The secret of the most famous Russian deck of cards. Russian souvenir playing cards Cards with the royal family

The costume ball, held during Maslenitsa 1903 in the Winter Palace, was grandiose. And its highlight was the idea of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna - to capture for posterity the participants dressed in historical costumes of the 17th century. Moreover, by the best photographers of St. Petersburg. Based on the palace photography, the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers published the luxurious “Album of a Costume Ball in the Winter Palace,” which consisted of ten large-format folders. 21 heliogravures and 174 phototypes!

But the matter did not stop there.

In 1913, on the eve of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, a deck of playing cards “Russian Style” appeared. And on them are the participants of that very ball. This card deck will outlive all the participants in the costume party in the Winter Palace, endure changes in political regimes and live happily to this day. However, even today thrill-seekers, playing “fool” or preference, are unlikely to realize what an exciting story is coming into their hands.

Rodina's investigation led to unexpected results.

Emotions of the king

Baroness Sofia Karlovna Buxhoeveden, maid of honor of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, recalls:

“The Empress showed particular interest in all the preparations for this ball; she herself, with the help of the director of the Hermitage Museum Ivan Alexandrovich Vsevolozhsky, who provided her with the necessary historical information, designed her costume and the emperor’s costume. ... Men and women from high society competed with each other At this ball, magnificent staves, jewelry and furs were taken from private collections especially for this occasion. The officers dressed in the uniforms of that time, and the courtiers dressed in dresses accepted at the court of Tsar Alexei. The Grand Duchesses were dressed like their ancestors, and their outfits were created. the best modern masters. Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna looked most charming at this ball. Everyone danced ancient Russian dances, carefully learned in advance - the spectacle was truly mesmerizing."

Let's enhance the spectacle with sketches from the recently published diary of the last Russian Tsar. Emperor not prone to sentimentality

Nicholas II did not hide his joyful emotions about the ball, which stretched over three (!) evenings.

“February 11th. The hall filled with ancient Russian people looked very beautiful. After dinner there was a small cotillion, during which 12 couples danced a Russian dance. Everything turned out very well and ended at 21/2.

February 13th. Thursday. At 91/2 a ball began in costumes from the time of Alexei Mikhailovich in the Concert Hall - a repetition of the previous one for Mom ( Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. -S.E. ). Misha ( Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, the Tsar's younger brother. -S.E. ) also arrived. The ball was fun, beautiful and friendly. The Russian dance was very successful. We had dinner in the Nicholas Hall.

February 14th. Friday. At 10 2 we went to a ball with Count A.D. Sheremetev ( Alexander Dmitrievich, horsemaster of the Court of E.I.V., philanthropist and amateur musician, head of the Court Singing Chapel. -S.E. ). Half of the society was “ours” - in historical costumes. There was a repetition of yesterday's Russian dance" 3.

Of course, over the years many things began to be perceived differently. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, having successfully avoided death in the Time of Troubles and finding himself in exile, decades later would present the fun in Winter as a fatal sign: “New, hostile Russia looked through the huge windows of the palace. I smiled sadly when I read the postscript in the text of the invitation, according to which all the guests had to be in Russian costumes of the 17th century. At least for one night, Nikki (Nicholas II. - S.E.) wanted to return to the glorious past of his family... While we were dancing, workers’ strikes were going on in St. Petersburg, and the clouds were getting worse. were more concentrated in the Far East" 4.

Everyone fancies himself a strategist, seeing the battle from the outside. But in 1903 the courtyard is having fun without thinking about the future.

The fates of queens, jacks, kings

In the "Russian Style" deck, some card figures had real and quite recognizable prototypes. The creator of Russian military aviation, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, was married to the Tsar's sister Ksenia Alexandrovna - her photograph in the costume of a 17th-century noblewoman served as the basis for the creation of the queen of hearts.

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, the elder sister of the Empress and the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, dressed in the princely attire of the 17th century, is none other than the Queen of Clubs.

The Queen of Spades showed similarities with Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova and Countess Sumarokova-Elston, who appeared at the ball in the costume of a noblewoman.

Jack of Diamonds - Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich (falconer in festive attire).

Jack of Clubs - Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, the Tsar's younger brother, in the field dress of a 17th-century prince.

The prototype of the Queen of Diamonds was Countess Alexandra Dmitrievna Tolstaya, maid of honor to Their Imperial Majesties Empresses Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna, dressed as a hawthorn. However, Princess Vera Maximilianovna Kudasheva, née Countess Nirod, and Sofia Petrovna Durnovo, née Your Serene Highness Princess Volkonskaya, can also claim this card. It is obvious that in this case the unknown author of the sketch did not strive to achieve a portrait resemblance, but created an expressive generalized image. And he succeeded.

