made by Cartier in 1900 for the Grand Duchess Mary Pavlovna, with six strings of pearls and two large imperial eagles studded with diamonds.
The Grand Duchess wearing the above necklace. Photo Mary Pavlovna, made by Otto in Paris, is inserted into a frame made by Faberge under the mirror on the dressing table. Translucent red enamel, applied with a complex guilloche technique, is punctured with double-headed eagles; at the very top, in the center of the frame, there is a medallion of opaque white enamel with the Grand Duchess's monogram beneath the imperial crown; all elements are studded with diamonds.
The history of the kokoshnik with sapphires dates back to the first half of the 19th century. In 1825, the Russian Emperor Nicholas I presented a tiara with sapphires to his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, born Princess Frederick-Louise-Charlotte-Wilhelmine, daughter of the Prussian King Frederick William III and his wife Queen Louise, in honor of their accession to the Russian throne. The kokoshnik was complemented by a magnificent sapphire brooch with pendants.
The next owner of the kokoshnik was the grandson of Alexandra Feodorovna, the third son of Alexander II, the uncle of Emperor Nicholas II, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. Kokoshnik was a gift to the wife of the Grand Duke - the Grand Duchess Mary Pavlovna, born princess Mary-Alexandrina-Elizabeth-Eleanor of Mecklenburg-Schwerinskaya, at court she was compared with Catherine II. During the life of her husband Maria Pavlovna did not wear the kokoshnik, and only after his death in 1909 did she decide to update the old sapphire tiara, and ordered the Cartier jewelry house to remake the tiara and brooch into a new, more modern form. All elements with sapphires and diamonds were removable and could be worn like brooches. Cartier personally handed over this unique piece of jewelry to a customer in St. Petersburg.
In 1910, the Grand Duchess wanted to have a corsage decoration that would make a parure with her favorite kokoshnik. She again provided Cartier with some jewelry so that the jeweler could take it apart and use the stones in a new piece (pictured below). The jeweler used an oval sapphire weighing 162 carats as the central element of the jewelry.
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna in sapphire parure. Portrait by Boris Kustodiev. 1913
A diamond kokoshnik ordered by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Cartier as a gift to his daughter Elena (1882-1957) on the occasion of her marriage in 1902 to Prince Nicholas of Greece.
Grand Duchess Elena in a kokoshnik given to her by her parents for her wedding.
Cigarette case made in memory of the marriage of Grand Duchess Elena and Prince Nikolai by Mikhail Perkhin of the Faberge firm in 1902. It is covered with alternating bands of opaque green and mauve enamel. On the front side of the cigarette case are portrait miniatures of newlyweds by Zengraf.
Grand Duchess Elena and Prince Nicholas of Greece on their wedding day in 1902. Elena is wearing jewelry and a mantle, customarily worn by Russian Grand Duchesses on their wedding day.
Maria Pavlovna turned out to be one of the few members of the imperial family who managed to take their jewelry out of Russia after the revolution. Part of her family heirlooms in November 1918 was delivered in two pillowcases to the Swedish mission in Petrograd by the attorney of the Grand Duchess, professor of painting Richard Bergholz; Maria Pavlovna died without having time to inform her family members about the objects sent to Sweden.
In 2008, in the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, jewelry was found that had been in the vaults of the ministry since 1918: about 60 different cigarette cases and cufflinks made of gold, silver and precious stones, made by Faberge and Swedish craftsmen from the Bulin family. All items were in pillow cases, on which the inscription: “Appartient a S.A.L/ la Gr. Duchesse Vladimir" ("Property of Her Imperial Highness the wife of Grand Duke Vladimir"). The items were handed over by the Swedish government to the heirs Mary Pavlovna.
November 30, 2009 at the auction in the auction house "Sotheby's" in London held an auction for the sale of jewelry; the proceeds were seven times their preliminary estimate, topping £7 million.
Items from the pillowcase:
Neoclassical style cigarette case, richly decorated with flowers embossed with gold in four shades, by August Helmström. A gift from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna to the Grand Duchess Mary Pavlovna and Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich on their silver wedding in 1899. The combined monogram "M" and "W" are enclosed in a round diamond frame.
