Bibelotslondon Ltd is a UK registered company based in London Bridge dealing in ephemera and curiosities from Britain and around the world. Our diverse inventory is carefully chosen and constantly evolving. We work very hard to offer the highest quality works at competitive prices. Our inventory is listed online, and we strive to keep our website completely up to date, so our customers can easily check availability. We believe in offering clients items that are unique and rare for aficionados of the antique and collector's world. Bibelot is a late nineteenth century word derived from the French word bel ‘beautiful’, meaning a small item of beauty, curiosity or interest. The word ephemera is derived from the sixteenth century Greek word ephmera meaning a printed or hand written paper not meant to be retained for a long period of time.
Fine antique CDV photo of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna of Russia (1819-1876). She was a daughter of Emperor Nicholas I
of Russia, sister of Alexander II and aunt of Alexander III. On the reverse of the photo in French is a message from Count Stroganoff giving the CDV as a gift to someone.
In 1839
she married Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg. She was an art collector
and President of the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg.
In
1837 King Ludwig I of Bavaria sent his nephew, Maximilian, Duke of
Leuchtenberg, to take part in cavalry maneuvers in Russia. Maximilian
was the only surviving son of Eugène de Beauharnais and grandson of
Empress Josephine. He was handsome, well educated and interested in
cultural pursuits. A year later, in October 1838, he made a second
visit. With his good looks and manners he impressed Maria Nikolaievna.
It
was not a desirable match for a daughter of a Russian Emperor.
Maximilian was below the rank of royalty, only entitled to the style of
Serene Highness as member of a secondary branch of the House of Bavaria.
He was also Roman Catholic, not Orthodox, and his own family, his
mother Princess Augusta of Bavaria in particular, was against this
marriage. Maximilian was the last of the Leuchtenberg – Beauharnais
family line and his mother feared that his descendants, brought up in
the Orthodox faith, would be completely Russified. She said history
would blame her son.
Furthermore the Bonaparte family had been
bitter enemies of Russia. Nevertheless the Tsar granted his permission
for the marriage on condition that his daughter did not leave Russia to
live abroad. Since the Duke of Leuchtenberg was not a member of a
reigning family, it was easy for him to take up residence in Saint
Petersburg.
The wedding took place on 2 July 1839 at the grand
church of the Winter Palace. The ceremony was described in detail by the
Marquis de Custine, who visited St Peterburg at that time. He praised
the Grand Duchess for her grace, but disliked the Duke of Leuchtenberg.
Nicholas I spared no expense for his daughter’s wedding and the
festivities lasted for two weeks.The couple remained in Russia, where
their seven children grew up in the circle of the imperial family.
Count
Sergei Lvovich Levitsky (1819 – 1898), is considered one of the
patriarchs of Russian photography and one of Europe's most important
early photographic pioneers, inventors and innovators. Of noble birth,
he was a cousin of Aleksandr Ivanovich Herzen, the writer, husband to
Anna Antonovna and father to Rafail Sergeevich Levitsky (1847–1940), a
Peredvizhniki artist who was court photographer to Tsar Nicholas II, the
last emperor of Russia.
Considered the best of Russia's portrait
photographers, the Levitsky studio photographed four generations of the
Romanov dynasty. In 1877, it was awarded the title Photographer of
their Royal Majesty.
He wrote memoirs in two volumes entitled,
Reminiscences of an Old Photographer (1892) and How I Became a
Photographer (1896). He is buried in St. Petersburg's Smolenskoye
Cemetery.
Upon his father’s death in 1898, Rafail Levitsky
continued the operation and tradition of the Levitsky portrait studio
taking the now famous photos of Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra
and their children Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand
Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of
Russia, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, and Alexei
Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia.
The Levitsky Studio was located
in Moika River Embankment, 30 (1860s), Nevsky Prospect, 28 (1890s), and
Kazanskaya Street, 3 (1898, the house is not preserved).
The Levitsky St. Petersburg Studio remained in operation until it was closed by the Soviets in 1918.
Size: 11 x 6.5 cm approx
Photos
form part of the description