CIRCA 1800

At twenty-seven, Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887-1973) inherited Postum Cereal Company and soon became the richest woman in America. In 1936, her third husband, Joseph Davies, was appointed the American Ambassador to Moscow. They spent two years in the Soviet Union during which they acquired a large collection of Imperial Russian objects that were sold through special commission shops established by the cash starved Soviet government. This elegant chandelier with its distinctive malachite bands was likely acquired at this time.