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Russian wedding present
Posted by 992234177 on June 30, 2019, 3:48 am
When Queen Alexandra married Edward VII she was given the Dagmar Necklace. Does anyone know what her sisters were given, especially the Tsarina?
Worth noting is that Princess Alexandra received the wedding gift not from her parents, but from King Frederik VII who hoped to impress the British Royal family. The King saw the marriage as the best chance for the Danes to get British support against the Prussians in the struggle for Schleswig-Holstein. I've found Danish mentions from the time that calls the necklace wasteful and even ridiculously extravagant. At the time of Princess Dagmars marriage to Tsareivic Alexander her father had become king,but her parents chose to not attend the wedding in St Petersburg because they were embarrassed about looking to poor compared to the Romanovs so I doubt that their gift was as extravagant as the Dagmar necklace. The new King and Queen had a limited private fortune and with the exception of the Crown jewels Queen Louise had few significant pieces of jewellery herself. I have found that The Princess received an elaborately decorated set of books and a painting of flowers by the artist Anthonore Christensen, but I don't know by whom.
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When Queen Alexandra married Edward VII she was given the Dagmar Necklace. Does anyone know what her sisters were given, especially the Tsarina?
That is very interesting JR76. Queen Alexandra's father certainly wasn't noted for his wealth, but the UK press made a virtue of it!
The UK press didn't have any information about jewels given to Marie Feodorovna for her wedding, although it did mention that the citizens of Denmark had raised money for paintings of Denmark as well as an elaborate book case filled with Danish literature. Considerable lines of print were devoted to expressing outrage against the edict of the new German Governor of Schleswig when he banned a public subscription citizens wanted to have to purchase a wedding present for Princess Dagmar.
In contrast, in 1864 when Princess Dagmar was engaged to the then heir, Grand Duke Nicolas, the UK press reported that he had given her a pearl necklace and bracelets, while another report said that the Emperor had given her a pearl necklace worth 12 thousand pounds and the Empress had given her a pair of diamond bracelets.
It is interesting that there is so little information about the gifts given to Dagmar/Marie Feodorovna. Perhaps there was an agreement to avoid embarrassing the bride's parents.
Mystery solved about who gifted the painting and the books! I took a screenshot from a book where it said that during her engagement to Nicholas the Empress gave Dagmar "an exquisite pearl necklace" while her future husband gave her "spectacular diamonds". Unfortunately I made the mistake of not including the title of the book so now I don't know which one it is. All I know is that it's a modern one. I've found several mentions of a catalogue that seems to have an inventory of Empress Dagmar's jewellery collection that was made for a Danish exhibition in the early 2000s. Unfortunately I can't find it being available online. That catalogue might have a clue?
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That is very interesting JR76. Queen Alexandra's father certainly wasn't noted for his wealth, but the UK press made a virtue of it!
The UK press didn't have any information about jewels given to Marie Feodorovna for her wedding, although it did mention that the citizens of Denmark had raised money for paintings of Denmark as well as an elaborate book case filled with Danish literature. Considerable lines of print were devoted to expressing outrage against the edict of the new German Governor of Schleswig when he banned a public subscription citizens wanted to have to purchase a wedding present for Princess Dagmar.
In contrast, in 1864 when Princess Dagmar was engaged to the then heir, Grand Duke Nicolas, the UK press reported that he had given her a pearl necklace and bracelets, while another report said that the Emperor had given her a pearl necklace worth 12 thousand pounds and the Empress had given her a pair of diamond bracelets.
It is interesting that there is so little information about the gifts given to Dagmar/Marie Feodorovna. Perhaps there was an agreement to avoid embarrassing the bride's parents.
I have a copy of the 1997 exhibition catalogue of Maria Feodorovna - Empress of Russia. Its a big heavy book in Danish and English.
It has a chapter on how one box of Marie Feodorovana's jewels survived the revolution and were taken into exile with her and their subsequent sale in England after her death.
Also included in the catalogue is a list of the jewels valued by Hennell's jewelers of London prior to them being sold in 1929 of which Queen Mary only purchased 4 pieces and 12 months after that another brooch.
Unfortunately the book doesn't give a history for each jewel even though it does describe them, provides a valuation and states if it was sold.
There is a section of letters between Nixa, Minny and Sacha
Note - Dagmar was engaged to Nicholas who died on Apri 11 1865. She then was engaged to his brother Alexander and subsequently married him.
Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich to his mother Empress Maria Alexandrovna...
Bernstorff Sept 29/Oct 1 1864 Letter no. 3 "The next morning we gathered as usual at 9am to drink tea; I gave Dagmar my bracelet with the three pearl stars. Then Dagmar wrote to you, too, in keeping with her mother's wishes." (Note - no matching item found in jewllery list)
Diaries of Tsarevich Alexander ...no mention of gifts of jewellery here.
In the section on Marie Feodorovna though diaries and personal letters....
She was married on Oct 28/Nov 9 1866 - no mention of jewels here. However by April 20/May 2 1867 when Marie was presented to the people of Moscow she mentions: "I was wearing my blue velvet with gold embroidery and as many diamonds as possible to really make an impression on the Muscovites."
In the section on personal possessions there is information on an inventory of the empress dated from 1909 which shows 16 pages and 77 items from the crown jewels which she was permitted to have in her possession. This inventory was discovered in 1967 at the currency exchange fund. This inventory is also reproduced in this book.
I hope this gives you some idea of the contents of this book. There is also a photo of a brooch which was owned by Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodrovna which was given to her at the coronation of Nicholas II in 1896
This is another jewel made for a different member of the imperial family for the coronation. 18 of these were made by Faberge and only gifted to high ranking women in the family for the coronation. 3 are known to survive today.
The coronation brooch was bequeathed to us by Princess Elisabeth. It is exhibited at the Amalienborg Museum.
Mystery solved about who gifted the painting and the books! I took a screenshot from a book where it said that during her engagement to Nicholas the Empress gave Dagmar "an exquisite pearl necklace" while her future husband gave her "spectacular diamonds". Unfortunately I made the mistake of not including the title of the book so now I don't know which one it is. All I know is that it's a modern one. I've found several mentions of a catalogue that seems to have an inventory of Empress Dagmar's jewellery collection that was made for a Danish exhibition in the early 2000s. Unfortunately I can't find it being available online. That catalogue might have a clue?
The list of the jewels sold in London was initially published by William Clarke in Lost Fortune of the Tsars, but there was no indication of the origin of the jewels -- ie who gave them to the Empress.
on June 30, 2019, 3:48 am
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