Showcase 50. Ancient state regalia and ceremonial items

State sword. Moscow, the late XVIIth century
State shield. Moscow, the late XVIIth century
The showcase contains insignia of monarchical power and tsars' regalia, which are fine specimens of jewellery of the XIIIth to XVIIIth centuries and of great value for the history of the Russian state. Ancient symbols of power - crowns, skeptres, barmas, orbs – are wonderful artworks reflecting artistic tastes of various historical periods as well as revealing important changes in the political life of Russia.

Cap of Monomakh. Orient, the late XIIIth-early XIVth century
The oldest item in the collection is the "Cap of Monomakh" or Crown of Monomachos, used in the ceremony of crowning a monarch in Russia. Its name is connected with a Russian legend of the XVth century, according to which it has been brought to Russia in ancient times as a gift from the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monomachos. The cap is of oriental workmanship of the late XIIIth and early XIVth century. The question of its origin is still unspecified. The oldest section of the crown consists of eight gold plates adorned with very fine gold lace in a pattern of six-pointed rosette-stars and lotus blossoms. The semi-spherical top with a cross, the sable trimming and the pearls and precious stones belong to a later period. The crown weighs 698 gramme and is the lightest of all those in the showcase.

"Grand set". The late XVIth-early XVIIth century. Belonged to Tsar Mikhail Romanov. Chain - Western Europe, the XVIth century (?)
The first documentary references to a coronation at which the cap of Monomakh was used date back to 1498. The last time the cap was used for this purpose was in 1682, when two tsars, Ivan and Peter, were crowned at the same time. The eldest son Ivan was crowned with the cap of Monomakh of the "first set" (or the first order), while Moscow craftsmen made a "second-set" replica of the cap for Peter. It was similar in form to the old one, but inferior in artistic qualities. There was a rule that the cap of Monomakh should be worn only once in a lifetime, during the coronation. For other solemn occasions each Tsar had his own ceremonial crown. The showcase also contains other royal crowns, including the Crown of Kazan, gold crown of the famous "Grand Set", diamond crowns of 1682-1689.

Barmy of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Pectoral cross of Tsar Fyodor Alekseyevich
Barmy (barma), a broad detachable collar covering shoulders and adorned with sacred images, pectoral decorations, such as crosses, panagias and chains, were an essential part of ceremonial attire of Grand Princes and and later of Tsar's in Russia. The showcase contains chains made with remarkable skill, such as the one consisting of eighty-eight flat rings decorated with niello, enamel and a carved inscription of Tsar Mikhail Romanov's full title. The showcase also contains the state sword and shield. They began to be used as part of the royal regalia at the end of the XVIIth century. The shield is round and made of wood covered with red velvet and adorned with figured applique work of jade and rock crystal, inlaid precious stones and bright enamel.

Crown. St. Petersburg, 1730-1731, maker G. Dunkel. Belonged to Empress Anna
Under Peter the Great Russia was declared as Empire in 1721. The coronation rite was changed, the old type of cap-crown was replaced by an ordinary crown and humeral - by a special mantle called porphyra. The showcase contains crowns belonged to Empresses Catherine I and Anna Ioannovna. One of the first new-type Russian crowns was executed by Gottlieb Wilhelm Dunkel in St. Petersburg in 1731 for Empress Anna's coronation ceremony. It is made of silver and adorned with about 2,500 diamonds and an enormous tourmaline. The form was to become traditional: two open-work hemispheres divided by a movable arc with a cross in the middle and a broad circlet.