The Imperial Court, Culture and Art


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Hi Warren ;)

Thanks for your reply - I trust your expertise when it comes to the coronet ;) I did a bit more research and found out (I think) that she would no longer have been referred to as a Princess (of Denmark) because she was already married to Alexander III and in Russia (???), she and her husband would have been Grand Duke and Grand Duchess in 1882, a year before their coronation. Do you (or anybody else) know what the appropriate heraldic coronet would have been for a Grand Duchess of Russia? It's so difficult to find anything to do with Russian Heraldics ;(
 
Hi Catherina,

In 1882, Alexander and Maria Feodorovna would have been Emperor and Empress of Russia.
Alexander III succeeded to the Throne in March 1881 on the assassination of his father, Alexander II.
Their coronation would have taken place in 1882 except for the fact that the Empress was pregnant with Olga. Thus, the delay to 1883.

Although I'm certainly no expert, I'd guess that your coronet would be for an Empress in 1882... But, I hasten to add that I know nothing about this subject and defer to anyone who does know....

Larry
 
Exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Musesum London - Magnificence of the Tsars

Wasn't sure where to post this - sorry mods.

I went to see an exhibition on the ceremonial dress of the Tsars from Peter II through to the last Tsar - Nicholas II. It was fantastic great insight to their lives. Some fantastic snuff boxes, buckles, bath boxes and swords as well.

Some of the clothes are faded and you can't see the vibrantsy of the colours - but the gold is amazing.

Well worth a visit

Magnificence of the Tsars - Victoria and Albert Museum
 
I went to see the exhibition today - Magnificence of the Tsars - V and A Museum.

Very enjoyable
 
Pictures

What a wonderful picture!
Are there others like this? Should I assume this is a wedding picture, rather than a some other court occasion?

Also, is this Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna - the late Princess Nicholas of Greece??



Here are a couple of examples of those Grand-Duchess-Brides in their purple bridal mantles:


The above pictures are from the Webshots.com comunity. The b&w photographs are over 70 years old, copyright has expired.
 
Yes, that's her, it's been a month since you posted, so hope this info was new to you. There are also some photos of her with her husband on her wedding day.
 
General news connected to the Russian Imperial Family

A thread to post general news and reports connected to the Imperial Family.


Christie's offers a sale of pieces of art connected to the Imperial Family from the famous Galerie Popoff

Christie’s announced the auction of Galerie Popoff - An Enduring Passion for Russian Art which will take place on 12 and 13 October 2009 in London, and which will present exceptional Russian works of art from one of the most renowned Russian galleries in Paris. The auction will offer around 550 lots including rare Russian and European 18th century and 19th century porcelain, watercolours, paintings, works of art and textiles. Many pieces of art, among them pieces ordered by Catherine the Great, Grand Duke Paul Petrovich (future Paul I), Empress Maria Feodorovna, Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
One of the highlights of the auction is part of a porcelain service made by the Royal Berlin Porcelain Factory in 1778 for Grand Duke Paul Petrovich: it is estimated to be sold for £200,000- 300,000. The service was a gift from Emperor Frederick II of Prussia and all the pieces feature the coat of arms of the Russian Empire and the arms Hollstein-Gottorp.

Another important lot is the Orlov Service, commissioned by Catherine the Great in 1765-1766 for Count Grigoriy Orlov. Each piece is decorated with the interlaced ГГО (GGO - Grigoriy Grigoryevich Orlov) and features trophies and scenes referring to Orlov's military career. It is estimated at up to £100,000.
 
