A: Is for auction that links history with art.

Last night I was at the famed auction house Christie's enjoying the raw explosive talent of Russian artists. Due to their huge success in London in raising approximately 84 million, on April 18 New York will have it's chance to make it's mark. Russian art right now according to Forbes magazine is on the rise by 45% so the Christie's auction should be an exciting event. I have long been a fan of Faberge as was thrilled to learn Included would be a series of Fabergé pieces including a nephrite elephant. The 7 1/2 inch tall elephant, carved in circa 1890 from a single block of jade, is a rare example of stone carving on a large scale. Alas no eggs. I have always wanted to see one up close and discover it's secret. All Faberge eggs do something magical. I found it interesting that a candelabra by Nicholls & Plincke came from the estate of Leona Helmsley. There are two paintings that are commanding over a million. The 1st is Aleksandr Iakovlev’s Loge de Théâtre à Pékin a rare work from the Chinese Theatre series. Iakovlev was a painter, theatre designer and graphic artist, whose art interprets his vast travels. The 2nd piece is a work was by one of the great 19th century landscape painters, Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin. According to Shishkin, “the forest is the basic element of the universe, along with the sea and the sky.” It was another piece however that caught my eye, a portrait entitled Russian Beauty by Konstantin Egorovich Makovskii. The painting captured my senses and transported me to another era far away from the noise of NY. A large propaganda vase, made in the State Porcelain Factory in 1927, shows peasants and a man plowing a field. The other side depicts Red Army soldiers beneath a Soviet flag. An inscription on its base reads: "The Red Army, defender of the Soviet working class." Being a Russian history buff and especially the story of Nicholas and Alexandra it was thrilling to see up close "A Maid of Honor Badge" from that period. Forming the Cyrillic initials 'MA', are rose-cut diamonds mounted on silver-topped gold, surmounted by a rose-cut diamond-set crown.
Maid of honor badges consisted of the reigning Empress's initials surmounted by the Imperial crown. When a new empress ascended to the throne, or upon the death of a dowager empress, the design was changed. The present badge is in the form of the Cyrillic initials 'MA', which stand for Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, dating the badge to the reign of Nicholas II. The placement of the initial of the Dowager Empress on the left signified her higher rank within the court hierarchy. What is so unique about this badge is it made it out as the royal family was shoot and that is an intriguing historical art a F.A.C.T.