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Lot Essay
The present maid of honour cypher, numbered 413, is recorded in an invoice from Carl Blank to the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty, dated 14 December 1913, as costing 620 roubles. It was later entered into the Cabinet ledgers as a part of a group of maid of honour cyphers under the number 445. On 17 December 1913, the cypher was presented to Margarita Khitrovo (1895-1952), lady-in-waiting to and a close friend of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, the eldest daughter of the Imperial couple.
Margarita Khitrovo graduated from the Smolny Institute. During the First World War, she was a nurse at Tsarskoe Selo Infirmary, where she spent a lot of time with Grand Duchess Olga and developed a close friendship with her. After the Imperial family was arrested, Margarita travelled to Tobolsk on her own initiative. However, she was accused of plotting a monarchist coup and taken under guard to Moscow on the orders of Kerensky. Margarita continued to correspond with Olga during her exile until the Imperial family's execution in 1918. Khitrovo emigrated, eventually settling in the United States.
For a further discussion on the subject of maids of honor and ladies of the Russian Imperial court, see U. Tillander-Godenhielm, The Russian Imperial Award System 1894-1917, Helsinki, 2005, pp. 31-45. Comparable maid of honor cyphers by Hahn were sold at Christie's, New York, 16 April 2012, lot 20 and Christie's, London, 25 November 2013, lot 275.
We are grateful to Dr Valentin Skurlov for his assistance in researching the present lot.
Margarita Khitrovo graduated from the Smolny Institute. During the First World War, she was a nurse at Tsarskoe Selo Infirmary, where she spent a lot of time with Grand Duchess Olga and developed a close friendship with her. After the Imperial family was arrested, Margarita travelled to Tobolsk on her own initiative. However, she was accused of plotting a monarchist coup and taken under guard to Moscow on the orders of Kerensky. Margarita continued to correspond with Olga during her exile until the Imperial family's execution in 1918. Khitrovo emigrated, eventually settling in the United States.
For a further discussion on the subject of maids of honor and ladies of the Russian Imperial court, see U. Tillander-Godenhielm, The Russian Imperial Award System 1894-1917, Helsinki, 2005, pp. 31-45. Comparable maid of honor cyphers by Hahn were sold at Christie's, New York, 16 April 2012, lot 20 and Christie's, London, 25 November 2013, lot 275.
We are grateful to Dr Valentin Skurlov for his assistance in researching the present lot.