Impressive Biddle Family Tankard, Artifact of Strong Russian-American Diplomatic Ties, On Offer at Freeman's February 24

Philadelphia, PA - Freeman’s is pleased to present the highlight of its February 24 Gilded Age auction—a silver plique-à-jour and cloisonné tankard with impressive provenance and a remarkable significance to Philadelphia history.

Offered at an estimate of $30,000-50,000, this historically significant and impressive tankard is a testament not only to the intricacy of 19th-century Russian metalwork, but also the strength of Russian-American diplomatic ties at the turn of the 20th century.

Created in 1892 by the firm of Pavel Ovchinnikov, one of Imperial Russia’s most famous jewelers and silversmiths, the tankard was presented the following year to Dr. Alexander W. Biddle in gratitude for his service to Russia during the famine of 1891-92. 

Dr. Biddle, a descendant of the prominent Philadelphia Biddle family, was instrumental in coordinating aid relief to Russia during the famine that devastated its agrarian peasantry; in fact, Philadelphia was the first city to dispatch a ship to Russia filled with flour and other provisions.

Letter dated May 27, 1893, from Prince Cantacuzène on behalf of Tsar Alexander III on letterhead from the Russian Imperial Legation, Washington DC, dated May 27, 1893, to A.W. Biddle.​​​​​

These efforts were received with great appreciation by the Russian people, as well as then-Tsar Alexander III, who reportedly said, “I am very much touched by the interest and kindness which the people of the United States are showing in sending ships of flour to my suffering people.”

The Tsar commissioned this ornate tankard from Ovchinnikov as a measure of gratitude to Dr. Biddle, rewarding in turn several others who organized aid efforts. The front page of The Philadelphia Inquirer on May 27, 1893, read, “The Czar Rewards Friends in Need: Russia’s Grateful Ruler Sends Costly Silver Gifts to Nine Leading Philadelphians,” a group that included, in addition to Dr. Biddle, banking scion A.J. Drexel Jr.

A Coronation Day program of events was scheduled along the Delaware River to mark the ten-year anniversary of the Tsar’s coronation, and the present tankard—accompanied by a letter of appreciation from Prince Cantacuzène, Russian Minister to the United States—are two of the few known artifacts presented on that glorious day in Philadelphia.

ADDITIONAL AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS

The Gilded Age also features a broad selection of sporting art from the 18th to early 19th centuries, two rediscovered military scenes by Juliusz Fortunat Kossak and his son Woiciech Ritter von Kossak, and rugs and Chinese Export material that reflect the eclectic collecting sensibilities of Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.