The situation with the king of hearts is also unusual. His costume is the masquerade attire of Nicholas II. “The emperor wore clothes that exactly reproduced those worn by Tsar Alexei in his time - “crimson and white with gold embroidery,” the empress wrote” 5 . However, the king only vaguely resembles Tsar Nicholas: to give a greater portrait resemblance to the emperor would be impermissible insolence and an insult to the supreme power.

But the king of spades undoubtedly resembles Tsar Ivan the Terrible - just look at the famous painting by artist Alexander Dmitrievich Litovchenko “Ivan the Terrible Shows Treasures to the English Ambassador Horsey.” By the way, in this historical picture you can find shields surrounded by ancient Russian weapons and armor - exactly like on the aces in our deck.

The prototype of the king of clubs was the adjutant of the Grand Duke, commander-in-chief of the troops of the guard and the St. Petersburg military district Vladimir Alexandrovich, Yesaul Count Mikhail Nikolaevich Grabbe 6 in the clothes of a tenant in 1647. Starting from the image of an actual state councilor, in the position of horsemaster of the highest Court, Nikolai Nikolaevich Hartung (von Hartong) and his costume as a 17th-century boyar, an unknown artist painted the king of diamonds.

And the jack of spades is the staff captain, squadron commander of the Cavalry Guard Regiment, adjutant of Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich Alexander Nikolaevich Bezak in the costume of a 17th-century boyar.

One of the prototypes of the jack of hearts was the adjutant of the Grand Duke, Admiral General Alexei Alexandrovich, Lieutenant Nikolai Alexandrovich Volkov 7 in the costume of a 17th-century boyar. And also - second lieutenant of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Nikolai Petrovich Shter in the outfit of the first man from the tenants of the times of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the cornet of the Life Guards of the Horse Regiment Alexey Romanovich Tizdel in the outfit of a falconer...

The Maslenitsa costume ball of 1903 was the last joyful event of the reign of Emperor Nicholas II. Followed by a continuous succession of only sorrows and sorrows: the unsuccessful war with Japan, Bloody Sunday, the Troubles...

What the guests were treated to at this costume ball - read in the section "Cuisine of the Motherland".

And the “Russian Style” cards have remained in our lives as a beautiful reminder of the most spectacular ball of the Russian Empire.

Oh, what ladies they were!..

Sketches for the "Russian Style" cards were developed at the German card game factory of the Dondorf company (Frankfurt am Main) in 1911.

In 1913, the cards were printed at the Imperial Card Factory (until 1860 - the Alexander Manufactory).

Since 1819, the factory had a monopoly production of playing cards in the Russian Empire: the import of cards from abroad was prohibited, thereby eliminating any competition.

Unauthorized production of cards by private individuals was prosecuted by law and entailed confiscation of production tools and manufactured cards and a fine of 100 to 500 rubles (Article 1351 of the Penal Code).

If in 1901 the factory produced 5,460 thousand decks, then in 1912 - over 12 million. A dozen decks cost the factory about 98 kopecks, and were sold, depending on the type, at prices ranging from 5 rubles 50 kopecks to 12 rubles.

After the revolution, the card factory was closed for several years. In 1923, the factory again began producing cards based on pre-revolutionary sketches.

MARKED CARD

Poor, poor children...

On the cards of the Russian Style deck of the first issue there was an image of a pelican feeding children with the meat of its heart. This allegorical sign was accompanied by the inscription: “He feeds his chicks without sparing himself.” It was implied that the government does not think at all about its own benefit, but cares exclusively about the welfare of orphans.

It was believed that the government turns the income received from the sale of cards into income for the Orphanage and its minor pets - orphans and foundlings.

Gambling card players were convinced that they were helping children with their destructive passion. In Nikolai Semenovich Leskov’s story “Interesting Men,” one of the characters says this: “... and they themselves, in order not to get bored, sat down to “cut themselves” under the evening bell, or, as they said then, “to work for the benefit of the Imperial Orphanage.”

