The new exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery, Russia, Royalty & the Romanovs, is,
as you might expect, a feast for the eyes, especially if you love Fabergé and late 19th
century Russian jewellery – and who doesn’t? I thought, on this chilly December
day, you might enjoy a peek at some of the treasures.
Fabergé Basket of Flowers Egg, 1901
I'm starting with a love story which, alas, ended tragically: Princess Charlotte (1796-1817), only child
of the Prince Regent, later King George IV, and heir presumptive to the throne, and the handsome Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg who arrived in London in 1814, in the train of Tsar Alexander I who was there, as Britain's ally, for the premature Peace Celebrations to mark the defeat of Napoleon and his
exile to the island of Elba. I can find no
record of whether Charlotte actually met the Tsar, but she certainly met Prince Leopold, and they fell in love. She immediately met opposition from the Prince Regent, who wanted her to marry William of Orange, but Charlotte persisted and, eventually, she and Leopold were married on 2nd
May, 1816.
Princess Charlotte, portrait after George Dawe, 1817, wearing a sarafan
dress
In the George Dawe 1817 portrait of Princess Charlottte, she
is wearing a traditional Russian sarafan, or, more accurately, an English
version based loosely on the sarafan. She is also wearing the Star of the Order
of St Catherine, given to her by Tsar Alexander
I, which suggests that she might have met him.
The actual sarafan dress
The actual dress is also shown above. The sarafan is, in
fact, a pinafore dress and the Princess wore it over an embroidered linen
blouse. The blue silk pinafore has a drawstring under the bust which allows it
to be loosened as her pregnancy took its course. The gold lace braid incorporating
crimson silk was made in London.
Tragically, Princess Charlotte died in childbirth in 1817. Two
years later, Princess Alexandrina Victoria (incidentally, Princess Charlotte's first cousin, and later to be Queen
Victoria) was born, Tsar Alexander became little Drina's godfather. The friendship between
the Russian and British royal families was firmly established, and, until the
Russian Revolution put a stop to it, gifts were constantly exchanged and a
number of Anglo-Russian royal marriages took place.
Portrait miniature of Maria Feodorovna, née Princess
Dagmar of Denmark, in a Fabergé frame, about 1895
In
1862, Queen Victoria’s eldest son, Albert Edward, married the Danish Princess,
Alexandra. Four years later, in 1866, Alexandra’s sister, Dagmar, made a
spectacular marriage to Tsar Alexander III, changing her name to Maria
Feodorovna. The two countries’ ties became even closer.
Casket of nephrite jade, with gold, silver, rubies, emerald and pearl decoration by Pavel Ovchinnikiv (1830-88), 7 x 17 x 10 cms.
In 1874, Queen Victoria’s second son, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, married the Grand
Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, daughter of Tsar Alexander II and the couple were given the above casket.
Jewel flowers: l to r Fabergé philadelphus: rock crystal, gold, nephrite, quartzite and olivines, 1900; H.I. Wigstrom chrysanthemum: rock crystal, gold, nephrite, enamel, 1908; Fabergé pansy rock crystal, gold, enamel, nephrite and brilliant diamond, 1900
Two
of Queen Victoria’s grand-daughters also married into the Romanov family; the
Princesses Elisabeth and Alix of Hesse, daughters of the Queen’s second
daughter, Princess Alice. Princess Elisabeth married the Grand Duke Sergei in 1884
and, most spectacular of all, Princess Alix, renamed Alexandra Feodorovna,
married Tsar Nicholas II in 1894.
This egg is a technical masterpiece. It was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II but never collected and it was subsequently confiscated by the Bolsheviks. Its construction is ingenious, it has an egg-shaped yellow gold and platinum lattice frame into which tiny brilliant diamonds, rose cut diamonds, emeralds, topazes, sapphires, garnets, half pearls, and moonstones have been inserted creating a petit point tapestry effect.
The 'surprise' inside is a jewelled and enamelled miniature of the silhouettes of the Tsar and Tsarina's five children, l - r in order of birth: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei. The designer was the Finnish Alma Theresia Pihi, who worked for Fabergé.
The 'surprise' inside is a jewelled and enamelled miniature of the silhouettes of the Tsar and Tsarina's five children, l - r in order of birth: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei. The designer was the Finnish Alma Theresia Pihi, who worked for Fabergé.
This vivid Art Nouveau royal blue moir é guilloch é enamel Fabergé cigarette case with a sinuous two colour gold snake decorated with brilliant and rosé cut diamonds grasping its tail in its mouth was given to King Edward VII by his mistress, Mrs Keppel in 1908. The snake holding it's own tail is a symbol of everlasting love. It is noticeably plainer than most Fabergé objects we see associated with royalty - but it is supremely elegant. - as, indeed was Mrs Keppel.
After his death, Queen Alexandra returned the cigarette case to Mrs Keppel, who remained on the Dowager Queen's guest list. That changed when Queen Alexandra died in 1925. Court life under Queen Mary and King George was much stricter (and possibly duller) and Mrs Keppel was firmly dropped. Then, in 1936, Mrs Keppel returned the cigarette case to Queen Mary so that it could always stay in the Royal Collection.
An interesting move and I can't help wondering why she did it. I don't altogether buy the 'official' reason.
Contrary to what one might expect, Queen Alexandra approved of Mrs Keppel who was kind, generous and tactful, and could always cheer up the King when he was moody. Alexandra even allowed Mrs Keppel to visit him to say good-bye when he was dying.
After his death, Queen Alexandra returned the cigarette case to Mrs Keppel, who remained on the Dowager Queen's guest list. That changed when Queen Alexandra died in 1925. Court life under Queen Mary and King George was much stricter (and possibly duller) and Mrs Keppel was firmly dropped. Then, in 1936, Mrs Keppel returned the cigarette case to Queen Mary so that it could always stay in the Royal Collection.
An interesting move and I can't help wondering why she did it. I don't altogether buy the 'official' reason.
So, dear reader, if you want an idea for a novel, you could do a lot worse than go for the story of the Vladimir tiara.
The exhibition, Russia: Royalty & the Romanovs, is on at the Queen's Gallery until 28th April, 2019. It is well worth seeing and it certainly has the 'Wow!' factor.
I did a companion blog on the exhibition itself on 18th November, 2018 on my http://elizabethhawksley.com website. I have listed it under 'Exhibitions', 'Royal Connections', 'Celebrating the Arts' and 'Victorian Age' categories.
Photographs: courtesy of the Royal Collection Trust, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2018
19 comments:
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