Imperial Russian ring with the Cipher of Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Russia
In our October 2017 Auction (Wed-Thu 4.-5.10.) we will be auctioning a beautiful and rare Imperial Russian ring! The ring with cipher AP is made of gold, diamonds and enamel. This ring was a gift to the imperial accoucheur. Read more below!
Alexandra Petrovna
Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna (1838-1900) was born with the name Alexandra Friederike Wilhelmine Oldenburg, and she was a great- granddaughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia. She grew up in close proximity to the Romanovs as her father was a nephew of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. This led to the marriage between Alexandra of Oldenburg and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich of Russia in 1856.
Their first son was born also in 1856. He was Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich the younger of Russia (1856-1929). Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich the younger was well known in his lifetime. He was a general and commander-in-chief of the Russian armies on the main front in the first year of World War and later a successful commander-in-chief in the Caucasus. They had another son in 1864, Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia. Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich served in the Russian army as a Lt.-General and Adjutant-General, In 1889 he married Princess Milica of Montenegro.
In the mid 1860s marriage between Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich started to break. There is many reasons but short story is that Nikolai wasn´t happy how religious Petrovna was and her lack of glamour, so he started a relationship with another woman and he didn´t hide it. Nikolai had five illegimate children with his lover.
In 1880 Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna moved to Kiev and lived in a Mariyinsky Palace. Just before she moved in Kiev she was in a carriage accident, and she could not move her legs nor her right arm. Alexandra hoped that her time in Kiev would help her to heal, but that did not happen. She bought a plot of land near Voznessenskaya Hill in 1888. There she founded the Pokrov of Our Lady Monastery, which was a convent of nursing nuns with its own hospital. Alexandra Petrovna became a nun in 1889, she was known as sister Anastasia for rest of her life.
About the ring
The ring was brought to our attension by a family who thought that the ring was a family heirloom from 17th century. Our CEO saw that there is something special in this ring, so he called one of the worlds leading experts Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm to help us identify this ring.
This is what she found: an Imperial Russian Presentation Ring with the Cipher of Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Russia. Gold, old cut diamonds, enamel, cipher AП. Unmarked, St Petersburg, ca 1856 (so not from the 17th century). The jeweller Alexander Hau, 81,Nevsky prospekt, St Petersburg, is a known supplier of presentation jewellery for Grand Duchess Alexandra.
Although not known to whom Grand Duchess Alexandra presented the ring with her cipher, it is possible it was a gift to the imperial accoucheur, who assisted the grand duchess at the birth of her first son, Nikolai Nikolaevich in 1856.
Estimate price in 10.000 – 15.000 euros but it can rise closer to 20.000 euros.
October 2017 Auction
Catalogue will be published on Friday the 29th of September at 5pm (local time).
Open house:
Wednesday the 4th and Thursday the 5th of October, from 12pm to 5pm
Auction:
Wednesday the 4th and Thursday the 5th of October, at 5pm-
(Lots 1-1000 on Wednesday and lots 1001-3001 on Thursday)
Text: Joonas Mutkala, Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm
Photos: Aki Syrjäläinen, Auction House Helander
