GEORGE I (1845-1913) Five identical artistic blanks with a monogram under a princely crown. 1890s.

19x12.3 cm. George I (1845-1913) was the King of the Hellenes from 1863 to 1913. He succeeded Otto I of Bavaria on the Greek throne as a result of the referendum in Greece in 1862. He was the founder of the Greek Glücksburg dynasty and the second son of King Christian IX of Denmark. The Greek royal family, along with their Danish relatives, had close kinship ties with the British and Russian dynasties. George I's sisters were Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, the wife of Edward VII and the mother of George V, and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, the wife of Alexander III and the mother of Nicholas II. George himself was married to his niece, Olga Constantinovna, a niece of Alexander II. The royal family had five sons and two daughters. Three of the king's children, Alexander, Nicholas, and Maria, also married members of the Romanov dynasty. These marriages strengthened the diplomatic relations between Greece and Russia, brought the two ruling houses closer, and bolstered the Russophile party at the king's court.