A RUSSIAN IMPERIAL FURNITURE SET, 6 PIECES.

Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova (1872 - 1918)
The Empress of Russia, The Grand Duchess of Finland
Princess Alix of Hesse was born in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1872. She was a much-loved grandchild of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and married Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, in 1894. She was given the name Alexandra Feodorovna upon being received into the Russian Orthodox Church. Alexandra Feodorovna is best known for being the last Empress of Russia.

In August, 2000, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church canonised the Imperial family. Empress Alexandra became “Saint Alexandra the Passion Bearer”. During wintertime, the Empress and the Imperial family stayed at the Winter Palace of Saint Petersburg, on the River Neva. In the summertime, the family moved out of the city to their fabulous Summer Palaces (Tsarskoye Selo and Petergof). The silver-plated furniture to be auctioned in Bukowskis’ Spring Sale comes from the Empress’s salon in her private quarters at the Winter Palace.

The furniture was made in the master N.F. Svirsky’s manufactory in Saint Petersburg in 1894, after the Imperial marriage. These unique pieces were designed by the architect N.V. Nabokov, who designed all the interiors of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna’s private quarters, including the curtains.

From Princess Alix of Hesse to the Empress of Russia
Alix was married to the 26-year-old Nicholas II relatively late for her rank and era, at the age of 22. Their wedding was held two weeks after the death of Nicholas II’s father and predecessor, Alexander III.
The coronation of Nicholas II and Alexandra took place almost two years later, in May 1896, inside the Kremlin in Moscow. During the celebrations, thousands of peasants were trampled to death in the rush for commemorative coronation gifts. The Imperial couple were devastated. Nevertheless, for reasons of courtesy they attended the French Ambassador’s ball on the following day, which did nothing to increase their popularity with the Russian people.

The silent and rather retiring Empress remained distant from and unknown to the people, since she avoided public appearances as much as possible. The people were also disappointed in her because on her first four attempts she failed to provide the Russian throne with the heir that they expected. Alexandra’s first four children were girls: Grand Duchess Olga (1895), Grand Duchess Tatiana (1897), Grand Duchess Maria (1899) and Grand Duchess Anastasia (1901).

The longed-for male child, Grand Duke Alexei, was born in 1904. At first, the boy seemed healthy and normal, but within a few weeks, it became clear that something was not right. It was discovered that Alexei suffered from an incurable blood disease, haemophilia, which is transmitted through the mother. The family were shocked. In her grief the Empress turned to God, familiarizing herself with Orthodox rituals and spending hours praying in her private chapel.
The family sought out and tried every possible medical and spiritual means of curing the boy. Alexandra also turned to mystics and “holy men”. It was then that she met Grigori Rasputin, who was claimed to be a miracle healer. Rasputin’s influence on Alexandra, and on the whole Imperial family in their attempts to cure Alexei, was to be crucial, and affected the destiny of the Russian Empire.
The outbreak of Word War I in 1914 was an epochal event for Russia and, with her German roots, for Alexandra personally.

When the Emperor Nicholas II travelled to the front line in 1915, the Russian government was left on the shoulders of the politically inexperienced Alexandra. The disreputable Rasputin seemed to have a great influence on the government, or at least that was commonly believed among the people. The burden of the war on Russia and its economy was unbearable. The people were suffering and starving.
Because of Nikolai II’s decision to fight on the front line, he was personally blamed for the losses and for leaving the German-born Empress in charge of the Romanov dynasty. In March 1917, hungry crowds began rioting in the streets of Saint Petersburg. The Emperor ordered the army to restore order. The Duma urged the Emperor to improve conditions among the people, to which he responded by dissolving the Duma. This led to a situation in which the army joined in the rebellion, and the February Revolution was ignited.

The Duma declared a Provisional Government, and urged Emperor Nicholas II to give up the throne. The Imperial family was confined to the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, since the new government would not allow the family to leave the country. In August 1917, the Imperial family was moved to Tobolsk in Siberia, where they were during the Bolshevik Revolution in November 1917. Then, in 1918, they were moved to the Ipatiev House at Ekaterinburg, under a guard of 75 men.

On July 4, 1918, Yakov Yurovsky, a loyal Bolshevik that Moscow could rely on, was appointed commandant of the Ipatiev House. On July 13, he was given the order to murder the Imperial family.
A few days later, commandant Yurovsky sent part of the staff out of the house. Soon after that, the whole Imperial family was shot.
Their bodies were dumped in a mine shaft outside of Ekaterinburg. For decades, people around the world wondered about the fate of the Imperial family.

Commandant Yurovsky’s secret report was found in the late 1970’s, but did not become public knowledge until the 1990’s, when it helped the authorities locate the remains. Advanced DNA analysis helped in the recognition work.

In 1998, during Boris Yeltsin’s presidency, Alexandra, Nicholas II and three of the identified children were buried with great ceremony in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, 80 years after their murder.

Nesin, Vadim: The Imperial Winter Palace during the reign of the last Emperor (1894-1917). St. Petersburg 1999. Pictures on pages 124-125, 126 and 144-145.