The coat of arms of the Russian Empire was given to the Museum of Local History of the Republic of Mordovia on the 29th of August, 1940. It was made in Japan in 1906 and brought to Russia by a captive officer whose name is unknown. It can be assumed that the represented coat of arms was embroidered to order.
Coat of arms of any state has its own history. The foundations of heraldry- a historical science which studies coat of arms were already laid in the Middle Ages. Russian heraldry dates back to the rule of Aleksey Mikhailovich (1629–1676). However, the first depictions for Russian coat of arms were borrowed from the private seals of Russian rulers, that’s why the sources of its creation should be searched in the 15th century, when the tsar was Ivan III, whose seal had a depiction of St. George slaying the dragon with his spear – a symbol of the Moscow Principality. An image of a double-headed eagle appeared on the state seal after the religious marriage of Ivan III and Sophia Thominichna Palaiologina in 1472. Sophia was a niece of the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI, that’s why a double-headed eagle started symbolising a transfer of legacy of Byzantine. Later, time and again, the coat of arms of Russia underwent changes and only in the 19th century the final version was approved.
The exhibit represents the central element of a big state coat of arms of the Russian Empire against crossed St. Andrew’s flags and tricolours. There is a crowned double-headed eagle in the middle of the coat of arms. The imperial crown with two flying ribbons of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First Called is embroidered over its heads. The eagle holds in its paws the sceptre and the orb -symbols of the tsar’s power. The coat of arms of Moscow -St. George slaying the dragon is depicted on the eagle’s chest.
The coat of arms was made with the help of special technique: a type of embroidery, when a fancy thread is attached with stitches, made with a thinner thread. The outlines of the flags and the ribbon of St. Andrew the First Called, the sceptre and the orb, shafts and spearheads are embroidered with a goldish thread- silk fibre, enlaced with a gilded wire. The base of the spearheads is decorated with bows made of a twisted goldish braid with fringe. The stripes of the flags are embroidered with a feather stitch, which is made with the help of a light blue silk thread.
The wings, tail and feathers of the eagle are embroidered with a goldish thread, enlaced with blue and black fibre along the contour. The feathers and the tail are fringed with white stitches. The imperial crowns are embroidered with red and goldish threads.
The red shield of the coat of arms of Moscow on the eagle’s chest is edged with four rows of a goldish thread. St. George in lilac clothes on a white horse is slaying a light green dragon with a light brown spear. Around the shield there are the elements of the chain of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First Called, embroidered with raw silk, silk and goldish threads. There is a red ribbon with an inscription ‘Memory’ embroidered with yellow silk under the figure of the eagle.
Coat of arms of any state has its own history. The foundations of heraldry- a historical science which studies coat of arms were already laid in the Middle Ages. Russian heraldry dates back to the rule of Aleksey Mikhailovich (1629–1676). However, the first depictions for Russian coat of arms were borrowed from the private seals of Russian rulers, that’s why the sources of its creation should be searched in the 15th century, when the tsar was Ivan III, whose seal had a depiction of St. George slaying the dragon with his spear – a symbol of the Moscow Principality. An image of a double-headed eagle appeared on the state seal after the religious marriage of Ivan III and Sophia Thominichna Palaiologina in 1472. Sophia was a niece of the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI, that’s why a double-headed eagle started symbolising a transfer of legacy of Byzantine. Later, time and again, the coat of arms of Russia underwent changes and only in the 19th century the final version was approved.
The exhibit represents the central element of a big state coat of arms of the Russian Empire against crossed St. Andrew’s flags and tricolours. There is a crowned double-headed eagle in the middle of the coat of arms. The imperial crown with two flying ribbons of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First Called is embroidered over its heads. The eagle holds in its paws the sceptre and the orb -symbols of the tsar’s power. The coat of arms of Moscow -St. George slaying the dragon is depicted on the eagle’s chest.
The coat of arms was made with the help of special technique: a type of embroidery, when a fancy thread is attached with stitches, made with a thinner thread. The outlines of the flags and the ribbon of St. Andrew the First Called, the sceptre and the orb, shafts and spearheads are embroidered with a goldish thread- silk fibre, enlaced with a gilded wire. The base of the spearheads is decorated with bows made of a twisted goldish braid with fringe. The stripes of the flags are embroidered with a feather stitch, which is made with the help of a light blue silk thread.
The wings, tail and feathers of the eagle are embroidered with a goldish thread, enlaced with blue and black fibre along the contour. The feathers and the tail are fringed with white stitches. The imperial crowns are embroidered with red and goldish threads.
The red shield of the coat of arms of Moscow on the eagle’s chest is edged with four rows of a goldish thread. St. George in lilac clothes on a white horse is slaying a light green dragon with a light brown spear. Around the shield there are the elements of the chain of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First Called, embroidered with raw silk, silk and goldish threads. There is a red ribbon with an inscription ‘Memory’ embroidered with yellow silk under the figure of the eagle.
