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a pair of military badges with a crown on themblack and white photo of two men in uniforms standing next to each other
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MILLON

613 - PAIR OF EPaulettes FROM HIS MAJESTY’S 1st Ural Cossack Sotni…
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Estimate €4,000 - €6,000
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Description
PAIR OF EPaulettes FROM HIS MAJESTY’S 1st Ural Cossack Sotnia (COMBINED GUARD COSSACK REGIMENT) HAVING BELONGED TO TSAR NICHOLAS II A pair of epaulettes with a raspberry-coloured background and edging, silver braid and white piping, with a silver-plated brass button bearing the Imperial Eagle, each embroidered with the cipher of Alexander II in silver thread surmounted by that of his son Alexander III beneath a crown in gold thread. Signs of wear and missing sections, minor imperfections. Russia, 1889–1914. H. 15.5 cm. Provenance Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov (1868–1918), Tsarevich and later Emperor of Russia as Nicholas II. History From the moment of his birth on 6 May 1868, Nicholas Alexandrovich, the eldest son of Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich—the future Alexander III—was enrolled in the Ural Cossack Squadron of the Guard by his grandfather Alexander II, who had himself been a member since 1864. When he was old enough to don the Cossack uniform, he would have the reigning sovereign’s monogram, ‘AII’, in silver-plated metal on the epaulettes and embroidered on the shoulder tabs. In 1899, Nicholas II appointed himself Commander of what became His Majesty’s Ural Cossack Sotnia (100 horsemen, equivalent to a cavalry squadron). In 1906, a combined regiment of Guard Cossacks was formed to incorporate representatives from all the Cossack armies of the Steppes. The Sotnia became the first unit of the new regiment, and Nicholas II appointed himself Commander of the regiment in 1909. In a combined regiment, each unit retains its distinctive coloured uniform. As that of the Ural Cossacks was raspberry red, Colonel Nicholas II’s epaulettes featured a background and edging in this colour, with white piping and silver braid. The monogram of the sovereign under whom he began his military career (at his birth), Alexander II, is embroidered in silver thread; above it is placed the cipher of Alexander III, who appointed him Aide-de-camp to His Majesty on his 21st birthday, 6 May 1889. As regulations stipulated that, when in regimental uniform, an Aide-de-camp should wear this monogram in a colour opposite to that of the regiment’s ‘button’, the monogram of Alexander III is embroidered in gold thread. This extremely rare pair of epaulettes was thus worn by Emperor Nicholas II from 6 May 1889 until 1914. Related work Nicholas II and his son Alexis (enlisted in the Sotnia in 1904), in the regiment’s 1910-model uniform, at Tsarskoye Selo in 1913 (see illustration).
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About the sale Russian Art – Mr G’s Collection – Part 3
Auction location
Auction time 09/18/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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