Notes
1. Quote. From: Diaries of Emperor Nicholas II (1894-1918). T. I (1894-1904). M.: ROSSPEN, 2011. P. 776.
2. Diaries of Emperor Nicholas II (1894-1918). T. I (1894-1904). M.: ROSSPEN, 2011. P. 711, 712, 713.
3. Alexander Mikhailovich, Grand Duke. Book of Memories. Chapter XIII. The storm is coming // http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/a-m/13.html.
4. Quote. From: Diaries of Emperor Nicholas II (1894-1918). T. I (1894-1904). M.: ROSSPEN, 2011. P. 776.
5. Since 1911 - commander of the Life Guards Consolidated Cossack Regiment, with which he entered the First World War. He was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree. Later he commanded the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Guards Cavalry Division (1915), the 4th Don Cossack Division (1915-1917). In May 1916, he was appointed ataman of the region of the Don Army. Don Ataman in exile. Chairman of the Union of St. George Knights.
6. Commander of the imperial yacht "Neva" (1909-1910) and the gunboat "Khivinets" (1910-1911). In 1912-1913 - flag captain of the headquarters of the head of the brigade of battleships of the Baltic Sea squadron. In July 1913, he was appointed naval agent in England and at the same time a member of the Russian government committee in London. In 1916, he received the rank of rear admiral and at the same time was enrolled in the Retinue of His Imperial Majesty. After the revolution, he remained in London as a naval agent for the White Russian governments.
7. Garin L.F. Artist and maps // Panorama of Arts. Vol. 11: [Sat. articles and publications]. M.: Soviet artist, 1988. P. 252-265 // http://www.den-za-dnem.ru/page.php?article=986.

Empress's move

But the matter did not stop there.

Emotions of the king

Baroness Sofia Karlovna Buxhoeveden, maid of honor of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, recalls:

“The Empress showed particular interest in all the preparations for this ball; she herself, with the help of the director of the Hermitage Museum Ivan Alexandrovich Vsevolozhsky, who provided her with the necessary historical information, designed her costume and the emperor’s costume. ... Men and women from high society competed with each other At this ball, magnificent staves, jewelry and furs were taken from private collections especially for this occasion. The officers dressed in the uniforms of that time, and the courtiers dressed in dresses accepted at the court of Tsar Alexei. The Grand Duchesses were dressed like their ancestors, and their outfits were created. the best modern masters. Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fedorovna looked most charming at this ball. Everyone danced ancient Russian dances, carefully learned in advance - the spectacle was truly mesmerizing."

Let's enhance the spectacle with sketches from the recently published diary of the last Russian Tsar. Emperor not prone to sentimentality

Nicholas II did not hide his joyful emotions about the ball, which stretched over three (!) evenings.

February 13th. Thursday. At 91/2 a ball began in costumes from the times of Alexei Mikhailovich in the Concert Hall - a repetition of the previous one for Mama (Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna - S.E.). Misha (Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, the Tsar’s younger brother - S.E.) also arrived. The ball was fun, beautiful and friendly. The Russian dance was very successful. We had dinner in the Nicholas Hall.

February 14th. Friday. At 102 we went to a ball with Count A.D. Sheremetev (Alexander Dmitrievich, horsemaster of the Court of E.I.V., philanthropist and amateur musician, head of the Court Singing Chapel. - S.E.). Half of the society was “ours” - in historical costumes. There was a repetition of yesterday's Russian dance."

Everyone fancies himself a strategist, seeing the battle from the outside. But in 1903 the courtyard is having fun without thinking about the future.

The fates of queens, jacks, kings

The Queen of Spades showed similarities with Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova and Countess Sumarokova-Elston, who appeared at the ball in the costume of a noblewoman.

Jack of Diamonds - Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich (falconer in festive attire).

Jack of Clubs - Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, the Tsar's younger brother, in the field dress of a 17th-century prince.

The situation with the king of hearts is also unusual. His costume is the masquerade attire of Nicholas II. “The emperor wore clothes that exactly reproduced those worn by Tsar Alexei in his time - “crimson and white with gold embroidery,” the empress wrote.”5 However, the king only vaguely resembles Tsar Nicholas: to give a greater portrait resemblance to the emperor would be impermissible insolence and an insult to the supreme power.

The prototype of the king of clubs was the adjutant of the Grand Duke, commander-in-chief of the troops of the guard and the St. Petersburg military district Vladimir Alexandrovich, Yesaul Count Mikhail Nikolaevich Grabbe6 in the clothes of a tenant in 1647. Starting from the image of an actual state councilor, in the position of horsemaster of the highest Court, Nikolai Nikolaevich Hartung (von Hartong) and his costume as a 17th-century boyar, an unknown artist painted the king of diamonds.

