An icon of Saint Nicholas, Novgorod or Vologda, 16th century, renewed in the 19th century

Andrei Mikhailovich Postnikov (1835-1900) was an entrepreneur and collects or. Born into a merchant family in Moscow, in 1868 he established a hugely successful silver, gold and bronze manufactory. Hs manufactory was especially known for silver tableware, household ornaments and ecclesiastical accoutrements, and within a few years received the honoured title of supplier to the Imperial Court as well as to the British Royal Household. His older brother, Nikolai Mikhailovich (1827-1897) was a passionate collects or of antique icons, of which he had three thousand two hundred and forty-five, at the t.mes the largest and most significant icon collects ion in the whole of Russia. The collects ion was published in a luxurious catalogue in 1888, but was dispersed after his death and is now scattered amongst many Russian museums, including the Historical Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery.

The offered panel is a delightful witness to the pioneering days of icon collects ing, the period when icons began to be cleaned and admired as paintings for the first t.mes . As all the major private collects ions were confiscated and nationalised after the revolution, such things are extremely rare in private hands, particularly outside Russia.