Naryshkin's treasure now showcased in Tsarskoye Selo in St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG, March 26. /TASS/. More than 2,000 objects of "Naryshkin’s treasure" discovered in 2012 when the Trubetskoy-Naryshkin mansion in downtown St. Petersburg was undergoing renovation have become part of the Museum Fund of Russia. A part of the precious collection that the Russian Ministry of Culture had helped to transfer over to the Tsarskoye Selo state museum and heritage site was put on display for journalists on Tuesday, TASS reports. "Today, we have officially received this magnificent collection for our museum. The whole year, or maybe even a little longer, our museum stuff was scrupulously working on this collection, because everything needed to be categorized, weighed, attributed and checked. <…> More than 2,000 masterpieces mainly dating back to the second half of the 19th century <…> will adorn our funds. This collection will be at home here," Tsarskoye Selo’s Director Olga Taratynova told reporters. Deputy Director for Research and Education Iraida Bott specified that the collection mainly is made up of pieces from the Nicholas I and Alexander II era. "This whole ensemble we will showcase in its entirety and together. We will definitely speak about the treasure <…> and will display it in that wing of the Alexander Palace which used to belong to Nicholas I," she noted. Bott clarified that the general public should be able to see the "Naryshkin treasure" collection by the end of the year. "[The exhibition] won’t be a scientific exposition, but it will feature all the pieces, while we continue working on the scientific catalogue," she added. The "Naryshkin treasure" was uncovered in March 2012 when the Trubetskoy-Naryshkin mansion was undergoing renovation. Workers found the treasure by cracking open the floors between the second and the third floors between the mansion itself and its wing that was constructed later. The tableware was hidden for almost 100 years and wowed experts by its state. The gold-plating hasn’t lost its shine, the silver hasn’t blackened and the mirrors haven’t lost their polish. Experts pointed out that those who had hidden the collection are to credit. All the pieces were carefully wrapped in newspapers and cloth soaked in acetic acid. The "Naryshkin treasure" features a few dinnerware sets in their entirety stamped by the best Russian jewelers from the second half of the 19th century - beginning of the 20th century: the Ovchinnikov, Khlebnikov, and Grachev brothers. Faberge branded a few pieces with his mark. The dinnerware is likely to have been ordered by the Naryshkins as many of the pieces have their family seal. Read more