Russia's Imperial family's furniture found in Finland

[Tiriol]

A little bit of historical news from Finland, as reported by YLE News: the last Czarina's furniture has been found in a private Finnish home.

Czarina's Furniture Found in Private Finnish Home
published today 07:23 AM, updated today 01:55 PM

Furniture that belonged to the last Czarina of Russia has been discovered in a private Finnish home.

The unique ensemble was originally part of the furnishings of the private "silver chamber of the Czarina Alexandra Fyodorovna at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The discovery of the origin of the furniture was made when it was recently put up for sale.

The ensemble, made in the workshop of N.F. Svirsky in St. Petersburg is thought to have originally been made up of 15 pieces. Of those, 11 are included in the find. The furniture was designed by N.V. Nabokov. It came to Finland sometime in the 1920s, following the Russian Revolution.

The deputy director of the Russian State Museum, Iraida K. Bott, authenticated the pieces on Wednesday. She said that its appearance on the market is a truly significant event.

Finland's National Board of Antiquities also considers the find as unique and has expressed the hope that the furniture can return to its original setting in the Winter Palace.

YLE

This raises the interesting question whether Imperial property of the Russian Czars might still be found in foreign lands, since presumably a lot of it could have been spirited away in the chaos of the revolutions and Russian Civil War.

[Karza]

I hope they can puzzle together a bit more specific explanation of how the furniture ended up over here. Stolen by someone fleeing the palace? Looted and sold by the rebels?

[Tiriol]

I hope they can puzzle together a bit more specific explanation of how the furniture ended up over here. Stolen by someone fleeing the palace? Looted and sold by the rebels?

Yeah, it would be nice to see a more specific explanation, especially when the current owner has stated that he had no idea the furniture was that prestigious; he simply thought it was some old Russian furniture from time before Finland became independent.

[Broomstick]

Well, heck, my peasant/serf grandparents smuggled a fair amount of portable wealth out of Russia when they left - I'm not entirely surprised someone else did. Nor is it surprising for it to turn up in Finland given the physical proximity and close cultural/political ties over the centuries.

[Pelranius]

You'd think that someone smuggling stuff out of Civil War Russia would choose something a little more portable than the Tzarina's furniture. My guess is that the Bolsheviks or someone might have tried selling it off for cash, possibly not knowing the history behind these chairs and drawers.