One of the prototypes of the jack of hearts was the adjutant of the Grand Duke, Admiral General Alexei Alexandrovich, Lieutenant Nikolai Alexandrovich Volkov7 in the costume of a 17th-century boyar. And also - second lieutenant of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Nikolai Petrovich Shter in the outfit of the first man from the tenants of the times of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the cornet of the Life Guards of the Horse Regiment Alexey Romanovich Tizdel in the outfit of a falconer...

What the guests were treated to at this costume ball - read in the section "Cuisine of the Motherland".

And the “Russian Style” cards have remained in our lives as a beautiful reminder of the most spectacular ball of the Russian Empire.

Matreshin Alexander - Panorama of the Kremlin

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881) - Dawn on the Moscow River from the opera "Khovanshchina"

Matreshin Alexander Valentinovich, born in 1956, is a Soviet and Russian artist.
He graduated from the art department of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography and worked in the field of book illustration for more than ten years. The artist's works are in many museums and private collections.

“On March 24, 1798, by Imperial decree, the right to brand and sell playing cards throughout the Russian Empire was forever given to the Orphanage, a charitable institution for the care of orphans. The Board of Guardians of the Orphanage began to farm out the right to brand, earning from this considerable funds that went towards "maintenance of orphans." The tax farming system existed for more than 20 years - from April 1, 1799 to January 1, 1820. During the entire period, five card farming took place, each for a period of four years. The tax farming system caused a rapid increase in the number of cards produced. Already in the ninth year. action of farming, in 1807-1808, almost 2,300,000 decks of all types were made. Cards were made as.
in both capitals in large factories, and in remote cities by small card masters who took certificates for their production from farmers.

The factory began production of new premium decks based on sketches by a German artist, an employee of a famous card factory
B. Dondorf in Frankfurt am Main, whose name was kept in the strictest confidence. Four decks were released and remained in production for many decades.
The release of new cards required a significant improvement in the quality of their production. Decks were printed in
16 colors in the chromolithography technique by the best master of the Card Factory, Michael. One of the released decks, called “Russian Style,” allowed us to say that playing cards in a truly national spirit finally appeared in Russia. This deck is notable for the fact that the sketches for it were created under the influence of an album of photographs of the imperial charity ball of 1903, costumed in the style of the 17th century. This version is supported by the extraordinary similarity of the Queen of Clubs to the appearance and costume of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, and the Queen of Hearts to Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna.
The figures of the kings are represented by the king with an orb in his hand (king of hearts) and the boyars of the time of Alexei Mikhailovich. The ladies are shown in festive clothes: rich townswomen in ferezis and platens, peasant women in embroidered sundresses with soul warmers. Jacks are young falconers and archers with weapons and birds of prey in their hands. The design of the usually modestly decorated aces turned out to be very successful. On each ace, the sign of the card suit is placed on a round shield framed by ancient weapons and hunting attributes. The sign “In favor of the Imperial Orphanage” is also made in the form of an old pendant seal.”

Cards "Russian style"

These cards are probably familiar to almost everyone: they were issued many times during the Soviet years. At home I have two decks of these small format cards with backs of different colors and one box is a gift version from the mid-50s of the last century. And my grandmother had the same pre-revolutionary cards, but of a standard size.

Below are given for comparison, mentioned in the monograph by E.N. Grigorenko, photographs of the Grand Duchesses Ksenia Alexandrovna - the sister of Nicholas II (queen of hearts) and Elizaveta Feodorovna - sister of the wife of Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (queen of clubs).

There really are similarities, first of all, in the costumes: very characteristic kokoshniks on both ladies. You can also catch similarities in faces if you really want to.

The Internet is simply flooded with comparisons of representatives of the Russian nobility who attended the famous imperial ball in 1903 with pictures on the “Russian Style” cards. Of all that I happened to see, the most consistent with reality seems to be the fact that the King of Hearts was copied from a portrait of Emperor Alexander III, who could not be at this ball, since he died in 1894.
The costume of the card king differs from the uniform of Emperor Alexander Alexandrovich, but this is not surprising, because all the kings in this deck are dressed in costumes stylized as the clothes of Russian tsars and boyars of the 17th century.