Russian royal family treasures return to Russia from the Netherlands

Courtesy of Belga.:flowers:

Crucifix and an icon of St Matthew the Apostle on display at Dom Ikony [The Home of the Icon] Museum during an exhibition of treasures and heirlooms of Tzar Nicholas II's family that have been purchased from the Netherlands and brought back to Russia by former Transneft top manager Vozyakov. Among the exhibits are ancient church banners showing icons of Our Lady of Kazan and St Alexander Nevsky (18/09/2009).

http://i33.tinypic.com/bimp9d.jpg
http://i35.tinypic.com/344ccug.jpg

BelgaPicture - Category details
 
:previous:
Thanks for the information and pictures, queenofthelight! :flowers:
The Holy Icons were indeed some of the most treasured possessions of the Imperil Family.

The pieces of art, porcelain, jewellery and textiles from Galerie Popoff that are to be auctioned at Christies next month were today introduced in Moscow

I had the pleasure of attending the presentation, which took place in Bolshoi Theatre's atrium: it was quite magnificent. You can see a small video from presentation here (the link is accompanied by an article in Russian).

Here is the translation of what Alexis de Tiesenhausen, International Head of Russian Art, says in the video:
"I have never even held anything like this for the past 25 years. For example, the cup and saucer made for Catherine the Great’s coronation.* Cup and saucer made in the Imperial Porcelain Factory for Nicholas II. The cup made for Emperor Paul I: it is a great rarity because if you look carefully, you will see the Maltese Cross inside**.

A bit of additional information on the items mentioned by Alexis de Tiesenhausen:

* The cup and saucer were made to celebrate the coronation of Catherine the Great in 1762. They were made at the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St Petersburg. These pieces of porcelain are unique because they are thought to be the only surviving pieces from the special set made at the Imperial Factory. This lot is unique because the cover is crowned with the two headed Imperial Eagle: no other similar lot exists even in the best and most prestigious collections. It is estimated to be sold for £150,000-170,000.

** The Cup was also made at the Imperial Porcelain Factory by a special order from Paul I. The decorations, including the Maltese cross, where his design.

*** At the very end of the video, one of the highlights of the auction is shown: the part of a porcelain service made for Grand Duke Paul Petrovich (future Paul I). The service was commissioned by Emperor Frederick II of Prussia and was made at the Royal Berlin Porcelain Factory in 1778. All the pieces featured the Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire and the Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Hollstein-Gottorp (Pauls' patriarchal Arms).

The auction will also include other pieces connected with the Imperial Family. Here are details on some of them:

- Many pieces of porcelain ordered by Catherine the Great, Grand Duke Paul (Paul I), Empress Maria Feodorovna, Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. The collection includes a great variety, from pieces that will start at £2,000, to the aforementioned Paul I service, which is estimated to take some £200,000- 300,000.

- The gorgeous Orlov Service commissioned by Catherine the Great and made at the Imperial Porcelain Factory in 1763 for Count Grigoriy Grigorevich Orlov. The sale will include 3 plates from the Orlov service: each piece is decorated with interlaced Cyrillic ГГО (GGO - Grigoriy Grigorevich Orlov) and features scenes and trophies from Orlov's military career. It is estimated to be sold for £80,000-100,000.

- A great range of magnificent Russian watercolours by some of the most prominent Russian artists of the early 19th century, including Alexander and Karl Briullov, Piotr Sokolov, Alexei Venetsianov and Vladimir and Edward Hau. The watercolours from Popoff collection are truly exceptional because of their quality and because of the people depicted on them. One of the watercolours portrays Natalia Nikolaevna Pushkina, the wife of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. It is the only portrait in private collection and is estimated to take £120,000-160,000.

Another highlight is the portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna by Piotr Sokolov: it is widely considered to be one of Sokolov's best works and is estimated to be sold for £100,000 -150,000. There is also a portrait of Giovanina Pacini, daughter of Countess Julia Samoilova (the richest woman in the Russian Empire) by Karl Briullov. Giovanina was Karl's model on a number of occasions and they were said to be romantically involved with each other, until Giovanina's family put stop to it. Its estimate is £100,000-120,000.

- Wonderful works of Russian art and textiles, including splendid kokoshniks, sarafans and scarves. They are estimated from £1,400 to £12,000.

