Who is depicted on playing cards Russian style. "Russian style" - maps and prototypes. Oh, what were the ladies

Matreshin Alexander - Panorama of the Kremlin

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881) - Dawn on the Moscow River from the opera "Khovanshchina"

Matreshin Alexander Valentinovich, born in 1956, is a Soviet and Russian artist.
He graduated from the art department of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography, worked in the field of book illustration for more than ten years. The artist's works are in many museums and private collections.

"On March 24, 1798, by Imperial Decree, the right to brand and sell playing cards throughout the Russian Empire was forever given to the Orphanage, a charitable institution for the care of orphans. "maintenance of orphans". The farming system existed for more than 20 years - from April 1, 1799 to January 1, 1820. For all the time, there were five card farms, each for a period of four years. The farming system caused a rapid increase in the number of cards produced. Already in the ninth year farming operations, in 1807-1808, almost 2,300,000 decks of all sorts were made.
in both capitals in large factories, and in remote cities by small card masters, who took certificates from tax-farmers for their production.

The factory began production of new decks of the highest grade according to the sketches of a German artist, an employee of a well-known card factory
B. Dondorf in Frankfurt am Main, whose name was kept in the strictest confidence. Four decks were released and remained in production for many decades to come.
The release of new cards required a significant improvement in the quality of their manufacture. The decks were printed in 16 colors using the chromolithography technique by the best master of the Card Factory, Michael. One of the released decks, called "Russian Style", made it possible to say that playing cards in a truly national spirit finally appeared in Russia. This deck is remarkable in that the sketches for it were created under the influence of an album of photographs of the charitable imperial ball of 1903, costumed in the style of the 17th century. This version is supported by the extraordinary similarity of the lady of clubs with the appearance and costume of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, and the lady of hearts with Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna.
The figures of kings are represented by the king with an orb in his hand (the king of hearts) and the boyars of the time of Alexei Mikhailovich. The ladies are shown in festive attire: wealthy townswomen in ferez and plates, peasant women in embroidered sundresses with shower warmers. Jacks - young falconers and archers with weapons and birds of prey in their hands. The design of the usually modestly decorated aces turned out to be very successful. On each ace, the sign of the card suit is placed on a round shield framed by ancient weapons and hunting attributes. The sign "In favor of the Imperial Orphanage" is also made in the form of an old hanging seal.

Russian style cards

Surely these cards are familiar to almost everyone: they were issued many times in Soviet years. I have two decks of these small format cards with backs of different colors in one box at home - a gift version of the release of the mid-50s of the last century. And my grandmother had the same pre-revolutionary cards, but of a standard size.

Below are given for comparison, mentioned in the monograph by E.N. Grigorenko, photographs of the Grand Duchesses Xenia Alexandrovna - sister of Nicholas II (Queen of Hearts) and Elizabeth Feodorovna - sister of Nicholas II's wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (Queen of Clubs).

There really is a similarity, first of all, in the costumes: very characteristic kokoshniks on both ladies. In the faces, too, you can catch the similarity, if you really want to.

The Internet is simply flooded with comparisons of representatives of the Russian nobility, who were at the famous imperial ball in 1903, with pictures on the Russian Style cards. Of all that I have seen, the most relevant to reality is the fact that the king of worms was copied from the portrait of Emperor Alexander III, who could not be at this ball, since he died in 1894.
The costume of the king of cards differs from the uniform of the sovereign Alexander Alexandrovich, but this is not surprising, because all the kings in this deck are dressed in costumes stylized as the clothes of Russian tsars and boyars of the 17th century.

