Tatiana Nicholaevna: A Presentation Jewelry Box, Olovianishnikov, Moscow, circa 1913

with gilt-bronze Imperial eagle finial

fabric frayed. silver ring handle marked by maker. Eagle finial unattached
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the firm of Olovianishnikov was renowned for its production of churchbells at their Yaroslavl manufactory, originally founded in 1766. In 1848, members of the family expanded their production to a new workshop in Moscow.  The new facility manufactured church goods such as vestments and altar cloths made of the finest silks and velvets as well as chalices, incense burners and other items crafted from precious metals and colored hardstones. The firm had already had a long and successful history when in 1901 they engaged a particularly gifted student of the Imperial Stroganov School, Sergei Vashkov (1879-1914), as Chief Designer, although he had not yet received his diploma. Vashkov's designs for the firm relied on early Christian symbols and motifs from the architecture and decorative arts of Kievan and Vladimir-Suzdalian Rus reinterpreted for a modern taste. The brocade covering this box – a pattern of palmettes made by weaving gold threads with silk – as well as the stylized double-headed eagle are most probably Vashkov's designs. In 1911, the firm was named a Supplier to the Court of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna for church goods.  She ordered a great deal of icons and icon lamps from the firm, as well as vestments and altar cloths for her chapels. Because of the favor she showed the firm, it was natural for the clergy of the Bogoiavlensky Monastery in Kostroma to select a piece from it in honor of the Romanov Tercentenary.  On Vashkov and Olovianishnikov, see Evgenia Kirichenko, Russian Design and the Fine Arts, 1750-1917, New York, 1991, pp. 200-205 and O.B. Strugova, et al, Russkii stil. Sobranie Gosudarstvennogo Istoricheskogo muzeia, Moscow, 1999, pp. 61-63, 201, and 219.