- A commemorative gold medal of the All-Russia Industrial and Art Exhibition held in 1896 in Nizhniy Novgorod. On one side, the medal shows the profile of Nicholas II. The other side depicts the city-shape of Nizhniy Novgorod and Mother Russia. It is estimated to be sold for £8,000-12,000.

- Another highlight of the collection is Auguste Montferrand’s delicately drawn study for the monument of Nicholas I in St Isaac’s Square. It will be sold with Montferrand’s other original drawings of the structure and the sculpture of the monument. It is estimated to take £70,000-100,000. Montferrand is the architect of two of St Petersburg's most distinguished squares - the Palace Square and St. Isaac's Square.
 
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Music written by members of the Romanov dynasty is to be performed for the first time on October 20, during the concert that will take place in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow.

You can find more information here.
 
Etiquette of Imperial Russian Court

I have always wondered about the etiqueete of The Russian Royal Court.

Why did the widow of Alexander III have precendence over the wife of the current Tsar Nicholas II?
Did Minnie [ Dagmar] continue on as 1st lady, because Alix was new at the position?
 
I had read somewhere that Tsar Paul imposed this rule as he did not wish to have any woman married to his successor to have precedence over Empress Marie Feodorovna, Paul's wife. I believe the Russian Court protocol imposed and maintained this rule, which added to the tension between Minnie and Alix. Their relationship was frosty to begin with and this court protocol only made it worse, especially when it came to the wearing and use of the crown jewels.
 
Yes Marie kept the Crown Jewels to herself and Alexandra was thus obliged to wear the Jewels that were designated for the Tsarevitch's wife in many state occasions, but to a certain point even the Court who favored Marie over Alexandra started protesting and Marie handed over those jewels ecentually .

Another etiquette rule I ve read about is that no woman should present herself in mourning clothes in front of their Imperial Majesties, unless she was mourning for a Grand Duke , a Grand Duchess or a Romanov relative in general.

Sorry, I forgot to add: while invited or visiting the palace on official events . So they didn't really expect those poor ladies they met at the street or outside in general to go home and change. The rule also excluded those mourning for relatives of the Empress. At least if Granny ever visited from Britain she would have no problem attending a banquet :Bigrinn:
 
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I have always wondered about the etiqueete of The Russian Royal Court.

Why did the widow of Alexander III have precendence over the wife of the current Tsar Nicholas II?
Did Minnie [ Dagmar] continue on as 1st lady, because Alix was new at the position?
As you can tell from the excellent answers of VM and Snowflower, she did not. Minnie was Minnie and as a (still) young, vibrant woman she did not want to leave court so she did not.
 
Minnie was Minnie and as a (still) young, vibrant woman she did not want to leave court so she did not.

Not to mention that Minnie was trying to convice others about the correct spirit of the Russian court. When Alix had to move out from Buckingham after Edward's death ,Minnie said " In Russia, no one would ever instruct me about such a thing and I don't see why you should comply" and a whole serie a drama began.
 
I appreciate everyone's answers and insight. Many thankyous.
 
In 1763 Empress Catherine II learned that a collection of 225 paintings accumulated by a Polish art dealer in Berlin regularly supplied pictures to King Frederick II of Prussia had not been paid for. Frederick had decided that he could not afford them. Catherine bought the entire collection.
 
Since Jewellery can be art too: An exhibition of Romanov Jewels is right now in the Hermitage Amsterdam.



"Amsterdam, Sep 14 (EFE).- Three hundred jewels from the Romanov dynasty (1613-1917), among them a double-sided mirror that belonged to Empress Catherine the Great and Empress Maria Fyodoronva’s diadem, will be glistening at the Hermitage Amsterdam from Saturday as part of an exhibit celebrating the space’s 10th anniversary."
 
I know a woman with 3 of the eggs plus many other pieces. They are magnificent.
 
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