7. Ksenia (Xenia) Alexandrovna, Grand Duchess of Russia (6 April 1875 – 20 April 1960) PERSONAL ILLUSTRATED ALBUMS OF JEWELLERY AND BIBELOTS FROM 24TH JUNE 1880 TO 1905, AND OF JEWELLERY FROM 12 JANUARY 1894 TO 25 MARCH 1912, IN TWO VOLUMES the first, smaller, volume from 1880-1905. 4to (22cm. x 17.5cm.), on 91 ruled leaves of text with drawings in watercolour and bodycolour, some heightened, of which the first 20 leaves are written on rectos and versos (i.e. 39 pages of entries, the first page with list of the twelve months with their birthstones), containing 74 entries (no.4 omitted and crossed through) with Russian text on versos and French translation on rectos, with no. 75 in Russian only; the following 43 leaves written on versos only containing entries 76 to 265 (no.147 and 241 with brief annotation on recto, no.194 with annotation on pinned slip of paper), with 4 additional drawings dated 1892 between nos.177 and 178; the final 27 leaves on rectos and versos containing entries 269 to 499 with briefer descriptions, the front free endpaper inscribed 'S.A.I. la Grande Duchesse Xenie Alexandrovna' with her signature in Cyrillic 'Ksenia' below, the back endpaper with pencil inscription '305 eggs', in original half roan and cloth boards, the upper cover stamped in gilt with crowned cypher 'KA', rather worn, stitching weak, spine partly loose and lacking central section, marbled endpapers with Russian printed label 'I. Baliasov's Shop, Nevskii prospekt'. the second, larger, volume from 1894 to 1912. Folio (34.5cm x 21.5cm.), on 99 ruled leaves of text with drawings in watercolour and bodycolour, some heightened, of which the first 18 leaves are written on rectos and versos (no.17 on verso only), followed by 26 leaves on rectos only, 8 on versos, and a further 47 on rectos only, with 426 numbered entries, of which all but no.62-64, 219, 221 and 422-426 are illustrated), 11 illustrations on card pasted on leaves, 9 with annotations on stitched slips of paper, followed by blank leaves, in original diced maroon leather, the upper cover stamped in gilt with crowned cypher 'KA', marbled endpapers. Provenance Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna Thence by descent, England Bonhams London, The Russian Sale, 30 November 2011, lot 155 Private European collection Nous remercions l'experte Svetlana Chestnyh et le Dr Karen Kettering pour leur aide dans la recherche et le catalogage de ce lot. We are grateful to Art Expert Svetlana Chestnyh and Dr Karen Kettering for their assistance in researching and cataloguing this lot. The Jewel Albums of Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna In April 1919, Grand Duchess Ksenia, sister of the last tsar, was among the surviving Romanovs to escape from Russia on board the British battleship, HMS Marlborough. According to her mother, the dowager empress, Grand Duchess Ksenia had stood with her dog, Toby, weeping openly as the family gathered around a makeshift quay, ready to depart from Yalta. They were preparing to board the Marlborough and leave their homeland for ever. The Grand Duchess had with her two precious jewel albums which she kept until her death in 1960 when they passed to her family. The two lavishly illustrated documents constitute a highly sentimental record of jewellery received between 1880 and 1912. Presented together, the 925 entries provide a fascinating insight into the private wealth of the Romanovs, their personal taste and family relationships. The albums illustrate the manner in which important occasions were marked and offer a crucial link to proving attribution and provenance for so many pieces later gifted, sold on by the Grand Duchess or seized by the Soviet authorities. The smaller of the two leather-bound albums contains entries ranging from 1880 to 1905, mostly comprising smaller jewels and pendant Easter eggs. The second, larger album contains entries beginning with the Grand Duchess's engagement in January 1894 and continues until March 25, 1911, her thirty-sixth birthday, by which time her marriage was becoming noticeably strained, relations between various member of the Imperial family were deteriorating, and the vast Russian Empire entered into its difficult, final years. Grand Duchess Ksenia (1875-1960) was born in St. Petersburg at the Anichkov Palace when her grandfather, Tsar Alexander II, ruled the Russian Empire. Her father became Alexander III when she was six years old and, together with her mother Empress Maria Feodorovna (née Princess Dagmar of Denmark) and five siblings, she was raised at Gatchina Palace, well away from the political fermentation of St. Petersburg. There she received a private education alongside her brother, the future Nicholas II, which included the study of foreign languages as well as drawing, a skill in which she was accomplished and surpassed her brother. As well as travelling between Imperial residences, Ksenia's upbringing included regular visits abroad to the Danish home of her maternal grandfather (and Godfather), King Christian IX, whose name regularly appears in her entries. Ksenia's privileged background limited her social contact mainly to royal relations and the aristocratic children of court officials. By the time she was eleven, Ksenia was smitten with her first cousin once