Nikolai Gustavovich Schilder (1828-1898) - Portrait of Alexander III

- "The Solemn Coronation March" (1883), written on the occasion of the coronation of Alexander III
USSR Symphony Orchestra
Conductor - Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov

Cap of Monomakh

They also compare the portraits of the Grand Dukes Mikhail Alexandrovich - the brother of Nicholas II and Andrei Vladimirovich - the cousin of Nicholas II with the jacks of clubs and jacks of diamonds, respectively.
If we talk about the similarity of costumes, then, in addition to fabric and colors, men's costumes and headdresses of the Russian boyars of the 17th century differed little from each other. Unless Andrei Vladimirovich was considered the prototype of the jack of diamonds, since he was dressed at the ball in the costume of the royal falconer, and the jack of diamonds was holding a mechanical falcon, indicating that, they say, this fellow is a falconer. And if we talk about the portrait resemblance of the Grand Dukes with card jacks, then, apart from the mustache, for the life of me, I personally do not find any resemblance. This is clearly seen if you look at the photographs of the Grand Dukes in a larger format. But, as soon as the two royal relatives became card prototypes, then we can calculate that these two royal relatives also became them.

Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) - Polonaise from the opera The Night Before Christmas

Conductor - Evgeny Svetlanov

As a lyrical digression.
The Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich mentioned here, the grandson of Emperor Alexander II, in the mid-20s of the last century, while in exile, married the notorious ballerina Matilda Feliksovna Kshesinskaya.
Matilda Kshesinskaya is known for the most part not as a ballerina, although she was a Russian prima, but for the fact that the Grand Dukes of the Romanov dynasty were twining around her in the amount of three pieces. At first it was the future Emperor Nicholas II - even before his engagement to his future wife. Then Matilda Feliksovna was the actual wife of Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich - the grandson of Emperor Nicholas I. At the same time, she had an affair with another Romanov - Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich.

At all times, exalted fools dreamed of a prince, if not on a white horse, then at least on an ugly black jeep, but not everyone even got the ordinary Ivanushka the Fool, because now princes, alas, are an elusive nature. And Matilda Feliksovna had three princes. And not some overwhelmed Holstein or Hessian, but the Romanovs themselves!

While this story was hanging around unfinished for almost two months, on 07/14/2016 a new article appeared on the Internet about card prototypes From the king to the ball! , which in LiveJournal was immediately taken away for quotes.

New, in comparison with previous publications, was, firstly, the comparison of the king of spades from the deck "Russian style" with a portrait of Tsar Ivan the Terrible from the painting by Litovchenko Alexander Dmitrievich (1835-1890) "Ivan the Terrible shows treasures to the English ambassador Horsey".

By clicking on the picture of the king of spades, you will be able to see for yourself the inconsistency of this statement. As for me, then, rather, the king of clubs plus or minus three camels, as my inscription teacher said, looks like a portrait of Ivan Vasilyevich by Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov. With a big stretch, one could say that the king of spades is similar to this portrait, but this king has a painfully vegetarian facial expression, in contrast to the royal portrait. Yes, in fact, the king of clubs also does not differ in formidable appearance. A beard and a hat - that's all the similarity.

So the author of the article, a certain Semyon Ekshtut, Doctor of Philosophy, is either not familiar with the materiel, or his eyesight is weak, which is confirmed by the following analogies proposed by him: the headquarters captain, squadron commander of the Cavalier Guard regiment, adjutant of Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich Alexander Nikolayevich Bezak - jack of spades and adjutant of the Grand Duke, Admiral General Alexei Alexandrovich, Lieutenant Nikolai Alexandrovich Volkov - Jack of Hearts.

Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible (1879)
Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov (1848-1926)

The main factors that unite these cards and their "prototypes" are the mustaches and the cut of boyar costumes, which was standard for that time.

From all of the above, we can draw an unambiguous conclusion: the presence of a beard for anyone automatically makes him a prototype of card kings, and what's there card kings - even the prototype of Tsar Nicholas II himself!

Those who have not yet grown to a beard, forced to be content with youthful growth in the form of a mustache, automatically become prototypes of card jacks.

I will not even consider all the other "analogies" of the author of the article, because he does not take into account that the German artist painted his card characters and their outfits based on photographs of the Russian nobility who were present at the famous ball, and did not copy them one to one.