Nikolai Gustavovich Schilder (1828-1898) - Portrait of Alexander III

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) - “Solemn Coronation March” (1883), written on the occasion of the coronation of Alexander III
USSR Symphony Orchestra
Conductor - Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov

Monomakh's hat

They also compare portraits of the Grand Dukes Mikhail Alexandrovich - brother of Nicholas II and Andrei Vladimirovich - cousin of Nicholas II with jacks of clubs and jacks of diamonds, respectively.
If we talk about the similarity of costumes, then, apart from the fabric and colors, the men's suits and headdresses of the Russian boyars of the 17th century were not much different from each other. Unless Andrei Vladimirovich was considered the prototype of the jack of diamonds, since at the ball he was dressed in the costume of the royal falconer, and the jack of diamonds had a mechanical falcon in his hands, indicating that, they say, this fellow is a falconer. And if we talk about the portrait resemblance of the Grand Dukes to the jacks of cards, then, apart from the mustache, for the life of me, I personally don’t find any similarity. This can be clearly seen if you look at photographs of the Grand Dukes in a larger format. But, since two royal relatives became card prototypes, then we can assume that these two royal relatives also became them.

Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) - Polonaise from the opera "The Night Before Christmas"

Conductor - Evgeny Svetlanov

As a lyrical digression.
The Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich mentioned here, the grandson of Emperor Alexander II, in the mid-20s of the last century, while in exile, married the well-known ballerina Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya.
Matilda Kshesinskaya is known for the most part not as a ballerina, although she was a Russian prima, but because three Grand Dukes of the House of Romanov hovered around her. First it was the future Emperor Nicholas II - even before his engagement to his future wife. Then Matilda Feliksovna was the de facto wife of Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, the grandson of Emperor Nicholas I. At the same time, she had an affair with another Romanov, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich.

At all times, exalted fools dreamed of a prince, if not on a white horse, then at least on an ugly black jeep, but not everyone got even the ordinary Ivanushka the Fool, because today princes, alas, are an elusive nature. And Matilda Feliksovna had three princes. And not just any stray Holsteins or Hessians, but the Romanovs themselves!

While this story was hanging around unfinished for almost two months, on July 14, 2016, a new article about card prototypes appeared on the Internet From the king to the ball! , which LiveJournal immediately grabbed for quotes.

What was new, in comparison with previous publications, was, firstly, the comparison of the king of spades from the “Russian Style” deck with the portrait of Tsar Ivan the Terrible from the painting by Alexander Dmitrievich Litovchenko (1835-1890) “Ivan the Terrible Shows Treasures to the English Ambassador Horsey.”

By clicking on the picture of the king of spades, you can independently verify the inconsistency of this statement. As for me, then, rather, the king of clubs plus or minus three camels, as my drawing teacher said, looks like a portrait of Ivan Vasilyevich painted by Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov. It would be a stretch to say that the king of spades is similar to this portrait, but this king has a very vegetarian expression on his face, in contrast to the royal portrait. Yes, in fact, the King of Clubs is also not distinguished by its menacing appearance. A beard and a cap - that's all the similarities.

So the author of the article, Doctor of Philosophy, a certain Semyon Ekshtut, is either new to materiel, or has weak eyesight, which is confirmed by the following analogies he proposed: headquarters captain, squadron commander of the Cavalry Guard Regiment, adjutant of Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich Alexander Nikolaevich Bezak - jack of spades and adjutant of the Grand Duke Admiral General Alexei Alexandrovich, Lieutenant Nikolai Alexandrovich Volkov - jack of hearts.

Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible (1879)
Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov (1848-1926)

The main factors that unite these cards and their “prototypes” are mustaches and the cut of boyar costumes, which was standard for that time.

From all of the above, we can draw an unambiguous conclusion: the presence of a beard automatically makes him a prototype of card kings, and what about card kings - even a prototype of Tsar Nicholas II himself!

Those who have not yet grown to have a beard, forced to be content with youthful growth in the form of a mustache, automatically become prototypes of card jacks.

I won’t even consider all the other “analogies” of the author of the article, because he does not take into account that the German artist drew his card characters and their outfits based on photographs of the Russian nobility who were present at the famous ball, and did not copy them one by one.

I remembered an incident: in connection with repairs, I bought adhesive paper, the design of which for some reason was called “Karelian birch”. In general, the drawing suited me, but the name confused me. I asked the seller if a Karelian birch tree looks like this in cross-section, to which he answered philosophically: “It’s a German, why is that tree a big one?” (The German did this, did he even see this tree?)

Deripaska's beard Peskov's mustache

So in the case of maps, since they were drawn by a German artist, then what is the demand for him?)))

This is not one of the 12 chairs made by master Gumbs, but - for a moment - the throne of Russian emperors.)))

These richly embroidered dresses are the same uniform for the ladies-in-waiting of the Russian court, as were the court uniforms for the male persons who were at the court of the Russian emperors, who were popularly called courtiers.

