Lot 158: A Parcel-Gilt Silver, En Plein Enamel Presentation Plaque

A Parcel-Gilt Silver, En Plein Enamel Presentation Plaque
Marked Pavel Ovchinnikov with the Imperial warrant, with the Cyrillic workmaster's initials EK, St. Petersburg, circa 1891
Rectangular, engraved with a view of the city of Samara and the Volga embankment, within an applied drapery border hung with tassels and a tied ribbon, one corner suspended by a putto holding a sheaf of wheat, surmounted by a crowned Imperial coat of arms and the crowned coat of arms of the city of Samara, the drapery inscribed in Russian, 'Samara and its Environs', flanked by the date '1891', the fluted border applied at each corner with the Imperial double-headed eagle, the upper border applied with a plaque inscribed in Russian, 'To His Imperial Highness, Sovereign and Heir, Tsarevich and Grand Duke, Nikolai Alexandrovich', the lower border applied with a plaque inscribed in Russian, 'Samara Civic Society, in Memory', the reverse lined with blue velvet, marked on cover
11¾ (30 cm.) high, 14¼ in. (36.2 cm.) wide, 3/4 in. (2 cm.) deep

H. Waterfield and C. Forbes, Fabergé Imperial Eggs and Other Fantasies, New York, 1978, pp.104, 106
M. Kelly, Highlights from the Forbes Magazine Galleries, New York, 1985, p.12

Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich, later Tsar Nicholas II.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 20 May, 1976, lot 251.
Property from the Collection of Forbes Magazine, Sotheby's, New York, 1 December, 1998, lot 336.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 26 May, 2004, lot 435 (sold after the sale).

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium
The end of the summer of 1891 found Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich well into the return leg of an eastern journey that had kept him away from St. Petersburg the better part of a year. Departing from Gatchina in November of 1890, with stops including Egypt, India, and Hong Kong, he eventually reached Japan, where on 11 May, he survived an assassination attempt near Kyoto. Wounded but not in danger of losing his life, the Tsarevich was able to continue his journey to Vladivostok. On 31 May, he officially opened construction on the Ussuriysk distance of the Trans-Siberian Railway, laying the first stone and a silver plaque at the railway station.

By late July, the Tsarevich had reached as far as the Samara region. On Tuesday, 28 July, his train made a stop at the railway station in Buzuluk, east of the city of Samara, where the Tsarevich was received by representatives of Samara's aristocratic society. It was on this occasion that the present plaque was likely given to the Tsarevich. Along with an engraved view and coat of arms of Samara, the plaque features a putto holding a sheaf of wheat, probably a symbol of the region's agricultural prosperity under the reign of Tsar Alexander III.
The Samara region was just then on the brink of what would, over the course of the coming months, develop into a widespread famine affecting an area of nearly 900,000 square miles. It was known as early as June 1891 that crops would fail and by July local zemstvos had petitioned the government for assistance. As the famine eventually worsened, Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich assumed a prominent role in the relief efforts, serving as chair of a special relief committee set up to encourage and focus the charitable efforts.