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Medals and cameos by an imperial person-engraver

Continuing our story of the Russian art of medal-stamping we want to remember the only Russian woman-medalist in all the tsarist Russia history. We want to speak about an Imperial person being a wonderful master-medalist, about born Sophia-Dorothea, Princess of Wurttemberg, later Russian Empress, Maria Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Pavel Petrovich

When Empress Maria Feodorovna was born in Stettin on 14 October 1759, she was christened Sophia-Dorothea-Augusta-Luisa. Her father, Friedrich Eugene, the third son of Grand Duke of Wurttemberg Karl Alexander, was a Prussian service general. Her mother, Frederike-Sophia, was the daughter of the Markgrave of Brandenburg and the sister of King Frederick II. Her mother was very fond of J.-J. Russeau▓s works, practiced keeping the house management herself, taught her children to love nature and not to hide from work. She passed her interest in the art of painting to her children, and Sophia-Dorothea was good in drawing since her early childhood.

Medal on the second wedding of Grand Prince Pavel Petrovich on 26 September 1776. By I. Jager (avers) and I. Weihter (reverse). Dia. 65 mm [zoom (29k)]

Fulfilling the order by Empress Katherine II, a Danish diplomat, and a secret agent of the Empress, Asseburg, searched for a bride for Prince Paul of Russia among the princesses of the German states. However, apart from the assignment by Katherine, Asseburg was fulfilling also the wish of King Frederick II to present to Katherine as a satisfactory candidate one of the Hesse-Darmstadt Princesses. So, in 1773, Princess Wilhelmina married Prince Paul. However, this marriage did not last for a long time, for the Grand Princess died by delivery of a child.

Then, a sixteen years old German Princess, Sophia-Dorothea of Wurttemberg, was spotted by Katherine II as a possible candidate for her son▓s wife. Sophia featured kindness and gentle character, which Ekaterina liked in particular. Paul also liked meekness and housekeeping talents of the Princess. All the sides concerned were eager to organize the marriage, and the family of the Duke of Wurttemberg departed to Russia on receiving a quite big for a German prince sum of 40,000 thalers and 10,000 thalers more from King Frederick.

The tradition of searching for aristocratic matches in Germany stemmed from the days of Peter I, who, in his childhood, was a witness of the numerous relatives of Russian czarinas, Miloslavskys and Naryshkins, bringing the country on the verge of a civil war in the result of their quarrel. The German princesses were satisfactory candidates because of the two reasons: firstly, it was easier to convert protestants to the Greek Orthodox confession, than catholics, for the Russian Church had a long lasting quarrel with the Catholic Church. Secondly the poor Germans did not seek the Russians making some political concessions unwanted by them.

Paul met his future spouse at a dinner given by the Queen of Prussia in Berlin in July 1776. The young ones liked each other at a glance. After several walks and meetings, Paul understood that the soul of the Princess is even better than her appearance. The Great Prince produced a favorable impression on the Princess demonstrating his intellect and seriousness, while his negative features, i.e. his harshness and fretful temper were not yet revealed.

Sophia-Dorothea with her family arrived to St. Petersburg on 2 September 1776. On September 14th, she joined the Orthodox Confession and received the Russian name of Maria Feodorovna. The next day, the betrothal ceremony took place, and the marriage ceremony took place on September 26th.

A commemorative medal was stamped devoted to this event. Its avers features a double portrait of the bride with a high coiffure and the groom. On the reverse, Hymen connects two flaming hearts with a chain. Below, there are a torch and a shield bearing the crest of Russia. We also see a tree with fruits on its branches behind the church fence. In the upper part, there is a circumferential sign: ⌠The new hope of Russia■.

In his second marriage, Paul found a loving and devoted wife. Together, they worked on making comfortable a small palace on Kammenyj Ostrov Island. In the summer, they lived in Pavlovsk. Here, the housekeeping talents and the artistic taste of Maria Feodorovna were demonstrated, as well as her longing towards the nature and fine arts. The young couple disliked the Imperial Court, and in one of her letters the Grand Princess wrote to her mother in Montbeliard that there she ⌠has to be on her guard when speaking to the Empress, has to bear the disgracing company of Potemkine and his clique■. In the period of fourteen months after the marriage, the first child, Alexander, was born. In all, the Emperor Paul▓s wife bore six daughters and four sons. Alexander and Nicholas were Russian Emperors, Constantine and Mikhail also were important historical figures.

In 1781, Paul and Maria Feodorovna visited Europe under the names of the Count and Countess Severny. This journey is worth of a separate story, however, we want to remind you about only two of its episodes. When they visited Vienna, an incident occurred, after which the habit of calling Paul ⌠the Russian Hamlet■ started. The Count and Countess Severny were to visit the theatre, where the Shakespeare▓s tragedy ⌠Hamlet■ was staged. The actor playing the role of Hamlet told that there will be two Hamlets, one on the stage and the another one in the Imperial loge.

After returning to St.Petersburg, Maria Feodorovna was subjected to the hard temper of the Russian Empress. Katherine decided that the sums spent by Paul and his wife during the journey were too big. Katherine ordered to return to Parisian merchants two hundred boxes with fabrics, lace and other fancy articles brought by her daughter-in-law from abroad. Also, Katherine issued a regulation forbidding frillings longer than two inches and high coiffeurs decorated with feathers.

