Russian Art and Gifts from the Imperial Family

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However, we begin in the art world long after the reign of the Russian Tsars with paintings from the collection of chamberlain and former Lord Chamberlain Søren Haslund-Christensen. The still life “Liljer og en bog” (Lilies and a Book) from 1991 is painted by Dmitri Dmitrievich Zhilinsky, who spent time in Denmark during the 1990s in connection with a high-profile commission – a portrait of Queen Margrethe II. The artist gave the work to Haslund-Christensen in gratitude for securing him several other portrait assignments. From Danish businessman Gunnar Helge Haagensen’s collection, we have five paintings by Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanoff-Belsky, who has depicted children in various situations, such as at the tea table and in the classroom. The works were acquired in Riga, directly from the artist himself, and have been in the ownership of the Haagensen family ever since. We meet another child in Illarion Mikhailovich Pryanishnikov’s depiction of a fair-haired boy in a red-coloured Russian shirt. The work is an example of the artist's focus on social realism.

The imperial provenances are particularly prominent in the jewellery up for auction. This includes a beautiful Art Nouveau tiepin given by Tsaritsa Maria Feodorovna to her father, Christian IX. In the royal family, she went by the name of Minny, and in the accompanying box, there is a neatly-written note bearing the words “Min Engle Papa fra Minny” (My Angel Papa from Minny). Other gifts from the Tsaritsa include three brooches given to her lady-in-waiting, Thora Mortensen, at Hvidøre Castle in the 1920s. At the more curious end of the spectrum is a Danish medallion with a photograph of a very young Princess Dagmar (the later Tsaritsa Maria Feodorovna) from the time before her marriage to Tsar Alexander III of Russia. Behind the glass on the back is a lock of the princess’ hair, and the medallion would probably have been worn by one of her very close relatives. Two signets with imperial provenances are also in the running – one was owned by the Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, the other by her daughter, Queen Alexandrine of Denmark.

The provenance of a small Easter egg pendant is also interesting. It was made for Grand Duchess Anastasia by Mikhail Perchin, one of Fabergé’s workmasters. The Easter egg tradition was particularly strong in Russia, where Easter Day was an important religious holiday. Families would meet and give each other Easter eggs as a gift, and the imperial family liked to order them from Fabergé, their favourite jeweller. The auction also features porcelain Easter eggs from Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia and Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich of Russia.