After his father’s death in 1850 the 2nd Duke of Cambridge returned Adolphus’s Russian Orders to Tsar Nicholas I, the 1st Duke having received the St Andrew and associated awards in 1844. A formal letter acknowledging their safe return survives, written in French, dated 19 August 1850, and bearing the Tsar’s signature. Lots 56 & 57 were retained, being privately-made pieces thought to have been commissioned by the 1st Duke, circa 1845.  

Lots 58 - 63 form the Order of St Andrew presentation made to the 2nd Duke during Tsar Alexander II’s State Visit to Great Britain in May 1874. At the end of the visit the Duke wrote to his mother, on 23 May: ‘Thank God, the visit of the Emperor of Russia passed off well. All was well done and the reception friendly and good in every way… …He gave me the St Andrew’s Order which carries with it all the other great Orders of Russia, so that I am now bien decore with Russian Orders!’