LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 APR The James C. Russo Collection #5003  / 

36029

Imperial Diamond Maid of Honor Decoration

Currency:USD Category:Jewelry Start Price:12,500.00 USD Estimated At:25,000.00 - 35,000.00 USD
Imperial Diamond Maid of Honor Decoration
<B>Rare Russian Imperial Diamond Maid of Honor Decoration</B></I><BR><I>By Karl Hahn, 1896-1911, unsigned, with inventory number </B></I><BR><BR>Designed as the conjoined initials <I>M A</B></I> for Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna and Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, below a Romanov Crown set with diamonds, the scrolling terminals set with sapphires <BR><I><BR>Karl Hahn, Jeweler to the Imperial Court </B></I><BR><BR>Like Fabergé, Hahn was an important supplier to the Russian Imperial Court who also had the title of Court Jeweler. Based in St. Petersburg, the firm specialized in Court commissions: diamond orders and decorations, portrait badges, snuffboxes, jewels, and <I>objets d'art</B></I>. The firm closed in 1911.<BR><BR>Recipients of these diamond ciphers were young unmarried women of aristocratic background personally chosen by both the Empress and Dowager Empress. The decorations were worn on specific ceremonial occasions with a court dress in the traditional Old Russian style. The dress was of white silk weighted by a gold and red velvet train complete with <I>kokoshnik</B></I> diadem of red velvet embroidered with gold. The ciphers were then pinned to the left shoulder on a St. Andrew's sash of pale blue moiré silk. Once married, the <I>demoiselles des Imperatrices</B></I> would renounce their positions as Maids of Honor, but would be allowed to keep their diamond decorations.<BR><BR>With special thanks to Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm for the above information.<BR><BR>Provenance:<BR>Jointly presented by the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna and Empress Alexandra, wife of Emperor Nicholas II to a selected Maid of Honor.<BR>Purchased from Marie E. Betteley, New York<BR><BR><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Requires 3rd Party Shipping (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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