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Unter den zahlreichen Geschenken der königlichen und kaiserlichen Verwandten waren folgende kostbaren Juwelen und Schmuck:
Grossfürst Mikhail Nikolajevitsch Romanov, ihr Grossvater - ein Meander Diamanthalsband auch als Ornament und als zwei Armbänder zu tragen.
Grand Duke Michael Nicholajewitch of Russia her grandfather: Meander in diamonds, diamond necklace, wearable as corsageornament and later worne in two bracelets.
Each meander - greek key ornament consist of 30/31 old diamonds. The maker of Queen Alexandrine’s meander diamond choker has not yet been securely identified. As the jewel was an imperial Russian wedding gift from her grandfather, Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia, it may have been supplied through one of the leading jewellers working for the Russian Imperial Court. Around 1900, Bolin was among the most important court jewellers in St Petersburg, alongside Fabergé and Hahn, and the firm was responsible for major diamond jewels for the imperial family. Bolin therefore remains a plausible name to consider, although no maker’s mark or archival document presently confirms the attribution.
The meander, or Greek key pattern, is one of the oldest and most enduring ornaments of classical art. Its name is traditionally associated with the winding course of the Maeander River in Asia Minor, whose turns and bends inspired the continuous geometric line.
In Greek and Roman art, the meander appeared on architecture, mosaics, pottery, textiles and jewellery. Its uninterrupted course was widely understood as a symbol of continuity, eternity, unity and the unbroken flow of life. Because the pattern has no clear beginning or end, it became a fitting emblem of permanence, order and dynastic continuity.
Later interpretations also associated the four directional turns of the meander with the four elements — earth, water, air and fire — and with the harmony of the created world. Whether or not this was its original ancient meaning, such a reading gives the motif an additional symbolic resonance in jewellery.
On Queen Alexandrine’s diamond choker, the meander design was therefore more than a decorative border. As an imperial wedding gift, it could be read as a symbol of continuity between families and dynasties, of permanence, harmony and the enduring flow of life.
Sources:St James's Gazette - Wednesday 27 April 1898, Abergavenny Chronicle - Friday 29 April 1898 Rasmussen
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