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This spinning wheel was presented to Queen Victoria in 1866 by her close friend and longtime Mistress of the Robes, the Scottish aristocrat Anne Murray, Duchess of Atholl, by then a widow herself
NB! · Archive · Monarchies · Mores · Ethnography
The photograph of Victoria at the spinning wheel is in fact a very telling one: for a long time the English word "spinster" meant both a woman who spun and an old maid, and the image of a woman at her spinning stood for an unfortunate private life
NB! · Monarchies · Observations
and "former queen" sounds offensive
Faith · Monarchies · Observations · Pop Culture
Citroën Lictoria given by André Citroën to Pius XI, the first modern popemobile
This six-cylinder Citroën Licorne was presented to Pope Pius XI by André Citroën himself on the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. The car was fitted out specially for the Pope, and two hundred people worked on the project. For the bodywork, a non-standard burgundy was
NB! · Monarchies · Museums · Observations · Humour
Travelling set of dessert plates of Emperor Napoleon in its case
The Emperor's travelling set of dessert plates. What can one say, an indispensable item, and not only for Napoleon.
NB! · Faith · Monarchies · Museums · People
Hat worn by Pius VII in 1814 during his captivity under Napoleon in Savona
Pius VII wore this hat in 1814 during his captivity in Savona: the pontiff was shut up in confinement for refusing to submit to Napoleon. In the end Pius not only returned to Rome, but outlived Bonaparte
NB! · Art · Monarchies · Museums · Education
Ivan Nikitin painted a portrait of Peter the Great in Florence, now in the Uffizi
Cosimo III de' Medici placed the Russian pensioner Ivan Nikitin in the academy of the painter Tommaso Redi. Here Nikitin painted a portrait of Peter I, who had sent him abroad to study; the picture is in the collection of the Uffizi
Aristocracy · Monarchies · Observations
Olga Nikolayevna's Marriage to Karl of Württemberg and the German Kinship of the Romanovs
On the question of how the Germans ruled Russia. Olga Nikolayevna, daughter of Nikolai Pavlovich, married her cousin, Crown Prince Karl of Württemberg. At the time of her betrothal she said rapturously to V. A. Zhukovsky: “May the Lord bless this step in my life and grant me the strength
NB! · Architecture · Monarchies · Mores
Queen Charlotte and the pension for the Ladies of Llangollen, who lived at Plas Newydd
The Ladies of Llangollen's house, known as Plas Newydd, drew the attention of Queen Charlotte herself to the married couple. Charmed by the story of these modern ladies, the Queen prevailed upon the King to grant them a pension
NB! · Art · Monarchies · Museums · Mores
Condition of the royal family's service and salt cellars as a mark of hosts' status in the 18th century
The service has survived beautifully, though the royal family used it for more than 200 years! Note the number of salt cellars: in the eighteenth century this was an important indicator of the status of those presiding at the table
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