Empress Maria Feodorovna: An Edwardian British Royal Presentation Hepplewhite Revival Marquetry Fruit Wagon. British, like...

Description

Empress Maria Feodorovna: An Edwardian British Royal Presentation Hepplewhite Revival Marquetry Fruit Wagon
British, like Maple & Co., circa 1910-1911
29 x 21-3/8 x 10-3/4 inches (73.7 x 54.3 x 27.3 cm)

PROVENANCE:
A gift from Queen Alexandra of Great Britain to her sister the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, Christmas, 1911;
The Winter Palace, St. Petersburg;
L'Hermitage Gallery, London, by repute acquired from the above;
Sir Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen and Lady Duveen;
Mr. & Mrs. William Young, a gift from the above;
Mrs. Henry Darbee, their daughter, by descent;
Frederick H. Schrader, Napa Valley.


Empress Maria Feodorovna (1847-1928), born Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksberg, and the youngest child of Prince Christian and Princess Louise (née von Hesse-Kassel), was known as "Minnie". She might have remained relatively obscure had her father not become heir to the Danish throne in 1852 and later king in 1863, significantly altering the family's fortunes. That same year, her elder sister Alexandra married the Prince of Wales, and in 1866, Dagmar wed Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich, the Russian heir to the throne. After converting to Orthodoxy, she became known as Maria Feodorovna and, alongside Alexandra, wielded considerable influence in both fashion and politics. The sisters, celebrated for their beauty and charm, maintained a close relationship, frequently visiting each other and exchanging luxurious gifts from renowned artisans such as Cartier and Fabergé.

The offered lot, a Hepplewhite-style marquetry fruit wagon bears the inlaid crowned cyphers of both sisters, as well as the words "Sandringham" and "1911". The Sandringham Estate was one of the favorite residences of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra and one which the Dowager Empress visited frequently after the death of her husband in 1894. The Dowager Empress visited in 1909 and 1910, and the offered lot may have been presented as a gift to the Empress Maria following the 1910 visit. Maple & Co. was the supplier for many of the furnishings at Sandringham.

According to Young family documentation, the wagon was acquired directly from the Winter Palace in the 1920's by L'Hermitage Gallery of London, which worked closely with Alexandre Polovtsov. Polovtsov, a scion of one of Russia's great collecting families and the curator of the Stieglitz Museum, began what he called his "rescue work" under the Provisional Government after the Tsar's abdication in 1917. Realizing that working with the Bolsheviks-particularly Anatoly Lunacharsky-could help preserve Russian art, he used his diplomatic skills and expertise to safeguard cultural treasures. As a key member of the Commission of Fine Arts, he inspected palaces, appointed guardians, and worked to protect collections at Gatchina and Pavlovsk. By late 1918, however, the political climate became too dangerous. His possessions were confiscated, and after imprisonment and threats, he and his family fled Russia. "Without passports or papers of any kind... like common criminals, we crossed the frontier into Finland," he recalled.

In the following decades, Polovtsov opened a gallery in Paris, though which the Soviet government sold off many Russian treasures, including the fruit wagon. Polovtsov appears to have sold the wagon to famed London art dealer Sir Joseph Duveen, who presented it as a gift to his friends and clients, Judge and Mrs. William Young.

Property from the Collection of Frederick H. Schrader



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