Smuggled Romanov royal jewels net nearly US$900,000 at Sotheby's auction
A sapphire and diamond brooch and matching earrings, which were part of the imperial jewels from Russian federation'southward Romanov family smuggled out of the country during the 1917 revolution, sold for 806,500 Swiss francs (US$883,641.94) on Midweek (November x), Sotheby's said.
The price netted for the celebrated set at the Geneva sale was nearly twice the high-cease of the pre-sale estimate, it said.
The buyer, bidding by telephone, chose to remain bearding, Sotheby's spokesperson Hanae Rebelo said.
The large oval brooch and earclips had belonged to Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, wife of Grand Knuckles Vladimir. She was besides the aunt of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II.
"Jewels with a more storied provenance rarely come to auction, and the appearance of these stunning sapphire and diamond pieces sparked interest from collectors worldwide," Sotheby's said in a statement.
The ready was entrusted to Pavlovna's friend the British diplomat Albert Henry Stopford, who took them to London for safekeeping forth with other jewels, the sale business firm said.
"Dressed in workman'south clothes, Stopford was sent to secretly collect the jewels from the G Duchess' home, the as yet un-pillaged 360-room Vladimir Palace on the prestigious Neva embankment. Let in through a side door past Maria Pavlovna'due south eldest son Boris and a trusted retainer, he dismantled the jewels, folding the pieces into old paper to protect them," it said.
Stopford, after visiting Pavlovna in the Caucasus, ready off for London in September 1917 carrying 244 pieces of her jewels and deposited them in a banking concern in that location, it added.
Pavlovna fled Russia in 1919 and died the next year in Paris. The jewels were passed to her daughter, Princess Elena of Hellenic republic and Kingdom of denmark, and kept in the family until they offset appeared at sale in November 2009, when they were bought by "some other European princely family" who sold them on Wednesday.
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/cna-lifestyle/romanov-royal-jewels-auction-sothebys-287611
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