The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Imperial Framed Miniature of Grand Duchess Olga Nicolaievna

Imperial Framed Miniature of Grand Duchess Olga Nicolaievna

1896
(Russian, 1857–1908)
(Russian, 1860–1903)
(Russian, 1842–1918)
Russia, St. Petersburg
jade, gold, rubies, gouache, ivory, glass
Overall: 15.3 x 5 x 5 cm (6 x 1 15/16 x 1 15/16 in.)
The India Early Minshall Collection 1966.458.2
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This painted miniature is one of two miniatures that were personal gifts from the tsar and tsarina to one another in 1896, a year after the birth of their firstborn child, Grand Duchess Olga Nicolaievna. The tsar gave the miniature of himself to the tsarina, and she gave the one of the child to the tsar.

Description

The giving of miniatures had long been a common practice among wealthy and aristocratic families by the time Faberge began combining portraits with his richly decorated frames. The Russian imperial family delighted in having these personal mementos and commissioned many different miniatures to place around their private apartments, providing a warm family atmosphere in an otherwise highly formal existence.
  • 1896-1918
    Tsar Nicholas II [1868-1918] and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna [1872-1918], purchased from the maker, December 18, 1896 (by tsar), Alexander Palace, Tsarskoye Selo, Russia
    1918-1922
    Provisional Russian Government, Kremlin, Moscow
    ?-1948
    (The Schaffer Collection of Russian Imperial Art Treasures [A La Vielle Russie], New York, NY)
    1966-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 Imperial provenance discovered in Russian state ledgers by Kieran McCarthy, Wartski, London, 2019.
  • Hawley, Henry H. Fabergé and His Contemporaries: The India Early Minshall Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 24-5, cat. 8 ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
    Habsburg, Géza von, and David Park Curry. Fabergé in America. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 107, cat. 83 ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
  • Fabergé: Romance to Revolution. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (November 20, 2021-May 8, 2022) https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/faberge.
    Fabergé Loan. Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville, TN (organizer) (September 15, 2008-June 30, 2009).
    Fabergé in America. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (February 12-May 5, 1996); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (organizer) (May 25-July 28, 1996); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (August 24-November 2, 1996); New Orleans Museum of Art (December 7, 1996-February 8, 1997); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 12-May 11, 1997).
    Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967).
    Charity Exhibition of Fabergé Artistic Objects, Old Miniatures, and Snuff Boxes (Выставка художественных произведений К. Фаберже в особняке П.П. фон Дервиза, Санкт-Петербург). Baron von Dervis Mansion, Saint Petersburg, Russia (March 1902).
  • {{cite web|title=Imperial Framed Miniature of Grand Duchess Olga Nicolaievna|url=false|author=Johannes Zehngraf, Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin, House of Fabergé,|year=1896|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.458.2