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Messages - Ortino

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151
Marie Feodorovna / Re: Books on Empress Marie
« on: September 24, 2006, 02:31:27 PM »
In Saint Petersburg this afternoon I toured the Maria Feodorovna exhbition today and it was amazing.  Many of us in the group got copies of the catalogue - a very heavy coffee table book!

Arturo Beeche

How much did you pay for it, Art?

152
Palaces in the Crimea / Re: Livadia, Palace of Nicholas II
« on: September 22, 2006, 09:57:59 PM »
And the bedroom of Tsarevich Alexey.

I wonder what is a net at the right ? Is it a bed or something for play? ???

Svetabel,
Do you think the net might have been used to keep Alexei from falling out of bed or somehow hurting himself in some way?  I remember pictures of straw that were under swings, or hammocks to cushion any falls.  The net may have served a similar purpose.  This is just a guess on my part, but it was my immediate thought when I saw the picture.

BobG
That net reminds me of the mesh on the cribs that are visible in the photos of the children's rooms at the AP. Those photos were taken in the 1920's or 30's, when the upper floor of the palace was used as a children's home. I wonder if these are something similar? Were these photos of the White Palace taken after the IF's death?

The structure underneath the net does look very much like the imperial children's camp beds, but I know there was no such net on Aleksei's camp bed at Stavka, for example. I'll try to remember to post a photo from Aleksei & Nicholas's bedroom at headquarters when I get home tonight.





That's not mesh on the cribs--it's the sides of the crib. It has walls like a playpen, see through. I doubt that that mesh covering would have always been there--when was the photo taken?

153
Tsarevich Alexei Nicholaievich / Re: education
« on: September 22, 2006, 09:54:11 PM »
Well Gilliard didn't actually start teaching Alexei until after Spala anyway.

Still, he had had contact with the family since 1905 and officially started tutoring the girls in 1909. It wasn't until Spala that he found out about the exact nature of Alexei's illness, meaning that he had worked for the family officially for about 3 years before being told.

154
I've seen the photo before, Sarushka.  ;) That meeting took place in Alexei's rooms though, which are further back. I don't know if any of the others are functional. There may be structural damage inside the girls' rooms and/or nothing in them. When I think of them I picture dusty rooms with cracked and faded paint and storage stuff inside, but who knows how closely my mental images mirror their actual condition.

And if the entire upper floor isn't owned by the Navy, why are those furnished and/or what are they used for?

155
Thanks Sarushka.  :) They did a really good job of recreating it for the film!!

Oh no! I can't believe they still haven't recreated OTMA's bedrooms at the Alexander Palace.  :'( They are just as important, if not more important than other rooms. I wish I could help with raising money for it to be done. They're such an important part of the Alexander Palace.  :(

Frankly I don't think they would much to work with. Courtesy of Alexandra, their furniture was a very ordinary, simple lemonwood, ultimately nothing worth saving. It was either thrown out or used elsewhere. I've never seen an actual piece of furniture from their bedrooms, and as we know, their campbeds disappeared. Therefore, both rooms would consist of recreated pieces accompanied perhaps by some photos, toys, mementos etc. Nothing really worth seeing by tourists in my opinion. It would probably be a rather cheap fix up, but I don't know how willing they would be to do it. Besides, isn't the second floor interior unsuitable for visitors? I believe that it's kind of dangerous up there.....And isn't it still owned by the Navy?

156
Tsarevich Alexei Nicholaievich / Re: education
« on: September 22, 2006, 02:04:12 PM »
In regards to the tutors he had...not being very distinquished, is it possible the tutors chosen had to do with Alexei's illness, and keeping it a secret?  After all if the tutors were just average people, they could be more easily kept from spilling the secret if they found out. idk, it made sense in my head...it seems like what i just wrote made no sense.