Unique mother-of-pearl and gold snuffbox by Mikhail Perkhin; OK. 1890 On the mother-of-pearl field of the front side of the lid - the monogram "WA" (according to the initial letters of the name and patronymic of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich), topped with the imperial crown.
Another item from the pillowcase. Rococo style cigarette case - a gift from the Empress Dowager to the Grand Duchess Mary Pavlovna. Master - Mikhail Perkhin, 1899. The surface of the cigarette case is covered with transparent enamel in the shade of Chartreuse liqueur; elements of diamond scrolls are included in the ornamental wave motif.
Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, the sixth son of Emperor Alexander II (1860-1919, shot in the Peter and Paul Fortress), and his second wife, Countess Olga Hohenfelsen, (later Princess Paley) in 1912
The only one of the many jewelry belonging to the family of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich - which was born after the revolution - a parure with diamonds and aquamarines, created by Cartier in 1912. It seems that the parure escaped the fate of other stolen jewels of the princely family, because Olga kept it in her house in Paris. Below: tiara - aigrette, corsage decoration and necklace from this parure.
Tiara aigret. Diamonds and aquamarines are set on platinum corners. In the center of the tiara is a cushion-cut aquamarine. A feather could be inserted behind the pear-shaped aquamarine crowning the tiara.
Parure necklace consisting of two diamond threads. In the center is an openwork element studded with diamonds, a large cushion-cut aquamarine is inserted, a pear-shaped aquamarine bordered with diamonds serves as a pendant.
Parure corsage decoration. The oval aquamarines could be removed and used as brooches. The decoration pendant could also be worn separately.
Materials and photos taken from the Internet
Russia has always been richest country and has long been famous for its huge jewelry collection throughout Europe. Crown values - a scepter, orb, large and small imperial crowns, paintings, porcelain were forbidden to give, change or sell by decree of Peter I, issued in 1719. All this was the pride of the Romanov dynasty. Therefore, for almost two hundred years, the royal collection of jewelry was only replenished. One of the brightest memories of the French ambassador to Russia, Maurice Palaiologos, is connected precisely with the innumerable jewelry wealth of the Russian imperial court. The day after Russia's entry into the First world war he wrote in his diary: I will keep in my eyes for a long time the dazzling radiance of precious stones scattered on female shoulders. This is a fantastic stream of diamonds, pearls, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, topazes, beryls - a stream of light and fire". (Maurice Palaiologos. Ambassador's Diary, M, 2003)
Makovsky K.E. Ceremonial portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna
Ceremonial portraits of members of the imperial family, made by artists of past centuries, give us some idea of how Romanov's jewelry looked like, what they were, how and on what occasions they were used. Of course, these were mainly women's jewelry: tiaras, parures, rings, bracelets, brooches, necklaces, all kinds of medallions and buckles. The collection also included snuff boxes, photo frames, watches, all kinds of interior knickknacks and, of course, the famous Faberge eggs (as the most famous example of the jewelry treasures of the Romanov dynasty). Every item was worked on by the most famous jewelers Europe and Russia, each "trinket" was unique and inimitable, especially considering its history and who possessed it. 1917, however, destroyed all this splendor and the jewelry treasures of the Romanov dynasty began to leave the country and the palaces in which they were kept, most of them were sold mercilessly and ended up in private collections or in museums in other countries...
Decorative brooch and buckles of Catherine II
Tiara of pearls and diamonds of Empress Catherine II
Rings with monograms of Catherine II and Alexander I
Jewelry set of Empress Catherine II
ruby parure,
which Emperor Alexander II ordered for his beloved daughter Maria
In August 1917, the Provisional Government decided to send the former Emperor Nicholas II into exile in the Siberian city of Tobolsk. According to some reports, the Romanovs took with them almost all of their family jewels. And what remained in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoe Selo was sent by the Provisional Government to Moscow for storage in the Historical Museum. On July 17, 1918, Emperor Nicholas and his family were shot by the Bolsheviks, but there was almost nothing left of the family decorations. There was something found while looting for corsages and in the clothes of the Grand Duchesses and the Empress, and some gold jewelry in three small caskets. Where did all this disappear to? This mystery has not yet been solved.