I remembered a case: in connection with the repair, I bought sticky paper, the drawing of which for some reason was called "Karelian birch". In general, the drawing suited me, only the name was embarrassing. She asked the seller, does the Karelian birch in the section look like this, to which he answered philosophically: (The German did this, did he see this tree?)

Deripaska's beard Peskov's mustache

So in the case of maps, since a German artist painted them, then what is the demand from him.)))

This is not one of the 12 chairs made by Master Gambs, but - for a moment - the throne of Russian emperors.)))

These richly embroidered dresses are the same uniform for the maids of honor of the Russian court as the court uniforms for males who were at the court of Russian emperors, commonly called courtiers.

In 1834, Emperor Nicholas I issued a decree introducing a new court dress, complemented by a kokoshnik. It consisted of a narrow open bodice with long sleeves "a la boyars" and a long skirt with a train. Kokoshniki, combined with a low-cut court dress, remained in the wardrobe of ladies-in-waiting until the revolution.

Sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich personally approved sketches with drawings of court dresses and strictly ensured that the ladies, to whom this outfit was assigned according to the state, strictly put them on for official receptions. It’s a pity that there were no television programs “Fashionable Sentence” and “Take it off immediately!” At that time, Tsar Nicholas I could well have been the host in them.

True, these were dresses stylized as a Russian sundress, for which they were called Frenchized sundresses. Not only the cut, but also the color of these dresses was regulated. So the ladies and ladies-in-waiting were supposed to wear a green velvet top dress with gold embroidery on the bottom and side, mentors - a blue dress, maids of honor of Her Imperial Majesty - crimson, maids of honor of the Grand Duchesses were also crimson, but the sewing had to be silver , maids of honor of the Grand Duchesses - a blue dress with silver embroidery.

If the photographs of the two ladies-in-waiting shown here were in color, we would see that both beauties are in bright red dresses with gold embroidery. By the way, both of them were present at the famous ball of 1903 - their photos at this ball can be seen below.

On the left side of the neckline of the dress, the maid of honor was supposed to wear the so-called maid of honor cipher - a gold brooch with diamonds in the form of a capital letter of the name (monogram) of the empress, on whose staff this maid of honor was; or from two intertwined initials of the empress and her mother-in-law - the empress dowager (such a sign was called double). The ladies-in-waiting of the Grand Duchesses and Princesses also had their own monograms. The composition was crowned with a stylized imperial crown.
The cipher was supposed to be worn on a blue bow - the color of St. Andrew's ribbon.

Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova - Princess Elizaveta Nikolaevna Obolenskaya -
maid of honor of Empress Maria Alexandrovna maid of honor of Empress Maria Feodorovna
(wives of Alexander II) (wives of Alexander III)

Maid of honor cipher

Adolf Ignatievich Ladurner (1798-1855) - Armorial Hall of the Winter Palace (1838)

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857) - Polonaise from the opera "Ivan Susanin"
USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra
Conductor - Evgeny Svetlanov

The painting by the artist Ladurner depicts groups of guardsmen and ladies of the court waiting for the start of some official event. All ladies are dressed "in uniform".

Ladies who did not have court positions, but were present at official receptions and other solemn meetings, were also given a kokoshnik and a standard cut of the dress, however, the color and fabric from which these dresses were sewn could be any - at the discretion of the mistress of the outfit.

The form of court kokoshniks was quite far from peasant prototypes, as well as the cut of court dresses. In the second half of the 19th century, diamond kokoshnik tiaras (tiaras in the Russian style) appeared, which were popular at court.

Maid of honor cipher

Orlov Pimen Nikitich (1812-1865) - Portrait of the lady-in-waiting Anna Alekseevna Okulova in Russian court attire

Orlov Pimen Nikitich (1812-1865) - Portrait of the maid of honor Sophia Vasilievna Orlova-Denisova (1835) in a Russian court outfit

(1878-1927) - Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna in sapphire parure (wife of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich - son of Alexander II) (1913)

Note. Parure - (parure - dress, decoration) - a set of jewelry, selected according to the quality and type of stones, according to the material or according to the unity of the artistic solution.