You have to remember that this was a very well guarded secret. Only a few people knew about the true nature of his illness, and it is likely that didn't include his tutors. It tooks years for Gilliard to find out what was actually wrong with Alexei (he only found out after the events at Spala) and although I can't truly account for Gibbes or Petrov, it is likely they didn't know the whole truth.

157
Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: The Last Grand Duchess
« on: September 21, 2006, 11:48:15 AM »
ANOTHER copy is available on Ebay for $25. I'm amazed by how many inexpensive copies are being sold in the past two months.

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Last-Grand-Duchess-by-Ian-Vorres-2001_W0QQitemZ330030393260QQihZ014QQcategoryZ378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

158
The Imperial Family / Re: OTMA - 'look'
« on: September 21, 2006, 11:46:52 AM »
For the first and probably only time, I found David's comments to be both funny and appropriate. This really IS a wasted and pointless thread from an academic point of view. Surely there are more important topics to discuss than whether they got regular haircuts?

159
Imperial Russian Antiques / Re: Award Brooch
« on: September 18, 2006, 07:49:15 PM »
Thank you very much rgt9w! It was a most interesting and highly informative site. After having gone through the entire thing, I then proceeded to Ebay to test it out. I was amazed at how much more easily I could pick out the fake aspects of the items, whether it was the stone, quality, and/or designs. I would love to report this seller to Ebay for selling fake items and ultimately robbing people of their money, but I don't know how seriously they would take my claim considering that I'm not an expert.  :-\

160
Alexandra Feodorovna / Re: Alexandra as Empress and Mother
« on: September 18, 2006, 12:22:40 AM »
yes i'm sure it was...

but i do think that she did baby him a bit. but then again, i'm not a mother and i don't really know.

but she could have let him done somthings on him own and not been right behind him everysecond!

Autism and hemophilia are not medically equivalent--autism can't potentially kill you. If she had let him romp around like other boys or not had him supervised all the time, he might have injured himself and ultimately died from that injury. Even a small one could be painful and potentially life threatening. Let's be realistic here people. And indeed, Alix fawned over him more than was necessary. He was a rather spoiled, unruly child.

161
Imperial Russian Antiques / Re: Award Brooch
« on: September 16, 2006, 11:50:35 PM »
Thank you very much for your informative replies. I came very close to buying it and it is at times like these when I am extremely grateful to belong to this site. I could never get a better authority on this subject. I should have known better really--my dad warned me about jewelry from Eastern Europe....I'm quite disappointed that it's not real, but at the same time glad to have saved $5,000 dollars. Again, thank you very much for the help!

162
Imperial Russian Antiques / Award Brooch
« on: September 16, 2006, 06:51:59 PM »
I was browsing on Ebay and stumbled across a person selling a Nicholas II award brooch that belonged to Boris III of Bulgaria. I'm very curious to know if it's a fake or indeed real. Does anyone know how to determine if the markings of the jewelry company are authentic or if there is any other way to visibly tell that it's real? I'd appreciate any help.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=015&item=250028780222&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

163
Marie Feodorovna / Re: Books on Empress Marie
« on: September 16, 2006, 03:07:51 PM »
So, has anyone actually figured out how to get this book? I mean, those of us who don't live in Russia....  :-\

164
Books about the Romanovs and Imperial Russia / Re: The Last Grand Duchess
« on: September 13, 2006, 12:26:16 PM »
There's a copy available on Ebay for ~$19 is anyone's interested. The auction has four days to go though, so the price could rise. However, that is still a very good price considering.

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Last-Grand-Duchess_W0QQitemZ150032214666QQihZ005QQcategoryZ29324QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This is the second decently priced copy I've seen this month--I recently bought my own for $26.

165
The Alexander Palace / Re: Alexandra's Balcony
« on: September 11, 2006, 09:23:18 PM »
I know there is a picture on the main AP site of the girls when they were younger with shawls over them in the Mauve Room. Alexandra must have inherited her principles on fresh air.

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