23,000 CHF
Patek Philippe & Co. , Genève, No. 30449/2257. Made in 1867, sold in March 1868 to Russian Education Minister D. Tolstoy. Very fine 18K gold keyless hunting-cased pocket watch with Patek Philippe fitted box. Accompanied by the Extract from the Archives. Four-body, "forme collier", engine turned and polished, reeded borders, engine turned band. Hinged goldcuvette. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds. Blued steel "spade"hands. Notes The movement of this watch was also occasionally fitted with a detent escapement and used for pocket chronometers. Dmitri Andreyevich Tolstoy (1823-1889) A Russian statesman and member of the State Council of Imperial Russia (1866), he was a distant relation of the writer Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy graduated from the Tsarskoselsky Lyceum in 1843. As of 1853, he held a managing position at the Ministry of the Navy. Tolstoy was a procurator of the Holy Synod in 1865-1880, while he simultaneously held the post of Minister of Education (as of 1866). In 1871, Tolstoy was in charge of the college reform, which would result in empha-sis on a classical education (including Latin and Greek and Ancient literature). From 1882 to 1889, Tolstoy was the Interior Minister and Chief of the Gendarmerie. He is considered to have been one of the pillars of the political reaction in the 1880s and a supporter of strong authority. Tolstoy's activities were aimed at backing the nobility, regulating the way of life of peasants an
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2005-05-15
