PHOTO: Colour autochrome of the Corner Reception Room, taken in 1917

The restoration of the gilded furniture set (armchairs, chairs and sofas), which will decorate the Corner Reception Room of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in the Alexander Palace has been completed.

The Corner Reception Room was originally connected to the Concert Hall by a door located along its central wall. In 1895, a fundamental restructuring of the eastern wing of the palace began, whereby the private apartments for Nicholas II and his family would be created. In 1902–1904, when the Maple Drawing Room and the New Study of Nicholas II were created on the site, the Corner Reception Room was connected to the corridor, becoming part of the personal imperial apartments, but at the same time retained its ceremonial function.

PHOTO: recreated chairs, armchairs and sofas for the Corner Reception Room

The furniture of the Corner Reception Room was almost completely lost during the Great Patriotic War (1941-45). For the new recreated interior set, the selected items were made in the classic style, since most of the gilded furniture that adorned this interior at the beginning of the 20th century – until 1941 – was executed in this style.

The set was restored by specialists from the Tsarskoye Selo Amber Workshop. The restored gilded chairs and armchairs with oval backs and seats were made in the 1770s. Before World War II, these items decorated interiors of the Catherine Palace, in the foyer of the Chinese Theater (in the Alexander Park) and in the White Hall of Gatchina Palace. Two sofas from the second half of the 19th century, also included in the furniture set, were transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum from the State Hermitage in 1959.

PHOTO: original upholstery sample for the furniture in the Corner Reception Room

In the process of restoration, the craftsmen removed all types of dirt, restored the gesso and gilding, recreated the lost carved details with the subsequent summing up of gesso, diverging and gilding, and upholstery works. In the seat cushion of one of the sofas, the craftsmen found fragments of the original  horsehair, used to fill it. Due to the fact that one of the fragments clearly reads the date – 1865, as well as the fact that the sofa was upholstered once, the object can be dated to that year.

The chairs, armchairs and sofas share the same stylistic unity, as well as the upholstery fabric. In the an old 1917 brochure which describes the Alexander Palace, the furniture of the Corner Reception Room is described: “Furniture of the Louis XVI style of the Russian slave. late 18th century, re-gilded and upholstered in silk. the work of the Sapozhnikov factory in Moscow. / In the style of striped fabrics of the era of Louis XVI.” A fragment of the original upholstery fabric for the furniture of the Corner Reception Room, made in 1903, which had been preserved in the collection of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum, served as a model for recreating the upholstery fabric of the restored items. A pattern of alternating light stripes and stripes of various shades of pink with small ornaments of roses, flower garlands and wavy lines is clearly visible on the silk fabric.

PHOTO: recreated chairs, armchairs and sofas for the Corner Reception Room

NOTE: all photos © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Reserve

© Paul Gilbert. 3 March 2021

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Fifteen interiors situated in the eastern wing of the palace, are now scheduled to open to visitors in 2021. Among the recreated interiors are the New Study of Nicholas II, Moorish Bathroom of Nicholas II, Working Study of Nicholas II, Reception Room of Nicholas II, Pallisander (Rosewood) Living Room, Mauve (Lilac) Boudoir, Maple Drawing Room, Alexandra’s Corner Reception Room, the Imperial Bedroom, among others.

In the future, the Alexander Palace will become a memorial museum of the Romanov family – from Catherine the Great to Nicholas II, showcasing the private, domestic life of the Russian monarchs who used the palace as an official residence. The eastern wing of the palace will be known as the Museum of the Russian Imperial Family. The multi-museum complex, which includes the Western wing is scheduled for completion no earlier than 2024.

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