Nicholas II: An Imperial Fabergé Gem-Set Silver Presentation Kovsh Fabergé, Moscow, 1899-1908, with scratched inventory number 21853 2-3/4 x 10-7/8 x 8-1/8 inches (7.0 x 27.6 x 20.6 cm) 1150 grams (36.9739 troy ounces) PROVENANCE: Acquired by the Imperial Cabinet from Fabergé on June 7, 1907, for 270 rubles; Emperor Nicholas II, July 21, 1907 presented to Count Gustav Ernst von Schimmelman. Count von Schimmelman Karl Gustaf Ernst Landgraf von Schimmelman was born in Lower Saxony in 1848. Son of Count Ernst von Schimmelman, a Saxon diplomat, and Baroness Adelaide von Lutzenrode, Schimmelman enjoyed a private education, and then court service to the Prussian Kings, and later the German Kaisers, first as a Prussian Kammerherr [Chamberlain], and then as a member of the Prussian privy council, before joining the retinue of Kaiser Wilhelm. The kovsh was awarded to Count Schimmelman at the conclusion of the Swinemunde visit on the 21st. The Meeting at Swinemunde, 1907 Anglo-Russian antagonism had, for many years, given Imperial Germany a sense of security; but the 1907 Anglo-Russian agreement had begun to cause tension in Russo-German relations. A soft diplomatic "family" visit was in order, and so in July of 1907, Emperor Nicholas II traveled to Swinemunde, in East Prussia, for a meeting with his cousin, Wilhelm II, the German Kaiser. The Emperor said good bye to Empress Alexandra at Kronstatdt on the 19th July [old style], and, sailing on the Russian Imperial Yacht "Shtandart," set sail across the Gulf of Finland with several naval cruisers in attendance. The Emperors and their retinues met at Swinemunde (now Świnoujście, Poland) on the 21st when the Russian Emperor's "Shtandart" and the German Kaiser's "Hohenzollern" met, and Wilhelm II welcomed his cousin aboard. The two emperors reviewed the fleet, and their retinues exchanged gifts. Historian Dominic Lieven noted: "The friendly meeting between the German and Russian monarchs and their ministers at Swinemunde ... revealed no serious disagreements, with ... the seeming evaporation of many sources of German tension" (cf. Lieven, The End of Tsarist Russia, Viking: New York, 2015, p. 201). Heritage Auctions thanks Valentin Skurlov for his assistance with the research of this lot. Property from an Important Private Collection HID03101062020 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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