A. Malyukov (1836) - Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (wife of Nicholas I)

Makarov Ivan Kuzmich (1822-1897) - Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna (wife of Alexander II)

Makovsky Konstantin Yegorovich (1839-1915) - Portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna (wife of Alexander III)

(1863-1924) - Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (wife of Nicholas II)

Tiara in the shape of a Russian kokoshnik

Tuxen Laurits Regner (1853-1927) - Marriage of Nicholas II and Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna

Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (1855-1914) - Polonaise in memory of Pushkin
USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra
Conductor - Evgeny Svetlanov

Small imperial crown

Diadem "Kokoshnik" with a pink diamond

The costume ball dedicated to the 290th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, held in the Winter Palace in February 1903, is the famous masquerade ball, at which all those present were dressed in Russian royal and boyar costumes of the 17th century.
The ball took place at the end of the Nativity Fast and took place in two stages: on February 11 (24), 1903, a gala evening and a concert took place, and on February 13 (26) the costume ball itself took place.

In 1904, by order of the Imperial Court, albums with photographs of the participants of the ball were published.
Albums were distributed for a high fee with a charitable purpose, primarily among the participants of the ball.

Costumes for the ball were created according to special sketches by the artist Sergei Sergeevich Solomko (1867-1928) with the involvement of historical costume consultants.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) - Polonaise from the ballet The Sleeping Beauty
USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra
Conductor - Evgeny Svetlanov

Diamond hat

Fairy Rus by Sergei Solomko

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857) - The First Song of Bayan
from the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila"
Bayan - Yuri Marusin
Mariinsky Theater - St. Petersburg

Sergei Sergeevich Solomko, born in 1867 in St. Petersburg, is a Russian artist, watercolorist, graphic artist. Member of the Petersburg Association of Artists.

1883-1887 - studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
1887-1888 - volunteer at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.
Late 1880s - began to collaborate with art magazines: "North", "Niva", "World of Art", "Jester" and others as an illustrator.
For the publishing house of Alexei Sergeevich Suvorin (1834-1912) he illustrated the works of Pushkin and Chekhov. For the publishing house of Adolf Fedorovich Marx (1838-1904) he illustrated the works of Lermontov and Gogol.

Sergei Solomko was engaged not only in painting, but also in jewelry and costume design: the artist created models for the Imperial Porcelain Factory, collaborated with the Faberge jewelry company.

1903 - the artist made sketches of ancient Russian costumes for a fancy-dress ball in the Winter Palace.
Since 1910, Sergei Solomko lived permanently in Paris.

1916 - worked on the orders of the Commission, which was engaged in the creation of the Museum of the First World War, at the request of which, he painted portraits of holders of the Order of the Russian Expeditionary Force in France.

In France, Solomko created theatrical costumes: in particular for ballerinas Anna Pavlova and Matilda Kshesinskaya.

1925 - took part in the creation of the Russian Institute of Art and Industry in Paris.

Sergei Sergeevich died in 1928 in the Russian House in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois. Buried at the local cemetery.

Note. "Russian House" - a nursing home, originally intended for emigrants of the first wave from Russia.

The Last Ball - Documentary (2011)
Director - Boris Liznev

All the kings of the Romanov dynasty

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857) - "Glory" - finale from the opera "Ivan Susanin" (Life for the Tsar)
Orchestra and choir of the Mikhailovsky Theater (March 6, 2013, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg)
Conductor - Alexey Karabanov

Great imperial crown

Look at these cards familiar to everyone since childhood. Surely you or your parents still have such a deck at home? These drawings are so familiar to us that no one even guessed, playing solitaire or starting to play the fool, that he was holding portraits of members of the royal
families?