Empress Maria Feodorovna
Diamond and pearl necklace of Empress Maria Feodorovna
Sapphire and diamond brooch of Empress Maria Feodorovna
Necklace and bracelet with pearls and sapphires of Empress Maria Feodorovna
Other valuables that were the property of the Russian Imperial Court were brought to the Gokhran and the Armory from all over Russia. For this, special state commissions were formed, which were engaged in sorting and nominal evaluation of treasures. Here is what one of the members of such a commission, Academician Fersman, recalled on this score: " IN warm coats with raised collars we walk through the frozen rooms of the Armory. Boxes are brought in, there are five of them, among them a heavy iron chest, bandaged, with large wax seals. Everything is whole. An experienced locksmith easily, without a key, opens a simple, very bad lock. Inside, the jewels of the former Russian court, hastily wrapped in tissue paper. With cold hands we take out one sparkling gem after another. There are no descriptions anywhere, no order is visible". Well, then Romanov's valuables sailed to the West for a pittance, replenishing the collections of the USA, Great Britain, France and many other countries.
Commission for assessing the antique value of jewelry
Jewel grading and sorting
Often, jewelry sailed away, bypassing the treasury of Soviet Russia. This fact is well known: The Bolsheviks made their first attempt to sell the royal jewels back in May 1918. Then in New York, customs detained two visitors with jewelry worth 350 thousand rubles, which belonged to the daughter of Alexander III Olga. The following year, the founding congress of the Third Communist International was held in Moscow. Since that time, agents of the Comintern regularly exported gold jewelry and gems. In their own countries, they had to sell them, and spend the money received on local communist parties and underground work."(Sklyarenko V., Rudycheva I., Syadro V. "50 famous mysteries of the history of the XX century", Kharkiv, 2011)
Bodarevsky N.K. Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna 1907
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna's aquamarine and diamond necklace and tiara
Brooch with sapphires and diamonds from platinum of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
Many figures of "Russian culture" had a hand in the sale of imperial treasures, for example, among them was the famous "Petrel", the proletarian writer Maxim Gorky. In February 1919, he was appointed to the post of chairman of the antiquarian and appraisal commission in Petrograd. His duties included the selection and evaluation of items of artistic value in warehouses, pawnshops and abandoned noble apartments, and of course in the bins of the Hermitage. The result of his activities, for example, is this: the sale to a certain Danish businessman, a friend of Bolshevik Russia, 308 items from the collection of jewelry of Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II. And it is clear that not at real cost, especially since the chairman of this very commission had no idea about it due to the fact that he himself had no education either in the field of antiques or in the field of any science that children are taught at school.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna
Two tiaras of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna
Well, and one more very characteristic episode from the history of Romanov's jewelry: " In 1931, the items of the Romanovs, which the Americans purchased from a German antiques company, were put up at an auction in New York. The Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga applied to the court with a request to prevent the sale of jewelry and works of art belonging to the Romanovs. According to one version, because of the scandal, the auction had to be curtailed, according to another, everything had to be quickly sold on the cheap. The following year, the Romanov jewelry appeared at an auction in Berlin. In 1932, royal treasures could be bought in Armand Hammer's American department stores. Later, he opened an antique shop that sold Easter eggs that belonged to the empresses, icons of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna in jewelry settings, a Faberge cigarette case made by order of Maria Feodorovna, her notebook with a monogram and a crown. Of the 773 items of the Diamond Fund, 569 were sold in the 1920s and 1930s. Today, only 71 items from the collection of Tsar Nicholas can be seen in the Kremlin."(Sklyarenko V., Rudycheva I., Syadro V. "50 famous mysteries of the history of the XX century", Kharkiv, 2011)
Values of the Romanov House Photo from the late 1920s
The real damage is still unknown to us, but watching the auctions at Sotheby's or Christie's, where certain items from Romanov jewelry are sometimes put up at a fabulous price, one can easily imagine what Russia lost and how it was robbed by the new owners of the country. It remains for us to admire the ceremonial portraits, photographs and the remains of the collection in the museums of Russia ...
