Silver, gold, diamonds, enamel.
Size 142.5 mm.
It's believed that breast star was made made by Yakov Davidovich /Jacob-David/ Duval.
Portrait of Jacob-David Duval (1799) by Gerhardt von Kügelgen (1772–1820).
Duvals, as often happened with French Protestants, moved to Geneva in the early 17th century due to religious persecution. One of the representatives of the family, gold and silversmith Louis-David Duval, who worked with his brothers in London, came for the first time, as they say, “on reconnaissance” to Russia from London in 1745; Moreover, he is only eighteen years old! In 1753, he came to Russia again and settled in St. Petersburg, where at first he sold haberdashery goods. He finally moved to Saint Petersburg in the early 1760s, now as a jewelry merchant. For quite a long time he worked closely with his compatriot Jeremy Pozier, and after he left for Geneva, Louis-David Duval became the largest jeweler in St. Petersburg, as well as a supplier to the court of His Imperial Majesty.
He received the title of court jeweler under Peter III, but the heyday of Duval’s work occurred during the reign of Catherine II. Her court was served mainly by two Swiss jewelers: Louis-David Duval and Jean-Pierre Ador, whom we have already discussed. By the way, they were related because they were married to the Dumont sisters; I will talk about their brother Etienne Dumont a little later.
Louis-David Duval created many pieces of jewelry commissioned by the Empress and her circle of people close to her. One of the significant works of that period is the golden ark in the form of Mount Sinai, on which the figure of Moses receiving the tablets of the Covenant is installed. Duval commissioned this ark from Prince Potemkin for the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Of the later works that glorified the name of Duval, the wedding headdress for the daughter of Paul I Alexandra is known: this unique crown was admired by all of St. Petersburg.
The work of Louis-David, who died in 1788, was continued by his sons, born in St. Petersburg. They created the Duval Brothers company, which flourished until the mid-19th century. The family enterprise was headed by the eldest son Jacob-David. In Russia his name was changed - and he began to be called Yakov, or, respectfully, Yakov Davidovich.
Upon the accession of Pavel Petrovich to the throne, Jacob-David received the rank of full-time court jeweler and the rank of sixth class, which in the table of ranks was equivalent to the rank of chamberlain or army colonel. The two sons of “Yakov Davidovich” were godsons of Empress Maria Feodorovna, who especially favored the Duval Brothers jewelry house.
Paul I also did not deprive the court jeweler of his attention. In 1799, Duval created for him the crown of the Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. This crown is also called the "Maltese" crown; in 1827, on the instructions of Nicholas I, it was transported from the St. Petersburg palace of Count Vorontsov to the Moscow Armory https://asiamedals.info/threads/cro...r-of-the-order-of-st-john-of-jerusalem.25716/
Size 142.5 mm.
It's believed that breast star was made made by Yakov Davidovich /Jacob-David/ Duval.
Portrait of Jacob-David Duval (1799) by Gerhardt von Kügelgen (1772–1820).
Duvals, as often happened with French Protestants, moved to Geneva in the early 17th century due to religious persecution. One of the representatives of the family, gold and silversmith Louis-David Duval, who worked with his brothers in London, came for the first time, as they say, “on reconnaissance” to Russia from London in 1745; Moreover, he is only eighteen years old! In 1753, he came to Russia again and settled in St. Petersburg, where at first he sold haberdashery goods. He finally moved to Saint Petersburg in the early 1760s, now as a jewelry merchant. For quite a long time he worked closely with his compatriot Jeremy Pozier, and after he left for Geneva, Louis-David Duval became the largest jeweler in St. Petersburg, as well as a supplier to the court of His Imperial Majesty.
He received the title of court jeweler under Peter III, but the heyday of Duval’s work occurred during the reign of Catherine II. Her court was served mainly by two Swiss jewelers: Louis-David Duval and Jean-Pierre Ador, whom we have already discussed. By the way, they were related because they were married to the Dumont sisters; I will talk about their brother Etienne Dumont a little later.
Louis-David Duval created many pieces of jewelry commissioned by the Empress and her circle of people close to her. One of the significant works of that period is the golden ark in the form of Mount Sinai, on which the figure of Moses receiving the tablets of the Covenant is installed. Duval commissioned this ark from Prince Potemkin for the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Of the later works that glorified the name of Duval, the wedding headdress for the daughter of Paul I Alexandra is known: this unique crown was admired by all of St. Petersburg.
The work of Louis-David, who died in 1788, was continued by his sons, born in St. Petersburg. They created the Duval Brothers company, which flourished until the mid-19th century. The family enterprise was headed by the eldest son Jacob-David. In Russia his name was changed - and he began to be called Yakov, or, respectfully, Yakov Davidovich.
Upon the accession of Pavel Petrovich to the throne, Jacob-David received the rank of full-time court jeweler and the rank of sixth class, which in the table of ranks was equivalent to the rank of chamberlain or army colonel. The two sons of “Yakov Davidovich” were godsons of Empress Maria Feodorovna, who especially favored the Duval Brothers jewelry house.
Paul I also did not deprive the court jeweler of his attention. In 1799, Duval created for him the crown of the Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. This crown is also called the "Maltese" crown; in 1827, on the instructions of Nicholas I, it was transported from the St. Petersburg palace of Count Vorontsov to the Moscow Armory https://asiamedals.info/threads/cro...r-of-the-order-of-st-john-of-jerusalem.25716/