Aug 06, 2014 - Sale 2356

Sale 2356 - Lot 76

Price Realized: $ 3,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
A.O. MAKSIMOV (DATES UNKNOWN) [WAR LOAN / FORWARD FOR THE MOTHERLAND!] 1916.
38 1/2x26 1/2 inches, 97 3/4x67 1/4 cm.
Condition A-: restored loss in lower left edge; minor abrasions and restoration in margins and image; light staining in lower right corner.
A medieval Russian knight is galloping off to battle carrying a flag bearing the Romanov coat of arms. As one of the last attempts of Tsarist Russia to raise funds for their doomed involvement in World War I, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated in March 1917. As a result, the Bolsheviks took power. Whether the Russian aristocracy rose to the occasion and contributed to this loan is unclear, but what is certain is that the loan was never paid back. In March 1918, Russia signed a peace treaty with Germany, left the war and repudiated all Allied war loans. Copies of this poster were sent to America from Russia and used (with English text banners) "in conjunction with a film to benefit the work of an American medical relief group" (Theofiles p. 143). Theofiles 194 (var).