AN IMPERIAL RUSSIAN SILVER-MOUNTED AND ENAMEL PORTFOLIO COVER PROBABLY ST PETERSBURG, CIRCA 1891
Details
Rectangular, centering the enameled coat-of-arms of the City of Verny, within a parcel-gilt silver ribbon-tied oak wreath, the cover applied with a silver Russian dedication inscription '[To] His Imperial Highness, the Heir, Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich from the City of Verny 1891', all on red velvet ground (worn), the cream silk interior with a bookplate from the personal library of Emperor Nicholas II at the Winter Palace, apparently unmarked, with binder's ticket of W.I. Weidle, St Petersburg 16 in. (40.6 cm.) long
Provenance
Presented to Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich by representatives of the City of Verny in 1891. Personal library of Emperor Nicholas II, Winter Palace, St Petersburg. Collection of John Edward Hammell (1876-1958), Oakville, Canada.
Ward-Price Auctioneers, Toronto, 3 November 1960, lot 889.
Lot Essay
Between 14 and 16 July 1891, while returning from his journey to the Far East, Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich, the future Nicholas II, stopped in Omsk on his way to St Petersburg. Although he did not travel through Verny, then the administrative centre of the Semirechye Region and present-day Almaty, Kazakhstan, contemporary records note that he received gifts from representatives of the Semirechye Cossack Hosts during his stay in Omsk. It is therefore possible that the present portfolio was among the gifts presented on that occasion. A comparable portfolio presented to Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich by representatives of the Penza Governorate in 1891 was sold at Christie's, New York, 17 June 2026, lot 1170.
Details
Rectangular, centering the enameled coat-of-arms of the City of Verny, within a parcel-gilt silver ribbon-tied oak wreath, the cover applied with a silver Russian dedication inscription '[To] His Imperial Highness, the Heir, Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich from the City of Verny 1891', all on red velvet ground (worn), the cream silk interior with a bookplate from the personal library of Emperor Nicholas II at the Winter Palace, apparently unmarked, with binder's ticket of W.I. Weidle, St Petersburg 16 in. (40.6 cm.) long
Provenance
Presented to Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich by representatives of the City of Verny in 1891. Personal library of Emperor Nicholas II, Winter Palace, St Petersburg. Collection of John Edward Hammell (1876-1958), Oakville, Canada.
Ward-Price Auctioneers, Toronto, 3 November 1960, lot 889.
Lot Essay
Between 14 and 16 July 1891, while returning from his journey to the Far East, Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich, the future Nicholas II, stopped in Omsk on his way to St Petersburg. Although he did not travel through Verny, then the administrative centre of the Semirechye Region and present-day Almaty, Kazakhstan, contemporary records note that he received gifts from representatives of the Semirechye Cossack Hosts during his stay in Omsk. It is therefore possible that the present portfolio was among the gifts presented on that occasion. A comparable portfolio presented to Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich by representatives of the Penza Governorate in 1891 was sold at Christie's, New York, 17 June 2026, lot 1170.
