KHLEBNIKOV SILVER AND CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL TRIPTYCH ICON ‘CHRIST PANTOCRATOR WITH SAINT ALEXANDER NEVSKY AND SAINT NICHOLAS’ Ivan Khlebnikov, Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty, Moscow, 1877

ornate borders, the hinged doors engraved with foliate ornament centering a cross, the back engraved with coat-of-arms and inscription in Cyrillic ‘In memory of 27 June 1879/Lord fight those fighting me / St Petersburg, 1880, 11 March/ Stancho Dmitri’ Hallmarks: master’s mark in Cyrillic ‘Khlebnikov’ beneath ‘double-headed eagle’, ‘84’ silver standard, assay master’s mark ‘V.S’ under the date ’1877’; master’s marks in Cyrillic on the side panels ‘KH’, Cyrillic, ‘88’ silver standard 14 x 18.3 cm total gross weight: 744 gr. Engraved with the Coat of Arms of the House of Battenberg, the present lot most likely belonged to Prince Alexander of Battenberg (1857-1893), the first prince of Bulgaria and commemorates his ascension to the throne. Prince Alexander, or ‘Sandro’ or ‘Drino’ as he was known in the family, was the nephew of Emperor Alexander II while his mother had been lady-in-waiting to Tsaritsa Maria Alexandrovna. At an early age, Alexander frequently visited Saint Petersburg, and often accompanied his Russian uncle, who was very fond of his nephew, during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). There, the Prince distinguished himself in battle and was awarded the Order of St George 4th class. After the War, when Bulgaria became an autonomous principality under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, the Emperor recommended his nephew to the Bulgarians as a candidate for the new throne. On 26 June 1879 of the Julian calendar, Prince Alexander was unanimously elected by the Grand National Assembly as Prince of Bulgaria and the 27th June 1879 marked his first day as ruler of Bulgaria. The Prince’s reign was short-lived however as he found himself caught between the Russians, internal quarrels amongst Bulgarian politicians and a growing Austro-Hungarian influence. In the night of 20 August 1886 conspirators organized a coup and Prince Alexander was forced to abdicate.