#hisory

1. Alexander the Great receives Darius's message.

2. Persians paying tribute to Alexander the Great on the throne.

3. Alexander the Great on the throne.

4. Alexander the Great and the Statue of Nactanebo.

5. Darius and his dignitaries.

6. Olympias's delivery.

The History of Alexander the Great by Pseudo-Callisthen, Armenian Manuscript, 13th-14th century.

"One more figure is perhaps worth looking at as an example of female sovereignty within the Japanese imperial line. Not the second-century shaman-queens Himiko and Toyo, whose relationship to the modern imperial family is unclear, nor the conquering Empress Jingū (r. 201–269 CE, in the traditional dating), whose story is rife with nebulous historicity and later mythologisation. While they are famous as female rulers, Iitoyo (r. 484) is all but forgotten. This is accounted for partly by the brevity of her reign (about half a year) and the resulting dearth of information concerning her. Certainly, she was not thought of by ancient chroniclers as a legitimate empress; while the ostensible regent Jingū is still afforded her own section in the Nihon shoki, Iitoyo warrants only a brief mention in the annals of her successor, Emperor Kenzō (r. 485–487). Early records never grant her the full monarchic title; only in the twelfth-century chronology Fusō ryakki is she known as a monarch.

Iitoyo took power following the death of Emperor Seinei (r. 444–484). Her enthronement was enabled by succession confusion, although two different eighth-century court histories give varying accounts. In the older work, the Kojiki, the only living male heirs are still in hiding following a bout of internecine rival-murdering on a previous emperor’s part; Iitoyo is portrayed more as a regent, merely holding court until the true (male) heirs can be found, fitting in more closely with the ‘placeholder’ narrative. In the other, the Nihon shoki, however, her reign occurs while said heirs cannot agree on which is to rule; here, she appears as a more disruptive presence, circumventing the patriline and even using a regnal name (derided by the text as ‘self-styled’).

The Nihon shoki interpretation presents her as a brief pretender-queen, a short-term challenge to the ‘proper’ line of succession; she is insistently dismissed as a legitimate monarch, and yet, recognised or not, Iitoyo was the effective sovereign of Japan for a short time in the late fifth century. Iitoyo in the Nihon shoki shows yet another side of the notion of the ‘traditional’ placeholder, in that early female sovereigns could be written out of official narratives entirely, despite functioning as empresses regnant in all other aspects. The imperial family’s own internal chronology is itself a narrative constructed over the course of centuries; the ‘traditions’ present within it carefully curated by later generations. The question of what the imperial tradition even permits, in terms of female rulership, is further complicated by the very artifice of what gets to be considered as ‘tradition’ in the first place."

THE IMPERIAL EMERALD OF GRAND DUCHESS VLADIMIR OF RUSSIA SUPERB EMERALD AND DIAMOND PENDENT NECKLACE

Pear-shaped emerald of 75.61 carats, pear, circular and marquise-cut diamonds, platinum and gold, necklace 40.9 cm, detachable pendant 7.1 cm SSEF, 2019, report no. 104338: 75.617 carats, Colombia, minor oil, Appendix letter Gübelin, 2018, report no. 18120088: 75.61 carats, Colombia, minor oil

PROVENANCE

Catherine the Great (1729-1796) Tsar Paul I of Russia (1754-1801) Tsar Alexander I of Russia (1777-1825) Tsar Nicholas I of Russia (1796-1855) Tsar Alexander II of Russia (1818-1881) Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (1847-1909) Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, The Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia (1854-1920) Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia (1877-1943) Cartier John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874-1960) Raphael Esmerian (1903-1976) A distinguised private collector

FABULOUS JEWELS THE COLLECTION OF CATHERINE THE GREAT 

Catherine the Great was born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst of Prussia in 1729. With not a single drop of Russian blood in her veins, for her contemporaries and for successive generations, she was to become the very embodiment of Russia, ruling a mighty empire for 34 years. Selected at the age of 14 as a suitable bride for her cousin Peter, the future Tsar Peter III of Russia, Princess Sophie set off for St Petersburg. In 1745 she converted to the Russian orthodox religion in Moscow taking the name Ekaterina, and was married to Peter, becoming a Grand Duchess of Russia.  Catherine the Great soon found herself as sole mistress of the world’s largest and wealthiest empire.

The empress understood perfectly the demonstrative effect of a glittering court and she was conscious of the fact that in the eyes of European monarchs a great jewellery collection was as important as a great army.  Catherine was one of the greatest collectors of all time, in both scale and quality. She took great pleasure in the jewels that proclaimed her power and her rank as empress. Uniquely precious and suited for imperial elegance, Catherine the Great was particularly fond of emeralds. Lot 269 was cut from a rectangular-cut emerald weighing over 107 carats, rumoured to be the second largest in her collection by its size and quality.  This magnificent emerald, mounted in a brooch surrounded by diamonds, was to remain in the private collection of the Tsars of Russia until the end of the 19th century. Inherited from Catherine the Great, passing through the hands of 5 Tsars, the emerald and diamond brooch was given in 1874 by Tsar Alexander II to Duchess Marie of Meckleburg-Schwerin (who became Maria Pavlovna, Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia), on the occasion of her wedding to his son, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia. 

THE JEWELS OF GRAND DUCHESS MARIA PAVLOVNA OF RUSSIA 

(this is an Edwardian steelbone overbust corset)

Those things? Yeah. Men wore them. Granted, they were in a different style BUT, they still did! Now, I will be the first to admit I know barely anything about fashion, historical or otherwise, but I saw this (in a fanfic no less), and had to research. *Then* I just had to share because, C'MON GUYS?!? How cool is this???

From the little research I've done (I *highly* recommend going down this rabbithole, it is *very* interesting), corsets for men were most popular in the around the 18th century (roughly 1700's-1800's).

They were oftentimes used to support posture as well as achieve a trimmer waist and more defined silhouette. They also helped relieve back pain in certain cases.

Wearing them was a secret practice, particularly in the mid-1800's when it became "taboo".

I would highly recommend these websites for a read-through about this topic:

"The Cut": https://www.thecut.com/2015/03/yes-men-in-the-18th-century-wore-corsets.html

"1883 Magazine": https://1883magazine.com/corset-for-men-find-out-the-history-and-uses-of-mens-corset/

"Corset Story": https://corset-story.com/blogs/news/corsets-for-men-the-history-modern-day-solutions

"The Archive": https://explorethearchive.com/corset-history