Restoration and reconstruction of interiors

The Maple Drawing Room of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna is one of the most expressive interiors of Russian modernism, designed by the Meltsers brothers in 1902–1904.

Its architectural style and forms stand out sharply against the rest of the rooms. The walls of the drawing room were adorned with an exquisite sculpted relief in the form of intertwined rose stems and branches. This motif was skillfully repeated in the elegant carved capitals of the wooden elements located at the base of the spacious balcony connecting opposite sides of the room. The main visual and architectural accent is a gray figured maple gallery with a central decorative capital featuring a floral ornament.

Our production required several years to faithfully restore the lost elements of the Maple Drawing Room's decor. We engaged in design development, sculptural modeling, manufacturing, painting, and installation.

The work on recreating the capitals included all stages of production—from reproducing the sculptural form to finishing. A mandatory condition was the creation of a sculptural model from a soft material at a 1:1 scale. Six months of sculpting, scanning, milling the overall shape on a machine, and lengthy meticulous hand-carving.

In his early diaries, Nicholas II referred to the Palo Santo Drawing Room as 'Chippendale Room.' At that time, the wooden corner fireplace with its cornices and numerous shelves resembled items from the Chippendale era, the English furniture style of the 18th century.

The Palo Santo Drawing Room received its name due to the valuable tropical wood species of the Dalbergia genus. Panels, fireplace, cornices, and furniture were crafted from palisander wood.

For the drawing room, our company manufactured about 40 pieces of furniture. We recreated wall panels, doors, a large ornate corner fireplace, curtain cornices, radiator grilles, and window sills. Restoration work was carried out based on iconographic materials and historical samples.

The fireplace work used solid wood and veneer of palisander. The decorative composition in marquetry technique was assembled by hand using tweezers. All details were connected using gummed tape and glued onto curved surfaces.

The 'blouses' for wall panel cladding were made from palisander and oak veneer.

The Lilac Drawing Room was Empress Alexandra Feodorovna's favorite room in the Alexandrovsky Palace, created by Roman Meltsers — never altered, despite changing artistic trends. Here, the Emperor and Empress with their children often drank coffee after breakfast, gathered for evening tea, and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna spent much time working and reading.

For the interior decoration, silk of a pink-lilac hue with a pattern of interwoven vertical threads was ordered from the Parisian firm Charles Bourge. Wooden panels at the lower part of the walls and furniture designed by Meltsers in the style of Rococo were painted in two tones resembling ivory. Many pieces of furniture, including the corner sofa and half-wall cabinets, were integrated and connected to the wall panels.

The furnishings of the Empress's office included more than thirty items. Based on historical samples, we produced: doors with ornate inlays, a magnificent carved sideboard above the fireplace, an angular sofa, half-cabinets, wooden wall panels, radiator grilles, and window sills.

To reach the bedroom from the palace's private corridor, one had to pass through the Palisander Hall and the Purple Room. In the morning, to wake the Emperor and Empress, one of the valets would knock three times on the door of the Purple Room with a silver hammer. By this time, Nicholas was usually already awake on his side, while Alexandra often rose late, and if she felt unwell, she would not leave her private rooms.

For Alexandra Fedorovna's Bedroom (Chamber), our company manufactured: alcoves, carved cornices above doors and windows.