AN IMPERIAL RELATED RUSSIAN ICON MOSCOW 1827

AN IMPERIAL RELATED RUSSIAN ICON MOSCOW 1827. Comprising a finely painted icon of the Akhtuirskaya Mother of God, here the Virgin looks upon a small image of the crucified Christ to her right with the walls of Jerusalem in the background and below her implements of the Passion. In the upper left corner is the sun "which has darkened" and upper right the moon "which has become like blood." The lower margin inscribed with a slight variation on lines taken from an Orthodox hymn called "Come, Let us Bless Joseph." "Alas for me, my Child, Alas for me! Light of my eyes, and beloved of my bosom, For what Simeon foretold in the Temple today has come to pass. A sword shall pierce your heart, But change your grief to joy by the Resurrection." The entire image overlaid with a finely crafted silver repoussé and chased oklad repeating the same images on the painted icon including the text of hymn on lower margin. The oklad hallmarked Moscow, dated 1827 and Cyrillic maker's mark S.ZH. The vestments of the virgin being a later added ex-voto embellishment also hallmarked Moscow, dated 1889 and indistinguishable maker's mark. The overall style and high quality of painting would indicate a noteworthy Moscow workshop of the type favored by the aristocracy, and although there are some scattered losses, lifting and old re-touches, the icon retains the original varnish coat and would be worthy of cleaning and restoration after which it would look quite spectacular. 12.8 inches x 10.5 inches (32.5 x 26.5 cm).

Provenance:
Acquired by the consignor directly from Mr. George Gibbes in London on April 25, 1989. Accompanied with receipt signed by Gibbes stating this icon was in the residence of his father Charles Gibbes at the Alexander Palace, Tsarskoe Selo.

George Gibbes (1906-1993) was the adoptive son of Charles Sydney Gibbes (1876-1963). Charles Gibbes was a British academic who from 1908 to 1917 served as the English tutor to the children of Emperor Nicholas II. Gibbes' career as court tutor continued until the February Revolution of 1917, after which the Imperial family was imprisoned in Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. He was in Saint Petersburg at the time, and immediately after returning to Tsarskoe, Selo was proscribed from seeing the family, only being allowed to recover his possessions after the family was transported to the house of the Governor-General of Tobolsk in Siberia. Gibbes voluntarily accompanied the family, arriving in the village in October 1917 shortly before the Provisional Government fell to the Bolsheviks. In May 1918 the Imperial family was moved to the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, and neither Gibbes, French tutor Pierre Gilliard, nor most other servants were allowed to enter. The servants stayed in the railway carriage which had brought them to the city. This carriage became part of a refugee train on 3 June and the tutors were in Tyumen but returned to Yekaterinburg after the murder of the Imperial family on the night of 16/17 July 1918 and the fall of the city to the White Army on 25 July. Gibbes and Gilliard were early visitors to the scene of the executions at the Ipatiev House and were both involved in the subsequent enquiries carried out by Ivan Alexandrovich Sergeiev and by Nicholas Alexievich Sokolov.

After his eventual and final return to England (1937) Gibbes was an ordained Russian Orthodox priest who had taken the name Nicholas. In 1949 he bought a house at 2 Marston Street, Oxford subsequently known as the Saint Nicholas House. Gibbes kept a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker within the property. This chapel was home to several icons and mementos of the Imperial family which he brought with him from Yekaterinburg.

Gibbes died at St. Pancras Hospital, London, on 24 March 1963. His open coffin was displayed in the cellar (or crypt) of Saint Nicholas House before his funeral. He is buried in Headington cemetery, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. His collection of Russian possessions (presumably including the offered lot) were left with his adopted son George from whom acquired by the present owner.

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Condition Report: Important Notice: The absence of condition information in the description does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition, a condition report is available by request.