removed, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich ('Sandro') of Russia. Given their ages, it took another several years for the relationship to mature and for Ksenia's parents to finally approve their 1894 wedding. A daughter Princess Irina was born in 1895, then Prince Andrei in 1897, Prince Feodor in 1898, Prince Nikita in 1900, Prince Dmitri in 1901, Prince Rostislav in 1902 and Prince Vasili in 1907. Of immense interest to historians, only a small number of select pages of the albums had been published in specialist books, and the albums remained largely private until they were offered at auction by Bonhams New Bond Street in 2011 (Bonham's London, The Russian Sale, 30 November 2011, lot 155). The published pages, however, offer but a glimpse of the albums' full historic and artistic significance and show watercolour sketches not by the Grand Duchess herself, but by artists of the firm of Bolin and Nichols-Ewing, original drawings presented by jewellers for the extraordinary parures in diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and pearls to be prepared for the Grand Duchess in anticipation of her marriage. The albums themselves have prompted much debate among scholars who have sought to determine the overarching purpose of the tomes. It is notable that pieces the Grand Duchess purchased for herself are not itemised and while the pages are filled with her careful and exact notations, the texts do not emphasize the value of the stones or the name of the fashionable jeweller who had made or sold the piece. Rather, each carefully rendered drawing is usually accompanied by the briefest – and most heartfelt – of statements: "From Mama," "From Papa," or "From Sandro" (her husband, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich). The art historian, Dr Karen L. Kettering, who has studied the albums since their sale in 2011, has noted that they are not inventories of the jewellery of the Grand Duchess because she herself was able to view a third volume (in private hands) which can be classified as an inventory. The formal presentation of this third book confirms this: written by trained hands and referring to all members of the Imperial family by their full titles, such documents were usually maintained by a lady-in-waiting and served as quasi insurance inventories. Pieces in the third book are described in great detail, with the number of stones recorded as well as the value. Ksenia's own album would include an image of a piece (mostly painted in her own hand), date and note, such as "from Sandro". The jewel albums display the Grand Duchess's exceptional skill with watercolours, a talent perfected from an early age. The earliest entries show a skillful hand as well as keen attention to hierarchy, with her elders identified by their full titles. Entry number 2, for example, depicts a medallion which is listed as having been given to her by Her Imperial Highness Empress Maria, her recently deceased grandmother. The albums were undoubtedly more than simply a curatorial exercise by the Grand Duchess: she revisited the pages and added notations to them, recording pieces given to loved ones. One such example is a bracelet numbered 138 which had been presented to her by her father-in-law as a birthday gift in 1896 and which she later passed on to her eldest child and only daughter, Irina, here identified by the initials I.A., or Irina Alexandrovna. Another example (no. 36), is a grape-leaf form pendant brooch with a suspended emerald from her trousseau which was also given to Irina, presumably at the time of or shortly after her marriage, when she is referred to by the more mature title Princess Irina Alexandrovna. In 1914, Princess Irina married Prince Felix Felixovich Yussupov, heir to a vast family fortune and notable for his involvement in the assassination of Rasputin. Although her father and grandfather's reigns were tainted by assassination plots and civil unrest, Russia was kept from war until the Russo-Japanese conflicts escalated in 1904. Ksenia was extremely affected by events around her and felt implicated in her family's treatment of political issues that arose. The albums served her as a personal, visual diary and are almost completely unrelated to political circumstances which the Grand Duchess elaborated upon in correspondence and personal accounts elsewhere. The current events of Bloody Sunday, formation of the Duma, involvement in World War I and trajectory towards Revolution are outside the purview of Ksenia's albums. The Grand Duchess' personal circumstances altered dramatically as she lived through her father's and brother's reigns, Revolution, and two world wars, ending her days in a Grace and Favour apartment at Hampton Court Palace. Her eighty-five years spanned profound changes in the customs and fashion for jewellery as by 1901, she was a married mother herself when Queen Victoria died and in the year of her own death John F. Kennedy became President of the United States. It is little wonder that when the Grand Duchess had to flee revolutionary forces, she chose these books to accompany her. Akin to a photograph album or a journal, the albums acted as an aide-memoire, with each entry recording the generosity of beloved family members who had put every effort into