The first playing cards in Russia appeared during the reign of Fyodor Ioannovich. But before Peter I, all cards were exclusively imported. In general, they were considered a great sin. Under the reformer tsar, the attitude to card games (as well as to alcohol, smoking, coffee, etc.) is changing. Even their production begins in Moscow. But it reached a large scale much later, under Alexander I, who monopolized the production of playing cards. This brought considerable income, which was directed to the maintenance of the Empress's department, which took care of orphans.

RUSSIAN TAROQ

From the last quarter of the 18th century in Russia, among card games tarok is mentioned for the first time. To play tarok, a very specific deck of 78 sheets is used, including 22 special numbered cards called the Major Arcana. The tarok deck was one of the first to be made in the card workshops of the Alexander manufactory. The need to issue tarok cards was specifically mentioned in a special regulation in 1819 at the establishment of the Card Factory. The tarok deck in the 30s - 40s of the XIX century was the most expensive in the range of the Card Factory and cost 70 kopecks (8 rubles 40 kopecks for a dozen decks). The production of Russian tarok cards continued until at least 1855, when they are last mentioned in the "Table of Prices of Different Kinds of Cards" of the Card Factory.

RUSSIAN PLAYING CARDS OF 1798

Produced at Russian tax-paying card manufactories.

RUSSIAN PLAYING CARDS OF 1815

FOR THE KINGDOM OF POLISH

Cards were issued by the Imperial Card Factory specifically for the Polish provinces annexed to Russia at the beginning of the 19th century and were called "Cards made for the Kingdom of Poland." The most important differences between these cards are the drawings. card suits of the German type, as well as a different composition of card figures, in which there are no ladies, but, in addition to the king, there are two more “male” persons - the vyshnik and the nizhnik (in relation to Russian cards, it was, as it were, a jack high and a low jack).

GEOGRAPHICAL MAPS OF RUSSIA

Geographic maps were invented and compiled by K. M. Gribanov in 1830. This is the first independent sample of cards published at the Card Factory at the Alexander Manufactory in St. Petersburg. The deck of Konstantin Gribanov consists of 60 cards, although the standard full deck has 52 cards. This is explained by the fact that the author pursued the goal of creating a thematic geographical deck depicting all administrative-territorial units Russian Empire. In 1830, there were 60 such units. On the front side of each card, divided into four parts, a playing card, a provincial coat of arms, a local costume and a list of cities in the province are shown. Another feature of these cards is its "back" ( back side) - on each card it has its own and represents geographical map administrative unit indicating the distance to St. Petersburg and Moscow

RUSSIAN PLAYING CARDS 1850

A very rare Russian deck produced at the Imperial Card Factory.

SKETCHES BY A.E. BEIDEMAN

In the early 1860s, the academician of historical painting Beideman was involved in the creation of projects for new playing cards. A talented draftsman and illustrator, Beideman showed classic literary types in the drawings of this deck. The deck has never been released.

Beideman was also a master of humorous compositions, which is evident in the drawings of this deck. A test print was made from the drawings, but the deck was never published.

HUNTING CARDS

The deck of cards was created in 1860 by the court painter of the Russian Emperor Alexander II, Mihai Zichy. All cards depict imperial hunting scenes and miniature images of standard playing cards. The deck was intended for the Card Factory, but was not published.

ROAD

A deck produced at the Imperial Card Factory in the 1860s. Artist A.I.Charlemagne.

NEW FIGURES

One of the decks of cards, prepared in 1862 by Academician A.I. Charlemagne by order of the Card Factory.

EYE

A deck issued by the Imperial Card Factory in 1870.

2 GRADE

A deck also released in 1870.

1 SORT

A deck issued by the Imperial Card Factory in 1875. The quality of drawing is really higher than that of the 2nd grade.

POLISH

The deck has been manufactured by the Imperial Card Factory since 1881. These cards were a collection of images so heterogeneous and unusual that in subsequent years this became the reason for the appearance of various names for it. In Russia, this deck was called “Figured”, in Germany Zirkuskarte (Circus cards), in Italy “Trappola” - after an old card game, which requires a special deck of 36 sheets.

