Art Tour Guide

This figurine features a Russian soldier preparing to go to the war during World War I, from 1914 to 1918, when Russia was at war with Germany. This is a very dramatic image. Probably the young soldiers already lost their lives at war, so that the reserve solder who was old was called to join the war to fight for his country. This was made to look so realistic to the point that his uniform, made of green jasper stones, a jade like mineral, that the trousers are a bit darker than the top because in real life soldiers usually wash the top more often than the bottom.

And for this female figurine, it is a wet nurse. This miniature figurine is made of many kinds of stone including Rhodonite - the cherry pink one and the eyes are made of blue sapphires. Usually a healthy commoner, who had to be an Orthodox Christian, from the village was hired to breastfeed children of the royal family or noble houses. During the Romanov dynasty, the Tsars family often had mixed blood, as Tsars married princesses from around Germany, Denmark etc. It was believed that if a child was breastfed by a Russian woman, his blood would become more Russian. In addition, because the Russian Tzar family lived separately from the rest of the people, they were totally separated from the Russian way of life, but through their wet nurse, they have a direct contact with real Russians. As the baby grew, they did not need their wet nurses anymore, they were replaced by English governors, French teachers and so on but their first contact had to be a real Russian.

The wet nurse would go back to her village when the child grew up but as a special privilege, she was allowed to come to the court once a year, to meet the child she once breastfed. For example, Alexander III, had a special bond with his wet nurse who would come to palace once a year sitting next to the Tsar. It was remarkable to be able to sit in front of the Tzar and she would even sometimes tell him off for not doing the right thing.  And he would listen to her.