finding pieces of jewellery which reflected the occasion of their presentation. Reciprocally, the Grand Duchess honoured each gift by carefully studying and recording its character with her considerable skill as a watercolourist. The pursuit of the imperial hand-painted jewel album was embraced at the courts of the last two Russian emperors and is indicative of the age's pronounced sentimentality and prizing of family relations and friendships. The Grand Duchess Ksenia's brother, Tsar Nicholas also worked on his own album. In 1992, curator Tatiana Muntian announced that the Kremlin Archives had since 1922 held Nicholas II's Jewel Album, which was published in full by Alexander von Solodkoff and Irina Bogatskaya in 1997. It was also revealed that the archives contained an album Empress Alexandra Fedorovna kept of pieces she had selected for family and friends. Also in 1992, Sotheby's Book and Manuscript Department in New York sold a jewel notebook that had been kept for several years by Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the Younger. Prompted by these discoveries, additional research was conducted in the Archives of Wolfsgarten Castle, where Empress Alexandra had spent part of her childhood, revealing a fifth jewel album her brother Grand Duke Ernest Ludwig had kept. Training in drawing and watercolour was considered essential for the upbringing of any young lady or gentleman of distinction and most of the Grand Dukes and Duchesses were quite competent artists. Ksenia was especially talented as we see from her depictions of even intricate pieces: the enamelled and jewelled winter landscape by Lalique (n°249) that Sandro gave her for Christmas in 1900 is instantly recognizable as the firm's work and is rendered in exquisite detail. Ksenia mastered complex surfaces such as faceted diamonds, requiring a skilled hand to render the subtle range of shades of whites, as seen in her painstaking rendering of a tiara her parents had given her for her wedding. Her artistic skill allows for the attribution of items like the fob watch (n°364) to the firm of Fabergé. Otherwise, identifying items by Fabergé in the albums is a challenge because the Grand Duchess never noted a maker. In a broad-ranging study of the firm's records, Valentin Skurlov noted that Ksenia and Sandro ordered about 600 items from the firm, so there should be a great many candidates for identification. Rifat Gafifullin and Aleksei Guzanov's index of items purchased from the firm by members of the Imperial family shows that many of the couple's purchases were the sort of items that would not have been recorded in Ksenia's albums such as hardstone animals, photograph frames, bonbonnières, or snuff boxes. Nevertheless, descriptions of a number of items Sandro purchased in mid-December 1894 can be matched with Ksenia's watercolours. The hatpin with a circular moonstone and diamonds for which the Grand Duke paid 200 rubles is almost certainly item 90. Item 88 on the same page appears to be the brooch decorated with grey enamel, a moonstone, two diamonds, and a number of rose diamonds priced at 145 rubles which, like the hatpin, was a Christmas gift for Ksenia. Item 89, whose reflective surface is rendered with particular skill, matches the description of an oval moss agate brooch with a bowknot and border of rose diamonds costing 100 rubles. These December purchases also included a number of early purchases intended for Ksenia on her name day, celebrated on January 24. Of particular interest is item 93; while it appears to be a rather modest brooch, the scale is apparently deceiving. According to an invoice dated December 15, 1894, the brooch with a cabochon turquoise flanked by two faceted diamonds was priced at the hefty sum of 800 rubles. The value of the diamonds alone was 775 rubles. Although it is always difficult to translate these prices into modern equivalents, by one common measure, the cost of the brooch today would be about $40,000, £25,000, or €30,000. The jewel albums shed light on those objects which Ksenia was able to bring with her out of Russia and which she or her children sold to fund their life in exile, providing insight to their history and the occasions for which they were selected as gifts. For the birth of their first two children—Princess Irina in 1895 and Prince Andrei in 1897—Sandro presented his wife with jewelled bracelets. The grander of the two is the bracelet commemorating the birth of the second child, but first boy, on January 12, 1897. The bracelet, numbered 157 in the second album, was made in the workshop of August Holmström, Fabergé's senior jeweller at that time. The bracelet evokes the importance of the arrival of a son and heir: two rows of heavy oval links are set with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires commemorating the happy date of the infant's arrival and closing with a diamond and sapphire-set flag of St. Andrew, the symbol of the Russian Imperial Navy. Sandro had spent his entire career in the Navy and in the late 1890s still had ambitions to reform Imperial naval policy. These efforts were ultimately thwarted, but he undoubtedly hoped his first-born son might follow him in his Naval career. In the same vein, the album vividly illustrates the disappointment of a first-born