Tumbler with the monogram of Tsar Nicholas II

Bartelmus & Co., Pilsen, Bohemia

1896

Steel, coloured enamel. On front inside a medallion, the monogram N I (Tsar Nicholas’s civilian name was Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov) is surmounted by the imperial crown; the year 1896 is inscribed below it. Opposite, the Imperial Eagle on a red, blue, and white interwoven motif derived from Russian folk ornament.

H: 10.4 cm

UMP 18583

To commemorate the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II in 1896, a series of four hundred thousand tumblers was produced for distribution to Russian muzhiks.  A rumour that there would not be enough tumblers for everyone spread, causing a panic in which more than two thousand people were trampled.