In 1834, Emperor Nicholas I issued a decree introducing a new court dress, complemented by a kokoshnik. It consisted of a narrow open bodice with long sleeves “a la boyars” and a long skirt with a train. Kokoshniks, combined with a low-necked court dress, remained in the wardrobe of ladies-in-waiting until the revolution.

Sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich personally approved sketches with drawings of court dresses and strictly ensured that the ladies who were required to wear this outfit according to the state strictly wore them to official receptions. It’s a pity that there were no television programs “Fashionable Verdict” and “Take It Off Immediately!” at that time; Tsar Nicholas I could well have been the presenter in them.

True, these were dresses stylized as Russian sundresses, for which they were called French sundresses. Not only the cut, but also the color of these dresses was regulated. So the ladies of the State and the ladies-in-waiting were supposed to wear a green velvet outer dress with gold embroidery on the bottom and side, the mentors - a blue dress, the ladies-in-waiting of Her Imperial Majesty - crimson, the ladies-in-waiting of the Grand Duchesses were also crimson, but the embroidery had to be silver , ladies-in-waiting of the Grand Duchesses - a blue dress with silver embroidery.

If the photographs of the two ladies-in-waiting shown here were in color, we would see that both beauties are wearing bright red dresses with gold embroidery. By the way, they both attended the famous ball in 1903 - their photographs at this ball can be seen below.

On the left side of the neckline of the dress, maids of honor were supposed to wear the so-called maid of honor cipher - a gold brooch with diamonds in the form of a capital letter of the name (monogram) of the empress, on whose staff this maid of honor was; or from two intertwined initials of the empress and her mother-in-law, the dowager empress (this sign was called double). The maids of honor of the grand duchesses and princesses also had their own monograms. The composition was crowned with a stylized imperial crown.
The code was supposed to be worn on a blue bow - the color of St. Andrew's ribbon.

Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova - Princess Elizaveta Nikolaevna Obolenskaya -
maid of honor of Empress Maria Alexandrovna maid of honor of Empress Maria Feodorovna
(wives of Alexander II) (wives of Alexander III)

Maid of honor cipher

Adolf Ignatievich Ladurner (1798-1855) - Armorial Hall of the Winter Palace (1838)

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857) - Polonaise from the opera "Ivan Susanin"
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the USSR
Conductor - Evgeny Svetlanov

The painting by the artist Ladurner depicts groups of guards and court ladies waiting for the start of some official event. All the ladies are dressed according to their uniform.

Ladies who did not have court positions, but were present at official receptions and other ceremonial meetings, were also given a kokoshnik and a standard cut of the dress, although the color and fabric from which these dresses were made could be any - at the discretion of the owner of the outfit.

The shape of the court kokoshniks was quite far from the peasant prototypes, as was the cut of the court dresses. In the second half of the 19th century, diamond kokoshnik tiaras (Russian style tiaras) appeared, which were popular at court.

Maid of honor cipher

Orlov Pimen Nikitich (1812-1865) - Portrait of the maid of honor Anna Alekseevna Okulova in Russian court attire

Orlov Pimen Nikitich (1812-1865) - Portrait of the maid of honor Sofia Vasilievna Orlova-Denisova (1835) in Russian court attire

Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev (1878-1927) - Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna in sapphire parure (wife of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich - son of Alexander II) (1913)

Note. Parure - (parure - attire, decoration) - a set of jewelry selected by the quality and type of stones, by material or by the unity of artistic design.

A. Malyukov (1836) - Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (wife of Nicholas I)

Makarov Ivan Kuzmich (1822-1897) - Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna (wife of Alexander II)

Makovsky Konstantin Egorovich (1839-1915) - Portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna (wife of Alexander III)

Elena Petrovna Samokish-Sudkovskaya (1863-1924) - Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (wife of Nicholas II)

Tiara in the shape of a Russian kokoshnik

Tuxen Laurits Regner (1853-1927) - Marriage of Nicholas II and Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna

Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (1855-1914) - Polonaise in memory of Pushkin
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the USSR
Conductor - Evgeny Svetlanov

Small Imperial Crown

Tiara "Kokoshnik" with pink diamond

The costume ball, dedicated to the 290th anniversary of the House of Romanov, took place in the Winter Palace in February 1903 - the famous masquerade ball, at which all those present were dressed in Russian royal and boyar costumes of the 17th century.
The ball took place at the end of the Nativity Fast and took place in two stages: on February 11 (24), 1903, a gala evening and concert took place, and on February 13 (26) the costume ball itself.