EXCELLENT GRADE

A deck produced by the Imperial Card Factory in 1897. Artist Karazin.

M.O.MIKESHIN. SKETCH OF PLAYING CARDS

The project of playing cards for the Imperial Card Factory by the famous Russian sculptor and artist M.O. Mikeshin was built in 1890. The project was made "in the Russian style", very fashionable at that time, and includes sketches of halves of 12 figured cards, that is, all the figures of an ordinary card deck, made in the form of characters from Russian fairy tales. The design of the deck was demonstrated at the All-Russian Exhibition of Printing, held in St. Petersburg in 1895, and received very flattering responses there. But the cards did not go into circulation due to "heaviness and lack of freedom of style", as it is written in the "History of Russian Art" edited by I. Grabar.

RUSSIAN STYLE

The deck "Russian style" is one of the most successful card projects in Russia. Repeated attempts to create decks in the Russian national spirit were unsuccessful before. The drawings of this deck were based on the costumes of the participants in the famous "Historical" ball, held in the Kremlin in January 1903. Those present were dressed in Russian costumes of the 17th century, and Emperor Nicholas II was in the costume of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

NEW STYLE

For the first time, a deck with these drawings was released in 1911 under the name " New style". When reissued in 1935, this name was preserved in the price lists of the State Card Monopoly. In the post-war period, since 1964, the deck was produced under the name "Preference" and consisted of 32 sheets.

Fancy

The deck was released in 1910. The drawings were created by the artist of the famous German card factory Dondorf and were very similar to the drawings of the Mittelalter deck.

ROCOCO

The original deck was released in 1911. In the 1930s, an export version of the deck was developed and produced - with Latin indices, a silver-plated cut. In the post-war period, card design was used for a long time for reduced size solitaire decks.

HISTORICAL

A deck of playing cards, first published by the Imperial Card Factory in 1911 under the name "Historical". The deck began to be produced again in 1930, including in the export version - with Latin indices. Figured maps show representatives of ancient civilizations - Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek and Norman.

I will sell Souvenir playing cards "RUSSIAN STYLE", A-1-36, 1 deck, 36 cards, French system of suits, 1993
Art. 3С4-02424448. Childhood cards.
Color Printing Combine, St. Petersburg (10 years since it was abolished). Already history, a rarity. And probably antiques. THIS ISSUE'S SPECIAL VALUE (for collectors): the image on the box of a lady♣ is from the Slavic style, not from the native one.
Brand new, ideally unopened!
PRICE: 1.59 tr. for a new, packaged deck.
When buying satin cards, the price of the deck: 1250 rubles. (2 tr. souvenir + satin)
OVER THE YEARS THE PRICE WILL GROW AT TIMES!
Gift for an antique collector; philocartist, artist, art critic, book dealer, foreigner, magician, designer, myself:); a person interested in history, including the history of styles, the history of costume, the history of fashion, as well as anyone whose childhood or youth was spent in the USSR.
There are also satin playing cards on sale, 1993 - 900 rubles.
WHERE: m. Nakhim. Ave., m. Kakhovka, m. Tekstilshchiki, Novaya Trekhgorka, Skolkovo.
CALL, WRITE!
The prototypes of the kings and ladies of the RUSSIAN STYLE deck were the participants of the last costume ball at the Romanov court in 1903. Hearts ladies- Princess Xenia Alexandrovna.
All 390 guests of the imperial ball were dressed up as courtiers of all stripes, boyars and boyars, archers and townswomen, governors and peasant women of the pre-Petrine era of the 17th century. The luxurious celebration in the Winter Palace of St. Petersburg went down in history as the most famous and grandiose ball of the time of Nicholas II and as the LAST court BALM of Imperial Russia. Costume sketches were developed by the artist S. Solomko, a well-known author of postcards on the themes of Russian antiquity. And they were sewn by the best tailors. Photographers captured all the participants, thanks to which it became possible to recreate the images in these cards.
Sketches for the cards were developed at the Dondorf Card Games Factory (Frankfurt am Main) in 1911. The clothes were made in the style of the 17th century; aces - images of shields surrounded by ancient Russian weapons and armor. The cards were printed in St. Petersburg at the Alexander Manufactory, the output was timed to coincide with the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. The proceeds from the sale of the cards went to the benefit of the Imperial Orphanage, where illegitimate children of the Grand Dukes could also be brought up.
After the revolution, the Manufactory was closed for several years. In 1923, the factory again began to produce cards according to pre-revolutionary sketches. The artist Y. Ivanov redrawn the Russian style deck for offset printing. In the 70s, the entire USSR played these cards, without thinking that in front of him were the great princes and princesses from the Romanov family! In the USSR, maps were often used for propaganda purposes - they printed Anti-Religious Maps, Maps of the Nationalities of the USSR, Anti-Fascist Maps, etc. But none of them could compete with Russian Style.
Such a fascinating story accompanies the sold deck of cards, you can flash it over a game or two with friends :-).
TO FAVORITES!