After the journey, Paul and his wife lived in Gatchina for quite a long period. This was the time of the Paul▓s taking a fancy for a waiting-lady of his wife, Ekaterina Nelidova. Maria Fedorovna, though not happy with this fact, put up with it, because, firstly, Nelidova can calm down the feats of Paul▓s wreath, and, secondly, because the relations with her as the relations with her another favourite, Lopukhina, most likely were platonic, and they were only conversation partners for Paul.

This was the time of Maria Feodorovna commencing the medal art activities. She was already good in drawing, and now, she started to learn from a famous engraver, Leberecht. She learned the art of engraving on glass by the imperial court master of glass G. Koenig. We must mention that the art of engraving requires a strong hand and good nerves. The thorough craftsmanship of cutting medals and cameos helped her to overcome her blues.

Medal ⌠Redeemer of Peoples■. By Empress Maria Feodorovna. 1814. Silver. Dia. 66 mm [zoom (24k)]

Cameos ≈ portraits of the imperial family members are now kept in the Hermitage, but not all of them. The others are being put up for auctions from time to time. For example, the auction house Gelos sold in May 2006 a cameo-portrait of Katherine II by Maria Feodorovna, executed in April 1789 in two-layer glass (milk and carneol), for 1,700,000 roubles (Estimate 800,000 rubles). It is a rendition of a jasper cameo cut by Maria Feodorovna in the same year. This type of Katherine▓s portrait was taken as a model for the commemorative medal on the Katherine▓s death in 1796.

In 1793, she created a medium sized medal (39mm diameter) on the 64th anniversary of Katherine II, bearing a cipher of the Empress surrounded by a laurel branch on one side and a palm branch on its other side. The reverse features the sun rising above a hill, below, a snake biting its tail (symbol of eternity and knowledge). The upper part of the medal features also a lamb, which is a symbol of the Good prevailing over the Evil, the latin number ⌠XXI■, and a sign ⌠This name is life■. The medal was stamped in silver and is quite rare.

Only after his mother▓s death, Paul inherited the throne. The coronation was to be held in Moscow and Maria Feodorovna started to create a medal devoted to this event. Medals in gold and in silver of different sizes were to be stamped for subsequent presenting them to the representatives of various society classes presenting at the Coronation. Maria Feodorovna executed the dies of the biggest diameter (65mm). Leberecht, Meissner and Alexeev created the smaller size dies (55, 44 and 39mm). The dies created by Maria Feodorovna were used for stamping 103 big gold medals, presented to Imperial persons and highest officials. Later on, the silver and bronze medals were produced using these stamps.

The avers of the medal bears a profile image of Paul I, wearing a wig and a military coat, with an order ribbon over his shoulder. The sign including the traditional imperial title of Paul is supplemented with the words meaning in English ⌠Cut by Maria, 1797■. The reverse bears a wide equal armed cross on a plain background.

The portrait accomplished by Maria Feodorovna is very good, and if a ruble bearing an imperial portrait would ever have been introduced, this image should be most suitable for it. It is characterized by a considerable grade of likeness with the original, and at the same time is full of grandeur and wisdom of a statesman.

After becoming an Empress, Maria Feodorovna devoted herself to the charity activities and the educational institutes for ladies. On 12 November 1796, she was appointed to the position of the supervisor over the Society for the Upbringing Yong Ladies of the Noble Birth. The Smolny Institute for education of ladies founded by Katherine was supplemented by another institute, Ekaterininsky, its graduates wearing a cipher of Maria Feodorovna (the letter ⌠M■). The Empress always visited the graduation ceremonies of that institute.

After the palace coup and murder of Paul, Alexander, the Paul▓s son came to the throne. Maria Feodorovna knew about her son taking part in the conspiracy. However, the public side of their relations was always immaculate. Due to her activities, a number of educational institutes for ladies were established during the period of the reign of Alexander I in St.Petersburg, Moscow, Kharkov, Simbirsk and in other towns.

In connection with the victory over Napoleon, Maria Feodorovna refreshed her engraving skills. She created a medal ⌠Redeemer of Peoples■. The medal is really a superb one featuring thorough working out of the details and a big artistic taste. It is not overloaded with details. The avers bears a profile portrait of Emperor Alexander I wearing a laureate wreath, and a circling sign along its edge ⌠By the Grace of God Alexander I, Emperor and Autocrat of the Whole Russia■. The reverse side presents a circling sign ⌠Redeemer of Peoples■ the upper part of the medal. In the centre, there is a pedestal with a cushion on it, on which the State Regalia are placed (the Crown, the Orb and the Scepter). The Eye of Omniscience shedding beams of light is depicted above the Regalia. The pedestal bears the sign ⌠To Alexander I, the Blessed■, on the lower step, there is a sign, ⌠19 March 1814■. The basement of the pedestal is surrounded by three wreaths (an oak one and two laurel ones).

Empress Maria Feodorovna died on 12 November 1828. In the same year, a commemoration cross was established being a distinguishing award for the ladies that served in the charity houses of the Empress Maria Feodorovna▓s Organization. A blue Maltese-type cross with golden ⌠M■ ≈ ciphers on its arms was awarded for 25 and 50 years of unblemished service to be worn on a ribbon of the St. Vladimir Order. In the centre of the cross Latin numbers ⌠XXV■ or ⌠L■ were placed in a laurel wreath in cases of 25 and 50 years of unblemished service correspondingly. For 15 years of unblemished service, a small bleu medallion was awarded, bearing the Latin number ⌠XV■. The memory of the artistic talents of the Russian Empress, in its turn, lives in the medals and cameos created by Maria Feodorovna.