12.06 20 Stunning Pieces of Russian Imperial Art in Washington
June 12 (by Suleiman Wali for RIA Novosti) Nestled in Washingtons forested Rock Creek Park, parts of an estate that once belonged to an American millionaire feel like a Russian noble mansion. But Marjorie Merriweather Post, the heiress of a famous cereal company fortune who had a passion for Russian imperial art, wanted it that way.
Instead of bequeathing the home to her children when she died in 1973, Post had decided that the estate would be turned into a museum.
Known to be one of the wealthiest women in America, Post had amassed a prodigious collection of Russian imperial art when she lived in the Soviet Union from 1937 to 1938 with her third husband, US Ambassador Joseph Davies, a wealthy lawyer. Today, the mansion, known as Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, boasts what it calls the most comprehensive collection of Russian imperial art outside of Russia.
Despite critics claims that some of the artworks Davies and Post had acquired were seized from Russian citizens by Soviet authorities after the 1917 revolution, the pieces at Hillwood still make up an impressive collection. Even after the couple left Moscow in 1938, and divorced in 1955, Post continued acquiring Russian art through dealers and at auction.
Here are 20 impressive Russian imperial pieces that Post collected throughout her life, and which are on permanent display at the Hillwood Museum.
1. Catherine the Great Easter Egg. An elaborate Faberg? egg made of gold, diamonds, pearls, silver, platinum and glass. Created by Henrik Wigstr?m, the last head workmaster at the famous House of Faberg? jewelry firm, this piece also has hidden compartments. The egg was created for Tsar (Emperor) Nicholas II as an Easter present for his mother in 1914.