After the end of the ball, at the request of the Empress, all participants were captured by the best photographers of St. Petersburg.
In 1904, albums with these photographs were published by order of the Imperial Court.
The albums were distributed for a high fee for charitable purposes, primarily among the participants of the ball.

Costumes for the ball, which cost fortunes, were created according to special sketches by the artist Sergei Sergeevich Solomko (1867-1928) with the assistance of historical costume consultants.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) - Polonaise from the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty"
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the USSR
Conductor - Evgeny Svetlanov

Diamond hat

Fairytale Rus' by Sergei Solomko

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857) - First Song of Bayan
from the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila"
Bayan - Yuri Marusin
Mariinsky Theater - St. Petersburg

Sergei Sergeevich Solomko, born in 1867 in St. Petersburg, is a Russian artist, watercolorist, and graphic artist. Member of the St. Petersburg Association of Artists.

1883-1887 - studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
1887-1888 - volunteer at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.
Late 1880s - began collaborating with art magazines: “North”, “Niva”, “World of Art”, “Jester” and others as an illustrator.
For the publishing house of Alexei Sergeevich Suvorin (1834-1912) he illustrated the works of Pushkin and Chekhov. For the publishing house of Adolf Fedorovich Marx (1838-1904) he illustrated the works of Lermontov and Gogol.

Sergei Solomko was engaged not only in painting, but also in jewelry and costume design: the artist created models for the Imperial Porcelain Factory and collaborated with the Faberge jewelry company.

1903 - the artist executed sketches of ancient Russian costumes for a costume ball in the Winter Palace.
Since 1910, Sergei Solomko lived permanently in Paris.

1916 - worked on orders from the Commission involved in the creation of a museum of the First World War, at whose request he painted portraits of holders of the Order of the Russian Expeditionary Force in France.

In France, Solomko created theatrical costumes: in particular for ballerinas Anna Pavlova and Matilda Kshesinskaya.

1925 - took part in the creation of the Russian Art and Industry Institute in Paris.

Sergei Sergeevich died in 1928 in the “Russian House” in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois. He was buried in the local cemetery.

Note. "Russian House" is a nursing home, originally intended for first-wave emigrants from Russia.

The Last Ball - documentary (2011)
Director - Boris Liznev

All the Tsars of the House of Romanov

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857) - “Glory” - finale from the opera “Ivan Susanin” (Life for the Tsar)
Orchestra and Choir of the Mikhailovsky Theater (6 March 2013, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg)
Conductor - Alexey Karabanov

Great Imperial Crown

Victor Aleksandrovich Hartman - sketch for the project of the city "Bogatyr Gate" for Kyiv (1869)

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881) - Pictures from the exhibition - Bogatyr Gate

An interesting history of the "Russian style" card deck. October 10th, 2016

Hello dears.
Some time ago my good friend samiznaetekto He brilliantly began his story about cards and card decks (his latest post on this topic can be found here: http://samiznaetekto.livejournal.com/126596.html). It was very interesting. And this event was one of the two most important factors in order to encourage me to continue the topic with another post. What was the second factor, you might reasonably ask? Well...one event that I've been wanting to do for a long time, but I don't know how to approach it. And the event is the Costume Ball, which took place during Maslenitsa 1903 in the Kremlin. IMHO a very cool and beautiful event.

How do cards and a costume ball come together? Yes Easy....
I think many of you have held such a deck in your hands at least once in your life:

This is, of course, a modern reworking of one rather old deck. This deck was developed in 1911 at the Dondorf card game factory (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) by order of the Imperial Card Factory, which was a monopolist in this business in our country. After several rejected sketches, the parties came to an agreement, and in 1913 a deck appeared in Russia, which immediately became a bestseller. This deck was called "Russian Style". And the point is that it was the Costume Ball of 1903 that became the inspiration for the authors. For some of the people who were there can be seen in the deck.
Let's get down to specifics.
Naturally, we are now not very interested in either the back (the back of the cards), or the cards themselves with digital values and Aces. Let's consider only the King, Queen and Jack of each suit. So...
Let's start with king of hearts.

The prototype for it was..... Nicholas II. At the ball he was in the royal attire of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich - crimson and white with gold embroidery.

