Important set of general's epaulettes from the Imperial Russ - Lot 68

Important set of general's epaulettes from the Imperial Russian period: 1/ Pair in gold with red edging 2/ 5 mismatched epaulets All are monogrammed with Nicholas II. Provenance: - Descendant of the owner of the Villa - Villa Donatello at Cap d'Antibes. This property was acquired at the turn of the century by Grand Duke Pierre Nikolaiévitch of Russia (1864-1931). A similar pair belonging to Grand Duke Nicolas Nikolaiévitch Le Jeune (1856-1929) was presented at a London auction. Grand Duke Peter Nikolayevich of Russia (Piotr Nikolayevich Romanov or *****), nicknamed the "Black Peril" by his wife for their taste in the occult, introduced a number of notorious personalities to the imperial court, the most famous being Rasputin, whom he introduced to the Tsar and his wife at the Znamenka estate near Peterhof, where they liked to spend their vacations. In April 1919, two years after the abdication of his nephew Nicholas II, the Grand Duke left his estate at Dulber in the Crimea aboard the British battleship HMS Marlborough (1912). Like many white Russians, he landed in Antibes, where he lived with his wife and children at the Villa Thénard, the home of his brother, Grand Duke Nicolas Nikolaïevitch, before moving into their own house, the Villa Donatello. He remained in Antibes until his death in 1931, and was buried in the crypt of the Saint-Michel-Archange Orthodox Church in Cannes.