A La Vieille Russie

A La Vieille Russie
A La Vieille Russie facade. 2009 photo.
Coordinates Coordinates: 40°45′51.55″N 73°58′22.11″W / 40.7643194°N 73.9728083°W / 40.7643194; -73.9728083

A La Vieille Russie is a New York antiques gallery specializing in European and American antique jewelry, Imperial Russian works of art,18th century European gold snuff boxes, and objet d’art. Founded in Kiev in 1851, A La Vieille Russie later relocated to Paris in the 1920s and to New York soon thereafter. From 1961, the gallery’s storefront was at 781 Fifth Avenue, near the southeast entrance of Central Park. In November 2017, A La Vieille Russie opens a new showroom at 745 Fifth Avenue. Featured are artworks by Carl Fabergé, created for members of the Romanov court and other wealthy patrons in turn-of-the-century Russia. A La Vieille Russie has bought and sold many of the Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs.

History

A La Vieille Russie, a family enterprise since its founding in Kiev in 1851, left the turmoil of the Revolution and was re-established in Paris around 1920 by Jacques Zolotnitsky, the grandson of the founder, with his nephew Léon Grinberg. The shop became a focal point for émigré aristocracy and intellectual activity, attracting a range of royal and artistic clientele. These clients included Queen Marie of Romania, Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga (sisters of Tsar Nicholas II), the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, King Farouk, Salvador Dali, and Marlene Dietrich.

Alexander Schaffer brought the firm to America, with his first shop in New York’s Rockefeller Center. The gallery relocated to Fifth Avenue and 60th Street in 1941.

A La Vieille Russie today.

In America, A La Vieille Russie quickly established itself as a leader in the market for Fabergé and Russian Imperial treasures. It helped form all the major American Fabergé collections, like the Forbes Magazine Collection, many of which are now in museums such as the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The gallery also specializes in European and American antique jewelry, 18th-century European gold snuffboxes, and antique Russian decorative arts, including silver, enamel, and porcelain, as well as Russian paintings, icons, and furniture.

In 1961, A La Vieille Russie moved down the block to 59th Street and remained there for 56 years. In fall 2017, A La Vieille Russie moves to a showroom one block south at 745 Fifth Avenue.

Still a multi-generational family business, under the direction of brothers, Messrs. Paul and Peter L. Schaffer, and Paul's son, Dr. Mark A. Schaffer, A La Vieille Russie continues to deal in fine art and antiques.

The gallery exhibits annually at TEFAF Maastricht in the Netherlands, TEFAF NY Fall, and New York's Winter Antiques Show. A La Vieille Russie is a member of the National Antique and Art Dealers Association of America (NAADAA).

A La Vieille Russie also makes regular appearances on Antiques Roadshow.

Key Exhibitions at A La Vieille Russie

Fabergé. 1949.

  • Antique Automatons. 1950.
  • Russian Icons. 1962.
  • The Art of the Goldsmith and the Jeweler. 1968.
  • Fabergé. 1983.
  • An Imperial Fascination: Porcelain. Dining with the Czars. Peterhof. 1991.
  • Alexandre Iacovleff – Paintings and Drawings. 1993.
  • Golden Years of Fabergé. Drawings and Objects from the Wigström Workshop. 2000.
  • Mechanical Wonders: The Sandoz Collection. 2011.
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