And don’t let the fact that it doesn’t look alike bother you in any way. Because he shouldn’t be similar, because he was the current autocratic figure at that time. Although, it seems to me, the author of the sketch cheated a little and depicted a man vaguely reminiscent of the emperor, only different - Alexander III. But at least from this portrait by N. Schilder:

And here queen of hearts easy to read. And even similar :-))

The lady is based on Nicholas II’s sister, Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna (about whom we briefly talked here:) Here is her photo at the ball:

Well, the Jack of Hearts is a composite image. In the deck it looks like this:

First of all, this is the adjutant of the Grand Duke Admiral General Alexei Alekandrovich, Lieutenant Nikolai Volkov in the attire of a 17th century boyar:

And besides him, second lieutenant of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment Nikolai Shter in the outfit of the first man from the residents

and cornet of the Life Guards Horse Regiment Alexey Tizel in the outfit of a falconer.

Let's go further.
The king of clubs is like this:

As a prototype, the costume of 1647 was used, in which the adjutant of the Grand Duke, Commander-in-Chief of the Guards and the St. Petersburg Military District Vladimir Alexandrovich, Yesaul Count Mikhail Grabbe, was dressed

Queen of Clubs:

Here, almost without question, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, the elder sister of the Empress and the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, is depicted, dressed in a princely outfit of the 17th century. We talked about it in more detail here:

Jack of clubs

Here the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, the Tsar’s younger brother, in the field outfit of a 17th-century prince, is taken as a basis:

Let's go further...
King of Diamonds

Most likely, they took as a basis the image of an actual state councilor, in the position of horsemaster of the highest Court, Nicholas Hartung (von Hartong) and his 17th-century boyar costume

Queen of Diamonds

Here again there is a hodgepodge. The basis is taken from the image of Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, maid of honor to Their Imperial Majesties Empresses Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna, in the costume of a hawthorn.

But also Princess Vera Kudasheva, née Countess Nirod:

and also Alexandra Durnovo:

Jack of diamonds:

This is Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich in the festive attire of a falconer.

And finally, the peaks.
King of Spades

This is most likely... Ivan IV Vasilyevich, nicknamed the Terrible. The image is copied from A. Litovchenko’s painting “Ivan the Terrible Shows Treasures to the English Ambassador Horsey.” It's strange, but apparently everything is exactly like that.

Queen of Spades

Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova Countess Sumarokova-Elston, who appeared at the ball in the costume of a noblewoman.

And finally, Jack of spades

This is most likely the staff captain, squadron commander of the Cavalry Guard Regiment, adjutant of Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich Alexander Nikolaevich Bezak in the costume of a 17th-century boyar.

This is such an interesting deck.
I hope you found it interesting :-))

In February 1903, a costume ball took place. The main requirement for those invited was to appear in costumes from the 17th century.

The Queen of Clubs and her prototype - Princess Elizabeth Fedorovna.

Check what deck of cards is in your drawer at home. It is quite possible that it is this one! Probably each of us has seen this deck of cards (“Russian style”)- in Soviet times, these cards were among the most common. There is nothing unusual about them at first glance; we are so accustomed to these drawings that we probably didn’t even pay attention to the clothes of the card characters. This is the strange thing: the prototypes for the kings and ladies in this deck were not proletarians and collective farmers, but participants in the last costume ball at the Romanov imperial court in 1903.

The Queen of Hearts and her prototype - Princess Ksenia Alexandrovna.

In February 1903, a costume ball took place. The main requirement for those invited was to appear in costumes from the 17th century. The luxurious celebration in the Winter Palace of St. Petersburg went down in history as the most famous and grandiose ball of the reign of Nicholas II and as the last court ball of Imperial Russia. Photographers captured all the famous participants in this event, which made it possible to recreate these images in playing cards.

All 390 guests of the imperial ball were dressed in the style of courtiers of all stripes, boyars and boyars, archers and townswomen, governors and peasant women of the pre-Petrine era. The sketches of the costumes were developed by the artist Sergei Solomko, and they were sewn by the best tailors of the Russian Empire.

The maps were created based on photographs collected in the “Album of a costume ball in the Winter Palace.” The clothes of the kings, jacks and queens on the playing cards completely repeated the costumes of the participants in the masquerade ball. The aces depict shields surrounded by ancient Russian weapons and armor.

In 1911, German craftsmen from the Dondorf factory developed sketches for the cards, and in 1913 they were printed in St. Petersburg at the Alexander Manufactory. The release of the deck called “Russian Style” was timed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.

After the revolution, the manufactory was closed; in 1923 it resumed work and again began producing cards based on pre-revolutionary sketches. Later, Soviet illustrator Yuri Ivanov copied the “Russian Style” cards from the original deck for offset printing.