Silver, gilding, enamel, diamonds.
Size 88.6 mm.
Unmarked.
This breast star was personally awarded by the 17th Emir of Bukhara, Sa‘id ‘Abd al-Ahad Khan (1859–1911) to Baron Alexander de Stoeckl /барон Александр де Штокль/ in St Petersburg, 1909.
Size 88.6 mm.
Unmarked.
This breast star was personally awarded by the 17th Emir of Bukhara, Sa‘id ‘Abd al-Ahad Khan (1859–1911) to Baron Alexander de Stoeckl /барон Александр де Штокль/ in St Petersburg, 1909.
Baron Alexander (‘Sasha’) de Stoeckl, C.V.O. (1862-1926) was named for his godfather, Tsar Alexander II. His parents were the diplomat Eduard Andreevich de Stoeckl (1804-1892) and his American wife Eliza (née Howard), who was reportedly the "toast of the Imperial Court" when the couple visited Russia in 1860. The de Stoeckls’ friendly association with many U.S. Government figures stood them in good stead during negotiations for the sale of Alaska to the U.S.A., advocated and finally achieved in 1867 by Eduard de Stoeckl on behalf of Alexander II. The U.S. Secretary of State, William H. Seward, approved the payment of $7,200,000 to Russia, a purchase described by contemporary critics as ‘Seward’s Folly’. ‘Sasha’ was educated mainly in Paris and joined the Diplomatic Corps. In 1897 he became Equerry to Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia (1861-1929), a son of Grand Duke Michael Nikolaievich and grandson of Tsar Nicholas I. Michael’s morganatic marriage to Countess Sophie Merenberg (later Countess Torby) had taken place in 1891 and had resulted in his banishment from Russia by his first cousin, Tsar Alexander III. For several years the household spent winters in France and Switzerland and summers in England, usually at Keele Hall, Staffordshire or later at Kenwood House, Hampstead, and de Stoeckl was personally awarded a C.V.O. by Edward VII when the King visited Keele Hall in July, 1901. Following the death of Michael’s father in December, 1909, Nicholas II granted his uncle permission to return to Russia in order to attend the State Funeral in St Petersburg. With his wife Agnes, Alexander de Stoeckl accompanied and supported the rehabilitated Grand Duke during the visit and, following the funeral, this breast star was given to de Stoeckl personally by the Emir of Bukhara, Sa‘id ‘Abd al-Ahad Khan.