Lot 204A email save

NICHOLAS I, Tsar (1796-1855). Illuminated Grant o

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April 21,1840. 4 pp., folio manuscript on vellum (410 x 270). With printed imperial double-headed eagle and illuminated Coat of Arms of flaming cannonball surmounted by broken arrow and stars with decorative plumed crown in gouache and gilt. Text in two columns in Russian and Polish, final leaf signed by Nicholas I and W. Plonikowski. Original green velvet boards, blind stamped, on vellum. Imperial seal in gold wash case with two-colored silk tassel affixed to the binding. Chemise calf-backed green marbled portfolio; coat-of-arms leather label with gilt stamp at center. Contained in black cloth slipcase over calf with separate oval box with clasp for the seal. Condition: boards with slight rubbing to extremities with minimal loss to spine; some abrading and rubbing to portfolio boards, calf edges rubbed with slight loss to head and foot. an important decorative grant-of-arms.The tsar of All the Russias and the King of Poland, etc., etc., etc. bestows the title of nobleman with an official Coat of Arms on a Captain of the Guards of the former Polish Army. It is countersigned by the Secretary of State W. Plonikowski. The body of the document was obviously the work of a scrivener, but it was legalized with the tsar's signature. The policies of Nicholas I were so oppressive that the Poles rebelled in 1831 and the Polish Parliament deposed him as King of Poland. He crushed the rebellion, disbanded the army and declared the Russification of Poland. This appears to be one of a small group of Grants of Nobility bestowed upon a few Polish officers in recognition of their service to the Russian Empire.

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