Eating utensils and other items of value were found in the course of the restoration of a mansion in dowtown St. Petersburg that belonged to the Naryshkin family. The collection will be kept in one of the city’s museums.
Eating utensils and other items of value were found in the course of the restoration of a mansion in dowtown St. Petersburg that belonged to the Naryshkin family. The collection will be kept in one of the city’s museums.
The antiques were found in a previously undiscovered secret room between the second and the third floors.
Mainly kitchen and other household utensils were found. “Currently an inventory of the large collection is being conducted,” said a spokesman for Intarsia Group of Companies, which is renovating the building.
Intarsia hopes that the items will be returned to the restored mansion.
Most date from the 19th-early 20th centuries.
Museum and specialized departments experts will date the items and assess their cultural value.
Documents were also found during the restoration work at the mansion on Tchaikovsky Street. The documents probably belonged to Cavalry Captain of the Imperial Guard of the Hussar Regiment Sergei Somov. He was No. 28 on the alumni list of the Imperial School of Jurisprudence of May 15, 1909 and was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th Class, with the school’s swords and bow. The award itself was also found.
Two houses were built on the site of the mansion in the 1750s. One belonged to Abram Gannibal, great-grandfather of poet Alexander Pushkin. In 1832, the houses were joined together in a project overseen by Lehmann, a well-known architect. In 1875, Prince Vasily Naryshkin bought the mansion. Architect Robert Goedicke renovated the mansion for his family. Photo: Items found during restoration of the 18th century Trubetskoy-Naryshkin Mansion in St. Petersburg.
