5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS There’s a surprising variety of design possibilities for kokoshnik tiaras. Here are 5 drool-worthy examples and their stories. FILE UNDER: TIARAS WANT ME TO READ THIS POST TO YOU? N A PREVIOUS POST, I TALKED ABOUT I Grand Duchess Hilda of Baden’s stolen tiara. That tiara is a kokoshnik, so I thought I’d explain what that means and show you a few examples. WHAT’S A KOKOSHNIK? THE KOKOSHNIK IS A TRADITIONAL Russian headdress. It’s shaped like a halo, widest above the forehead and a little narrower at the sides. If you’ve seen the golden halos of saints in Russian icons or other Christian art, you get the general idea. Here’s a Russian icon of Our Lady of Kazan from the 19th century: IMAGE B Y ХОМЕЛКА, CC BY- SA 3.0 VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS The earliest versions of kokoshniks were covered with fabric and tied on with ribbons at the side. This version is from a painting by Viktor Vasnetsov – he was famous for his romanticized depictions of Russian history and folklore, including a super-famous painting of Ivan the Terrible you’d probably recognize if you saw it. You know the one – Ivan’s throwing creeptastic side-eye, dressed in a fur cap and gold brocade tunic, and holding a staff with a pointy end like he’s about to stab a bitch. IMAGE BY ВАСНЕЦОВ, P UBLIC DOMAIN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS The kokoshnik was part of traditional Russian folk dress, along with the sarafan – a sort of jumper or pinafore with a blouse underneath. The kokoshnik made it to the Russian royal court in the 16th century, where boyars’ wives wore fancy versions studded with gems and covered with rich golden cloth. Catherine the Great had one, and her adorable granddaughter Alexandra Pavlovna was painted in one, while wearing a sarafan. ANONYMOUS PAINTING; IMAGE PUBLIC DOMAIN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS KOKOSHNIKS GO VIRAL THE FASHION REALLY CAUGHT ON in the mid-late 19th century, after jewelers adopted this traditional shape to make tiaras for the Russian imperial family. These tiaras were actually a clever piece of marketing for a royal family that was, in terms of bloodline, way more German than Russian. These tiaras were actually a clever piece of marketing for a royal family that was, in terms of bloodline, way more German than Russian. By re-using a design from folk tradition, it’s like the Russian royals were saying, “Hey you, peasant—we wear kokoshniks, too. See? This means we all have a shared cultural history. We’re the same person, really. So think about that before you plan another bombing or revolt. You wouldn’t want to hurt you, would you?” GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS Here’s a fabulous kokoshnik tiara on Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna, as part of Russian court dress in about 1890. She’s adapted a fringe tiara to fit around the front of her kokoshnik: IMAGE BY ANIKLOT PAZETTI, P UBLIC DOMAIN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS Of the 14 tiaras in the Russian royal collection, four were kokoshniks (Munn; see all sources listed at end). Soon, other European royals saw their Russian counterparts looking fly in their kokoshniks, and decided they wanted in on that action, too. The trend hit maximum velocity in 1889 when Princess Alexandra of Wales specifically requested a kokoshnik tiara that looked like her sister Minnie’s—and by Minnie, I mean Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. We’ll talk about Alexandra’s tiara more below. Today, you’ll find kokoshnik tiaras in the collections of Great Britain, Sweden, and Luxembourg, among others. But thanks to the ingenuity of designers like Cartier, Bolin, and Schmidt-Staub, the simple kokoshnik can look very different. Without further ado, here are five kokoshnik tiaras and the amazing women who wore them. GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS GRAND DUCHESS HILDA OF BADEN’S TIARA OKAY, SO HERE’S AN EXAMPLE of a kokoshnik tiara with a traditionally shaped frame, flat on the bottom and curved across the top. The space in the middle is empty, and there are stylized decorative motifs connecting the top and bottom of the frame. IMAGE BY GRYFFINDOR, CC BY- SA 4.0 VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. It was created in 1907 or 1908 by the Baden court jeweler Hermann Schmidt-Staub. It belonged to Grand Duchess Hilda, and was probably commissioned when GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS her husband inherited the title of Grand Duke. The base has three rows of diamonds: one with rectangular diamonds, one with