Empress move

The fancy-dress ball that took place during Maslenitsa 1903 in the Winter Palace was grandiose. And its highlight was the idea of ​​Empress Alexandra Feodorovna - to capture for the descendants of the participants dressed in historical costumes of the 17th century. And by the best photographers of St. Petersburg. On the basis of palace photography, the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers published a sumptuous "Album of a costume ball in the Winter Palace", which consisted of ten large format folders. 21 heliogravures and 174 phototypes!

But this was not the end of the matter.

In 1913, on the eve of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, a deck of playing cards "Russian Style" will appear. And on them - the participants of the same ball. This deck of cards will outlive all the participants of the costume party in the Winter, endure the change of political regimes and live safely to this day. However, even today, thrill-seekers, playing "fool" or preference, are unlikely to guess what an exciting story is coming into their hands.

Emotions of the king

Baroness Sophia Karlovna Buxgevden, maid of honor of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, recalls:

"The Empress showed particular interest in all the preparations for this ball; she herself, with the help of the director of the Hermitage Museum Ivan Alexandrovich Vsevolozhsky, who provided her with the necessary historical information, designed her costume and the costume of the emperor. ... Men and women from high society competed with each other at this ball. Specially for this occasion, magnificent staves, jewelry and furs were taken from private collections. The officers dressed up in uniforms of that time, and the courtiers dressed in dresses adopted at the court of Tsar Alexei. The Grand Duchesses were dressed like their progenitors, and their outfits were created the best modern masters. The Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna looked the most charming at this ball. Everyone danced old Russian dances, carefully learned in advance, - the spectacle was truly bewitching. "

We will enhance the spectacle with sketches from the recently published diary of the last Russian tsar. The unsentimental Emperor

Nicholas II did not hide his joyful emotions about the ball, which lasted for three (!) Evenings.

"February 11th. The hall filled with ancient Russian people looked very beautiful. After dinner there was a small cotillion, during which 12 couples danced a Russian dance. Everything turned out very well and ended at 21/2.

February 13th. Thursday. In 91/2, a ball in costumes from the time of Alexei Mikhailovich began in the Concert Hall - a repetition of the previous one for Mama (Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. - S.E.). Misha (Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, younger brother of the Tsar. - S.E.) also arrived. The ball passed cheerfully, beautifully and amicably. Russian dance was very successful. We dined in the Nicholas Hall.

February 14th. Friday. At 102 we went to the ball to Count A.D. Sheremetev (Alexander Dmitrievich, Master of the Horse of the Court E.I.V., philanthropist and amateur musician, head of the Court Choir. - S.E.). Half of the society was "ours" - in historical costumes. There was a repetition of yesterday's Russian dance."

