RUSSIA - OLDENBURG FAMILY - Lot 25

RUSSIA - OLDENBURG FAMILY Soap pocket watch in gold (750 thousandths), mechanical movement with manual winding, the white enamelled circular dial with hours and minutes in Arabic numerals, repeater striking inside engraved "Alexandre Nikonoff / 23 septembre 1921". Minor dents. Switzerland, Maison Angelus, circa 1910. Numbered 45182. D. 5 cm. Gross weight: 91 g. Provenance - Presented by Prince Pierre Alexandrovich of Oldenburg (1868-1924) to his savior Alexandre Nikonoff (1893-1951) on the first anniversary of their escape from Russia. - Then by descent. History Son of Prince Alexander of Oldenburg (1844-1932) and Princess Eugenia Maximilianovna, née Princess Romanovsky, Duchess of Leuchtenberg (1845-1925), Prince Pierre of Oldenburg (1882-1960) married the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexander III and younger sister of Tsar Nicholas II, the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna (1882-1960) of Russia, in Gatchina on June 27, 1901. A career military general of infantry, aide-de-camp general to His Majesty, knight of the Order of St. Andrew André and member of the Council of the Empire. During the First World War, he served on the Caucasus front as major general of the Caucasus front as a major general in the Imperial Family's 4th Rifle Regiment. His marriage with Nicholas II's sister was not a happy one, and their union was dissolved by decree on October 16 1916. It was at this time that he settled in Kiev, before being able to escape the revolutionary turmoil thanks to the help of one of his former non-commissioned officers, Alexandre Nikonoff (1893-1951). This young man had been a lieutenant in the imperial guard before the war, in charge of protecting Tsarevich Alexis. During the Revolution, he left St. Petersburg to join the White Army. In 1920, the advance of Bolshevik troops forced him to flee Russia by swimming across the river separating Russia from Finland. He managed to save the Duke of Oldenburg, who couldn't swim, by carrying him on his back through this perilous journey. on his back during the perilous crossing. The only possessions the prince managed to save were in a small in a small cardboard suitcase now on sale. Grateful to his savior savior and having had no children, even after his second marriage to Olga Vladimirovna Ratkov Rojnov (1878-1955) in May 1922, he bequeathed his last possessions to her, a house, the Cottage Saint-Hubert in Biarritz, a plot of land in Le Vert-Galant, and a few items of jewelry and objects, which were later preserved to Alexandre Nikonoff's nephew.