Provenance
Presented to Grand Duchess Olga Nicholayevna of Russia (1822-1892), daughter of Nicholas I and Alexandra Fyodorovna, on her wedding to Crown Prince Charles of Württemberg (1823 – 1891) in 1846
A silver vase-shape wine cooler (from a pair) from the Grand Duchess Olga Nicholayevna dowry service; one side of the tapering fluted body is engraved with the crowned monogram ‘ON’ in Cyrillic, the other with the Russian Imperial double-headed eagle; the handles are adorned with acanthus; the everted rims are cast with scrolling foliage and raised on four scroll feet headed by acanthus leaves.
Grand Duchess Olga Nicholayevna was the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas I. Olga married Crown Prince Karl, later King of Württemberg (1823-1891). The ceremony was held in great splendour on 13 July 1846 at the Peterhof Palace near St. Petersburg. After the wedding, the couple moved to Germany and lived mostly in the Villa Berg in Stuttgart and in the Kloster Hofen. In 1864, Karl acceded the throne and became the third king of Württemberg, making Olga its queen.
All three daughters of Nicholas I received lavish dowries, which included large silver services supplied by Carl Tegelsten. The service for Olga was to be in “the latest truly beautiful and fine English fashion” (M. Lopato, Iuveliry starogo Peterburga, St. Petersburg, 2006, p. 128).
