Bidspirit auction | Rare antique, 1896, Russian, enamelled

Rare antique, 1896, Russian, enamelled cup, celebrating the Coronation of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna also known as the Khodynka cup or the Cup of Sorrows. This is a beautiful, historic, Russian cup with delightfully enamelled workmanship, complete with curved top edge. How many of these have you seen? An extremely rare find indeed. I've only got one and once it's gone ... it's gone. You might never find another one this good and if there's one thing I've learned about antiques/collectables when items are of quality and rare, he who hesitates usually loses out. It's in good original condition. A lovely example of a Russian Coronation cup with no dents, splits or repairs. It does have some enamel loss and age-related patina/patination commensurate with its 128 years age, but nothing unusual. Whoever purchases this exquisite, Russian 1896 Khodynka cup, certainly won't be disappointed. Khodynka field cup of sorrows ... Also known as the Coronation Cup, the Sorrow Cup, or the Blood Cup, was made for the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna in 1896. The cup bears the cyphers of Nicholas and Alexandra surrounded by a geometric pattern with the Romanov eagle on the opposite side. The beaker is among many that were distributed along with food presents and commemorative scarves to celebrate the Coronation of Nicholas II, as had been the long-standing tradition. On the morning of 18 May 1896, over half a million revelers gathered on the ragged Khodynka field in Moscow in anticipation of the presents and especially the commemorative cups (enamelled tableware was still a great novelty at the time). That was far more than the field could safely accommodate, especially considering the many trenches and pits that dotted the plain in front of the Tsar's podium, because the entire area was normally used as a military training ground. A rumour swept through the crowd that the cups contained a gold coin. In the confusion and crowd crush that ensued, 1389 people were killed in what has become known as the Khodynka tragedy. This event was taken as an omen of things to come for the rest of Nicholas' reign. The coronation cup became known in Russia as the Cup of Sorrows and the Tsar himself got the nickname of ”Bloody Nicholas” despite his best efforts to compensate the families of the victims. It was the Tsarina who named it the ”cup of sorrows.”