Russian jewel casket, gilt bronze and micromosaic. Mosaic: St. Petersburg, attributed to Georgi Ferdinand Wekler, ca.1825; casket Rome or St. Petersburg, ca. 1825.

A rectangular gilt-bronze casket. The sides have vertical sections in relief with arches above and below and a central oval reserve. Each side has five sections with mosaics in the central three ovals on one side and on two in the other The casket's ends are in three sections with the central one having a mosaic. Each mosaic depicts playing putti. They are shown planting and picking flowers, with a bunch of grapes, with a basket of flowers and riding a goat. The top of the casket is decorated in relief with arcs, arches, fleur-de-lis and leaf motifs. In the centre is set a rectangular mosaic showing a building in a wood on the far bank of a pond. This is the house on Children's Island built for the children of Tsar Nicholas I in 1830.

The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Provenance: Grand Duchess Olga Württemberg (1822-92), the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas I; Jacques Kugel, Paris.

The mosaic on the lid shows the Childrens' House in the grounds of Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Seloe. It was built by order of Tsar Nicholas I (reigned 1825-1855) as a playhouse for his children, designed by the architect Gornostaev and built of brick covered with teal coloured stucco. Inside, there were five rooms, a drawing room and a bedroom for each of the Tsar’s children. The future Tsar Alexander II’s room had furniture upholstered in leather; his sisters, Maria, Olga and Alexandra, had furniture covered in printed cotton. The island was approached via a pontoon style bridge, with ropes strung across. By standing on the wooden pontoon, you could pull yourself across. In winter the pond was frozen and the children walked across.The playhouse was used by the children of successive Tsars. The children of the last Tsar Nicholas II had access when they were imprisoned there in 1917. The casket originally belonged to Grand Duchess Olga Württemberg (1822-92), the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas I. Her profile appears on the centre of the micromosaic table of ‘The Flora of the Two Sicilies’.

The mosaic on the jewel casket is attributed to Giorgio Ferdinand Wekler (1800-1861) appointed first Master of Mosaics at the Imperial Academy of Arts, St Petersburg, in 1822. The Gilbert Collection has four other micromosaics signed or attributed to Wekler. The earliest is an interior view of the Capuchin Church, Rome after a popular painting by F.M.Granet exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1819. A copy acquired by Tsar Alexander I (reigned 1801-1825) between 1820-1825 hung in the Winter Palace.Wekler captured another painting of a cockerel by the 17th century Dutch artist Paul Potter for the same patron which he signed and dated 1834. A gold snuff-box showing Alexandria Cottage in the grounds of Peterhof Palace dates from the 1840s and commemorates Nicholas I’s favourite setting. Wekler specialized in landscapes and animal scenes and the Gilbert plaque of two Italian greyhounds which is signed and dated 1853 is a later example of his work.

The gilt-bronze jewel casket, which can now be dated to after 1825, is decorated on each side with oval mosaic scenes show playing putti; the perfect accompaniment to a beloved childhood haunt.The casket is decorated with arches, fleurs-de-lis and leaves; appropriate rural imagery.

Nearby, ‘Good Sasha’s Headland’, named after Tsar Alexander II, was where various family pets were buried. Grand Duchess Olga would have treasured these childhood associations whenever she opened this enchanting casket to retrieve some personal jewellery.

Grand Duchess Olga (1822-92) was the daughter of Tsar Nicholas I. Giorgio Ferdinand Wekler (1800-1861) became the first Master of Mosaics at the Imperial Academy of Arts, St Petersburg, in 1822.

Mosaic: about 1825; Casket: 1800-50

The casket, which was probably made in St Petersburg, belonged to Grand Duchess Olga (1822-92), the daughter of Tsar Nicholas. It was previously believed that the mosaic plaque on the lid depicts the Gatchina Priory, but has since been identified as the Cottage Palace in Alexandria Park. The palace was built by order of Tsar Nicholas I as a playhouse for his children, designed by the architect Gornostaev in the English style. The casket may have been given to Duchess Olga by her father to remind her of her childhood upon her marriage to Prince Karl Friederich Alexander, later Charles I of Wurtemberg in 1846. Olga's profile appears in the centre of the 'Table with trees from the Two Sicilies' (Loan:Gilbert.190:1,2-2008).

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.

We are grateful to Katrina Warne's assistance in identifying the Cottage Palace on the mosaic plaque.

LOAN:GILBERT.220-2008