diamonds in a laurel wreath motif, and one with diamonds in intricate scrollwork. The arched top frame anchors a series of symmetrically draped garlands with diamond drops hanging between each. It contains 367 diamonds set in platinum and yellow gold (Scarisbrick). A BIT ABOUT ITS OWNERS HILDA Hilda was born a princess of Nassau, but that title only GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS lasted two years, since her dad lost his dukedom in the Austro-Prussian War. Luckily, he was filthy rich before his settlement with the Prussians, so Hilda was still a catch on the marriage market. Luckily, her dad was filthy rich before his settlement with the Prussians, so Hilda was still a catch on the marriage market. In 1885, she married Friedrich, the Hereditary Grand Duke of Baden (heir to the duchy). They had no children, which bothered Hilda and really bothered her mother-in- law. In 1907, her father-in-law died and Friedrich, nicknamed Fritz, became the new grand duke. But their tenure only lasted a little more than a decade. She and Fritz lost their throne in the German revolution of 1918. Hilda kept this tiara and wore it to a bunch of the family events she attended during the long years of exile, including King Gustav of Sweden’s 80th birthday party in 1938. GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS ANTONIA When Hilda died in 1952, she left this tiara to her niece, born Princess Antonia of Luxembourg. Antonia had married Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria in 1921. Although the Bavarian royal family, the Wittelsbachs, also lost their titles in the 1918 revolution, Rupprecht remained a political force thanks to the deep loyalty of the Bavarian army. GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS If there were ever going to be a restoration, some thought Rupprecht would win out over a Hohenzollern, thanks to his experience in the army. But Rupprecht had no intention of declaring himself the new kaiser—he wanted the people to do it for him. Like Cheap Trick, he wanted them to want him. Like Cheap Trick, Rupprecht wanted the people to want him. In the meantime, he and Antonia maintained a royal standard of living that included the Bavarian crown jewels. That is, until the Wittelsbach family sold some of those jewels in 1931, but that’s a story for another post. As Hitler gained more and more power in the 1930s, Rupprecht and Antonia got nervous. They sent their kids to school in England so they wouldn’t have to join the Hitler Youth. Rupprecht and Antonia also refused to fly Nazi flags from their Munich palace, which is awesome because it pissed Hitler off to no end. Here they are in 1935, about the time they realized shit was going to hit the fan: GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS IMAGE BY D. FUCHSBERGER, CC BY- SA 4.0 FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. In 1944, a group of German nobles tried to assassinate Hitler. If you’ve seen the Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie, you know the deal. Hitler’s paranoia kicked into high gear. He thought Rupprecht and Antonia were part of GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS that conspiracy (they weren’t). He put out the order to arrest them in Italy, where they’d fled to avoid a situation exactly like this. Rupprecht evaded Hitler’s goons, but poor Antonia and the kids were rounded up. Rupprecht evaded Hitler’s goons, but poor Antonia and the kids were rounded up. She spent the war on the verge of death in a prison hospital, and the kids were bounced between concentrations camps until they were liberated in 1945. Antonia never returned to Germany and died in Switzerland in 1954. EDITHA Antonia’s daughter, Editha, inherited the kokoshnik tiara. She lived in Italy with her husband, a man she’d met during their quasi-exile in the run-up to World War II. Once liberated from the concentration camp, she went back to Italy to find him and marry him. They had three daughters, one of whom she named Antonia, after her mom. But her life had its share GIRLINTHETIARA.COM | 5 TYPES OF KOKOSHNIK TIARAS of tragedy, too. She and her husband were in a serious car accident in 1954, on the eve of her youngest sister’s wedding. She survived; her husband didn’t. The shock was enough to kill Antonia, who had never really recovered from the Nazi prison hospital. I can’t imagine this tiara was much comfort to Editha, having lost her mother and the man she loved. I can’t imagine this tiara was much comfort, having lost her mother and the man she loved. Editha remarried five years later, to another non-royal. At some point, she put this tiara up for sale.