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Lot Essay
Princess Irina Alexandrovna (1895–1970) was the only daughter and eldest child of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich and Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, the daughter of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna.
In 1914, Irina married Prince Felix Yusupov, at the time one of the wealthiest men in Russia. Two years later, in 1916, Yusupov took part in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin, the controversial mystic and ‘holy healer’ to Irina’s hemophiliac cousin, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. Following the Revolution of 1917, the Yusupovs fled Russia and after a brief stay in London, they eventually settled in Paris in 1920.
This bonbonnière, sold at Christie’s, London, in 1963 as part of the property of Princess Irina Yusupov, was formerly described as belonging to Empress Maria Feodorovna and her daughter, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, from whom it was inherited by Princess Irina.
In 1914, Irina married Prince Felix Yusupov, at the time one of the wealthiest men in Russia. Two years later, in 1916, Yusupov took part in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin, the controversial mystic and ‘holy healer’ to Irina’s hemophiliac cousin, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. Following the Revolution of 1917, the Yusupovs fled Russia and after a brief stay in London, they eventually settled in Paris in 1920.
This bonbonnière, sold at Christie’s, London, in 1963 as part of the property of Princess Irina Yusupov, was formerly described as belonging to Empress Maria Feodorovna and her daughter, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, from whom it was inherited by Princess Irina.