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

36056

Russian Silk Pillow with Watercolor Portrait

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Historical Memorabilia Start Price:600.00 USD Estimated At:1,200.00 - 1,500.00 USD
Russian Silk Pillow with Watercolor Portrait
<B>Russian Silk Pillow with Watercolor Portrait of a Young Woman</B></I><BR><BR>Square, according to back panel, embroidered by Empress Alexandra, wife of Tsar Nicholas II (r. 1894-1917), with a ribbon-tied foliate swag and crossed arrows above a circular watercolor portrait of a young woman signed <I>E B </B></I>and said to be by Grand Duchess Elizabeth (Ella) (1864-1918), Empress Alexandra's older sister, the back panel reads in Russian:<BR><BR><I>Embroidery<BR>Her Imperial Majesty Empress<BR>Alexandra Feodorovna<BR><BR>Aquarelle<BR>Her Imperial Majesty<BR>Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna</B></I><BR><BR>10 ½ in square, sold together with an accompanying envelope inscribed in Russian: <I>To my, kind, loving little niece Masha Trubetskaya<BR>On her birthday 3/16 July and name day 22 July/4 Aug.<BR>From ? who loves her with all his heart<BR>Teri Karl Guy (??)<BR>Klamarg 22 July/4 Aug. 1957</B></I><BR><BR>During the summer of 1895, Empress Alexandra and her sister Grand Duchess Elizabeth spent time together at Peterhof, the Imperial residence in St. Petersburg, engaged in needlework and other artistic endeavors. The two were close as the Grand Duchess had played a major role in the betrothal of her younger sister to the Tsarevich and would give them presents every year on the anniversary of their wedding. After the tragic death of her husband, Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich (b. 1857) by an assasin's bomb in 1905, Grand Duchess Elizabeth took the veil and devoted the rest of ther life to religious causes. On July 18th, 1918, the day after the assassination of the imperial family, she too was murdered by the Bolsheviks.<BR><BR>Provenance:<BR>Purchased from A la Vieille Russie<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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