Live Auction 19038Sacred and Imperial: The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection Part I
A DIAMOND SILVER AND GOLD MAID OF HONOR CYPHER
Lot 823

A DIAMOND SILVER AND GOLD MAID OF HONOR CYPHER 

RUSSIA, CIRCA 1855-1860, NUMBER 59

Closed24 September 2020

Price Realised

USD 52,500

Considering selling a similar item?

Discover its value with a complimentary estimate from our specialists.

More Information

Conditions of Sale
How to sell

A DIAMOND SILVER AND GOLD MAID OF HONOR CYPHER 
RUSSIA, CIRCA 1855-1860, NUMBER 59
In the form of the Cyrillic initials ‘MA’ for Empress Maria Alexandrovna (1824-1880) and Dowager Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (1798-1860), set with old and rose-cut diamonds mounted in silver-topped gold, surmounted by a hinged diamond-set Imperial crown, with suspension loop and pin, apparently unmarked, numbered ‘59’ on reverse
3 in. (7.6 cm.) high, with crown

Anonymous sale; Christie’s, Geneva, 17 November 1981, lot 183.
The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, Chicago.

Specialist note

The initials refer to Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II, and to the Dowager Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas I. A lady-in-waiting serving for both Empresses had the cypher brooch with their two interlaced initials.