Of course, over the years, things began to be perceived differently. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, having successfully avoided death in the Time of Troubles and ended up in exile, decades later will present fun in the Winter with a fatal sign: "The new, hostile Russia looked through the huge windows of the palace. I smiled sadly when I read the postscript in the text of the invitation, according to which all guests were supposed to be in Russian costumes of the 17th century. At least for one night, Nikki (Nicholas II. - S.E.) wanted to return to the glorious past of his kind... While we were dancing, workers were on strike in St. Petersburg, and the clouds were getting more and more more concentrated in the Far East".

Everyone imagines himself a strategist, seeing the battle from the side. But in 1903, the court is having fun, not thinking about the future.

The fate of ladies, jacks, kings

In the "Russian Style" deck, some card pieces had real and quite recognizable prototypes. The creator of Russian military aviation, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, was married to the tsar's sister Xenia Alexandrovna - her photograph in the costume of a noblewoman of the 17th century served as the basis for the creation of the Lady of Hearts.

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, the elder sister of the Empress and the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, dressed in the princely attire of the 17th century, is none other than the lady of clubs.

The Queen of Spades showed a resemblance to Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, Countess Sumarokova-Elston, who appeared at the ball dressed as a noblewoman.

Jack of diamonds - Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich (falconer in festive attire).

Jack of clubs - Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, the younger brother of the tsar, in the field dress of a tsarevich of the 17th century.

The prototype of the lady of diamonds was Countess Alexandra Dmitrievna Tolstaya, the maid of honor of Their Imperial Majesties Empresses Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna, dressed as a hawthorn. However, Princess Vera Maksimilianovna Kudasheva, nee Countess Nirod, and Sofia Petrovna Durnovo, nee Serene Highness Princess Volkonskaya, can also apply for this card. Obviously, in this case, the unknown author of the sketch did not seek to achieve a portrait resemblance, but created an expressive generalized image. And he succeeded.

The situation with the king of hearts is also extraordinary. His costume is the masquerade attire of Nicholas II. "The emperor was wearing clothes that exactly reproduced the one worn by Tsar Alexei in his time -" crimson and white with gold embroidery, "wrote the empress"5. However, the king only remotely resembles Tsar Nicholas: to give a greater portrait resemblance to the emperor would be impermissible insolence and an insult to the supreme power.

But the king of spades no doubt looks like Tsar Ivan the Terrible - just look at the famous painting by the artist Alexander Dmitrievich Litovchenko "Ivan the Terrible Shows Treasures to the English Ambassador Horsey." By the way, in this historical picture you can find shields surrounded by ancient Russian weapons and armor - exactly the same as on the aces in our deck.

The prototype of the king of clubs was the adjutant of the Grand Duke, Commander-in-Chief of the Guards and the St. Petersburg Military District, Vladimir Alexandrovich Yesaul Count Mikhail Nikolaevich Grabbe6 in the clothes of a tenant in 1647. Starting from the image of a real state councilor, in the position of the master of the horse of the highest court, Nikolai Nikolaevich Hartong (von Hartong) and his costume of a boyar of the 17th century, an unknown artist painted a king of diamonds.

And the jack of spades is the staff captain, squadron commander of the Cavalier Guard regiment, adjutant of Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich Alexander Nikolayevich Bezak in the costume of a boyar of the 17th century.

One of the prototypes of the jack of hearts was the adjutant of the Grand Duke, Admiral-General Alexei Alexandrovich, Lieutenant Nikolai Alexandrovich Volkov7 in the costume of a boyar of the 17th century. And also - Lieutenant of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Nikolai Petrovich Shter in the outfit of the initial person from the tenants of the times of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and cornet of the Life Guards of the Horse Regiment Alexei Romanovich Tizdel in the attire of a falconer ...

The fancy-dress ball for Shrovetide in 1903 was the last joyful event during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II. Only sorrows and sorrows followed in a continuous series: an unsuccessful war with Japan, Bloody Sunday, Troubles ...

What guests were treated to at this fancy-dress ball - read in the "Kitchen of the Motherland" section.

And the Russian Style cards have remained in our lives as a beautiful reminder of the most spectacular ball of the Russian Empire.