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Lot Essay
There were two categories of maids of honor: maids of honor 'of the suite' and maids of honor 'of the city'. The former, who were required to live at the palace, constituted a much smaller group (from one to five during this period), and the latter a much larger group (approximately 250 in 1916) (U. Tillander-Godenhielm, The Russian Imperial Award System 1894-1917, Helsinki, 2005, pp. 35-37).
Maid of honor cyphers consisted of the reigning Empress's initials surmounted by the Imperial crown. When a new Empress ascended to the throne, or upon the death of a Dowager Empress, the design was changed. The present badge is in the form of both the Cyrillic initials 'E', which stands for Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, and 'M' for the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, dating the badge to the reign of Emperor Alexander I.
For a further discussion of the subject of maids of honor and ladies of the Russian Imperial court, see U. Tillander-Godenhielm, op. cit., pp. 31-45. Also see S. B. Patrikeev, A. D. Boinovich, The Badges of Russia, Vol. III, Moscow-St Petersburg, 2005, p. 140.
Maid of honor cyphers consisted of the reigning Empress's initials surmounted by the Imperial crown. When a new Empress ascended to the throne, or upon the death of a Dowager Empress, the design was changed. The present badge is in the form of both the Cyrillic initials 'E', which stands for Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, and 'M' for the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, dating the badge to the reign of Emperor Alexander I.
For a further discussion of the subject of maids of honor and ladies of the Russian Imperial court, see U. Tillander-Godenhielm, op. cit., pp. 31-45. Also see S. B. Patrikeev, A. D. Boinovich, The Badges of Russia, Vol. III, Moscow-St Petersburg, 2005, p. 140.