daughter. The bracelet (N°112) Sandro presented the Grand Duchess for Irina's birth in 1895, probably also the work of Fabergé, is so similar to the bracelet commemorating Andrei's birth that it suggests that he already had a design in mind prior to the infant's arrival. Fine notation in pencil declaring that the bracelet had been lost can be seen next to the image. This terse notation disguises something of the Grand Duchess' difficult years in the Crimea. The bracelet, which had great sentimental as well as financial value, was not carelessly misplaced. The notation usually designates an item confiscated, or stolen, during one of the numerous searches of Ksenia's Crimean residence of Ai Todor. After their escape to London, family members told Grand Duchess Maria Georgievna that representatives of the Yalta and Sevastopol Soviets arrived to search Ai Todor in late April 1917; during the search, apparently in full view of Ksenia who was still in bed, one of their number "...rummaged about in Ksenia's things, stole a few of her jewels from the dressing table, and retired." Rather than expressing any bitterness or anger at such a violation, Ksenia covers the entire difficult period with the mild word "lost." In addition to the bracelet, there was a number of comparatively modest gifts given by various family members on the occasion of Irina's christening. As we know, Ksenia went on to give birth to six sons, a fact that stood in uncomfortable contrast as the court ever more impatiently awaited the birth of an heir to the Imperial couple. After the birth of Prince Andrei, on the other hand, Ksenia's close relatives showered her with lavish gifts. Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna presented Ksenia with a lavish diamond necklace, while her brother, Emperor Nicholas II, presented her with an imposing diamond and pearl brooch. The rarity and exclusivity of the pearl indicates something of the joy with which the family members greeted the birth of a son. Other gifts can be identified in the albums, namely a Fabergé sapphire pendant with enamelled and rose diamond-set mount which was a Christmas gift from Sandro in 1905. Ksenia eventually gave it to her granddaughter and namesake, Princess Ksenia Andreevna, known in the family as "Mysh.". A diamond-set carved hardstone or emerald miniature Easter egg pendant which Sandro had given her for Easter that year similarly became the property of Mysh. One of the final items (n°418) in Ksenia's album bears consideration: a beautiful heart-shaped tourmaline and diamond brooch that Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra had given her for her birthday in 1911. Shortly thereafter, Ksenia stopped recording new items in her album. Due to personal difficulties or increasing political worries in these last years of peace, it can be assumed that wartime economies and her increased duties deprived her of attention she might have devoted to the albums. These remarkable documents remain a souvenir of former times, of an age of extraordinary wealth as well as one of outstanding artisanship and artistic endeavour. ____________ i John van der Kiste and Coryne Hall, Once a Grand Duchess: Xenia, Sister of Nicholas II (Sutton Publishing, 2002), pp. 74-76. ii Selected pages were reproduced in O. Villumsen Krog and Preben Ulstrup, Ruslands skatte - kejserlige gaver—Treasures of Russia—Imperial gifts = Sokrovishcha Rossii i imperatorskie dary (Kbh.: Det Kongelige Sølvkammer, 2002), 252-265 and Géza von Habsburg, Fabergé-Cartier: Rivalen am Zarenhof (Munich: Hirmer Verlag, 2003), 59-61. iii Tatiana Muntian, "New Information on Fabergé Pieces in the Kremlin," in Vyacheslav Mukhin, ed. Fabulous Epoch of Fabergé (Moscow: Nord, 1992); Tatiana N. Muntian, "The Note-Book of the Tsar. Jewellery from the Note-Book of Tsar Nicholas II from the Collections of the State Museums of the Moscow Kremlin," (translated by Larisa Wising), in Stockholm, 1997, 46-51; and Alexander von Solodkoff. The Jewel Album of Tsar Nicholas II and a Collection of Private Photographs of the Russian Imperial Family. (With an essay by Irina A. Bogatskaya) London: Ermitage, 1997. iv Sotheby's New York, Fine Books and Manuscripts including the Collection of Dr. Morton McMichael, 17 December 1992, lot 296. v Although it concerns an earlier period, the exhibition catalogue Urok risovaniia demonstrates the artistic training, and subsequent artistic skills, of many members of the Imperial family. See I.K. Bott, L.V. Bardovskaia, et al, Urok risovaniia (Sankt-Peterburg: Petronii, 2006). vi V.V. Skurlov, "Analiz assortimenta firma Faberzhe," Antikvarnoe obozrenie 2006, no. 2, p. 62. vii R.R. Gafifullin and A.N. Guzanov, Pavlovsk: Polnyi katalog kollektsii, tom IX. Izdeliia firmy Faberzhe kontsa XIX-nachala XX veka s sobranii GMZ "Pavlovsk," (St. Petersburg: Pavlovsk, 2013), pp. 150-181. viii Gafifullin and Guzanov, no. 2364, p. 154. ix Gafifullin and Guzanov, no. 2378, p. 154. x Gafifullin and Guzanov, no. 2364, p. 154. xi Gafifullin and Guzanov, no. 2365, p. 154. xii Sidney Harcave, Count Sergei Witte and the Twilight of Imperial Russia: A Biography (Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2004), 96-98. xiii Grand Duchess George, A Romanov Diary (New York: Atlantic International, 1988), p. 221.