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Joseph PONZIO, chef de cuisine to Grand Duke Pierre of Russia. Series of approximately 72 autograph letters and 2 postcards signed to his wife, Marie, and son, Léon, sent from the Crimea, St Petersburg, Nice and elsewhere, 12/24 May 1895 – 25 August 1904, in Italian-inflected French, 49 relating to his service in the grand-ducal household, 1895-1902; with 12 letters addressed to Ponzio (from family members and ex-colleagues), and one related letter.
A lively-account of below-stairs life amongst the Romanovs. Recounting the struggles in providing for a household of up to 100 often with a team of only four, Ponzio's letters are full of complaints about the inadequacy of the facilities and staff– his kitchen is no larger than his wife’s in Nice – whilst he finds it almost impossible to procure good provisions at a reasonable price: the mutton is good in the Crimea, but ‘le reste cela ne vau[t] pas grand-chose’; the wine is ‘tres cher et tres fort’. His main challenges come at the great feasts: the greatest of all is at the baptism of a new prince in November 1896, attended by the whole imperial court, in which he is charged with preparing ‘un grand buffet d’hors d’heuvre [sic] …. 5 jour de travail 3 hommes’. In 1897, after almost three years in post and in spite of intense homesickness, he notes with satisfaction that his position is one of the foremost in Russia, envied by many colleagues, and that his service has been ‘presque sans reproches'. Grand Duke Pierre (1864-1931) was a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I.
A lively-account of below-stairs life amongst the Romanovs. Recounting the struggles in providing for a household of up to 100 often with a team of only four, Ponzio's letters are full of complaints about the inadequacy of the facilities and staff– his kitchen is no larger than his wife’s in Nice – whilst he finds it almost impossible to procure good provisions at a reasonable price: the mutton is good in the Crimea, but ‘le reste cela ne vau[t] pas grand-chose’; the wine is ‘tres cher et tres fort’. His main challenges come at the great feasts: the greatest of all is at the baptism of a new prince in November 1896, attended by the whole imperial court, in which he is charged with preparing ‘un grand buffet d’hors d’heuvre [sic] …. 5 jour de travail 3 hommes’. In 1897, after almost three years in post and in spite of intense homesickness, he notes with satisfaction that his position is one of the foremost in Russia, envied by many colleagues, and that his service has been ‘presque sans reproches'. Grand Duke Pierre (1864-1931) was a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I.