| Videos | • Latest |
|
• Feature | • Sports | • Your Videos |
Russian heirlooms to go under hammer
0 Comments
And the instability that war creates is the reason that a rare collection of heirlooms of Russia's royal Romanov family are going up for auction in London. And some of the items are unique Faberge pieces that haven't been seen for 90 years.
The extraordinary collection originally belonged to Grand D
uke Vladimir Alexandrovich and his wife Maria Pavlovna - the aunt and uncle of Nicholas II, Russia's last Tsar. The Romanov treasures were spirited out of Russia in November 1918, and were only recently rediscovered in Stockholm.
The sale at London's Sotheby's auction house includes around 100 ornate cigarette boxes, and dozens of elaborate cufflinks, many bearing Imperial symbols and coats of arms. Some even have photographs of royal family members.
With previously unknown Faberge works among the collection, Sotheby's believes the sale could fetch around 1 million pounds.
At the top of the lots is a gold and green enamel Faberge cigarette box given to Alexandrovich by Nicholas II. It comes with a personal note from the emperor himself, and was made by Faberge master Michael Perchin. The box has a top estimate of 90,000 pounds.
Sotheby's senior director, Jo Vickery, said the discovery of such a large collection of unknown Romanov treasures is unprecedented.
Comments