The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Imperial Framed Miniature of Tsar Nicholas II

Imperial Framed Miniature of Tsar Nicholas II

1896
(Russian, 1857–1908)
(Russian, 1860–1903)
(Russian, 1842–1918)
Overall: 15.3 x 5 x 5 cm (6 x 1 15/16 x 1 15/16 in.)
Location: 211 Fabergé

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 this miniature of himself to his wife, and she gave the one of the baby to him.

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, November 22, 1896 (by tsarina), Alexander Palace, Tsarskoye Selo, Russia
    1917-1922
    Provisional Russian Government, Kremlin, Moscow
    ?-1948
    (The Schaffer Collection of Russian Imperial Art Treasures [A La Vielle Russie], New York, NY)
    1948-1966
    India Early Minshall [1885-1965], Cleveland, OH; bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1966
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • 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
    Harrison, Stephen, Emmanuel Ducamp, and Jeannine J. Falino. Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 178, cat 59, fig. 64 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.
    Artistic Luxury: Fabergé Tiffany Lalique . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 19, 2008-January 18, 2009); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (February 7-May 31, 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 Tsar Nicholas II|url=false|author=Johannes Zehngraf, Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin, House of Fabergé,|year=1896|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.458.1