In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the image of the state coat of arms served as a sort of “seal of quality” on products. Those authorized to affix such a mark proudly called themselves “suppliers to the court of His Imperial Majesty.” Initially, in the Russian Empire, this title was not regulated by any legislation. It was granted to those who directly supplied the sizable imperial family with necessary goods and services.
However, as early as 1856, Alexander II introduced the honorary title of “Supplier to the Imperial Court and the Grand Ducal Courts” and approved the regulations governing the insignia as well as its design. Starting in 1862, manufacturers, artists, and artisans who had supplied items they had produced to the Imperial Court or fulfilled orders for the court for a period of 8–10 years were permitted to use the state coat of arms on their signs and products. As of 1901, this title was conferred by the Chancellery of the Ministry of the Imperial Court upon the suppliers’ requests twice a year, at Easter and Christmas. At that time, a new design for the emblem was also approved.
Beneath the shield was a ribbon indicating the supplier’s status (to the Imperial Court of His Imperial Majesty, Empress Maria Feodorovna, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, or the Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses). The year the title was conferred was also indicated, and a special certificate bearing a color image of the insignia was issued by the chancellery of the Ministry of the Imperial Court.
To be awarded this honorary title and the associated privilege of displaying the national coat of arms, the following conditions had to be met:
1) a request for the highest permission to do so;
2) the provision of supplies or services for the needs of the royal court;
3) the continuity of these supplies or services;
4) a documented duration of at least 8–10 years (i.e., participation in industrial exhibitions);
5) the performance of deliveries or work directly by the person applying for the aforementioned title;
6) the performance of deliveries primarily consisting of items of one’s own production or products from one’s own factories, workshops, and plants;
7) the success of the deliveries or work, that is, the reliable, conscientious fulfillment of orders at comparatively lower prices, as attested by superiors;
8) the absence of complaints (claims) from consumers.
Another important factor was that the title of supplier was granted only for the duration of the work or deliveries to the Imperial Court. In addition, receiving this honorary title guaranteed a steady stream of orders, provided that the quality of the products was good and the price did not exceed the usual rate.
The process of obtaining the title began with the submission of an application to the ministry’s office. In the document, the entrepreneur specified for which services or goods he wished to receive the status of court supplier. Afterward, the ministry’s office sent inquiries to all the institutions listed by the applicant to verify the accuracy of the information. To this end, a set of specific questions was developed for government agencies to answer.
1) What specific work does the company perform, or what items does it supply?
2) When did the deliveries or work begin, and when did they end?
3) Were orders fulfilled, deliveries made, or work performed continuously throughout this entire period?
4) What is the annual value of these transactions?
5) Do the aforementioned deliveries consist of products manufactured by the company itself or by its own factories, workshops, and plants?
6) Are these services or deliveries performed or made reliably, in good faith, and at reasonable prices?
7) Does the petition merit consideration?
Next, all the information received was analyzed, and only then was a decision made.
If there were any doubts about the information provided, the request was denied.
On this topic, in the work “Merchants Seeking the Title of Imperial Court Supplier” by St. Petersburg researcher A. A. Zhuravleva, one can find a very interesting document from Kharkiv, held in the Russian State Historical Archive.
Petition from N. A. Poluektov, a hereditary honorary citizen and a merchant of the First Guild in Kharkiv.
I own a factory in Kharkiv that produces candies, marmalade, fruit pastes, and various types of gingerbread; it employs 350 workers, who produce 100,000 poods of these products annually. At that factory, from 1870 to 1873, I presented various confectionery products to the Imperial Court of the late Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich, for which I was honored to receive, through Your Excellency, three Imperial Letters of Thanks. In 1876, for all the gingerbread and other confectionery products delivered to the heir to the Russian throne, I was also honored to receive a most gracious letter of thanks. From 1877 to 1880, during the Turkish Campaign, I supplied the necessary materials to the headquarters of His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder and His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, for which service he was awarded the title of purveyor to Their Imperial Highnesses and the right to display on his sign the coat of arms of Their Imperial Majesties Princes Nikolai Nikolaevich and Vladimir Alexandrovich.
In 1899, 56 applications were submitted for the title of court supplier. Of these, 31 were rejected and 25 were approved. It should be noted that this status was granted not to the business itself, but to the owner personally; in the event of a change in ownership, the new owner or heir was required to reapply for the title.
If, however, a candidate violated even one of the conditions, the eight-year period would start over for him. For example, the well-known cognac producer Nikolai Shustov spent a full 38 years striving to earn the title of purveyor to the imperial court.
Earning this long-awaited title was highly prized by entrepreneurs. The “Supplier to the Imperial Court” mark appeared on absolutely all product packaging, as well as on advertising signs, company letterhead, and business cards. It goes without saying that products bearing this distinctive “seal of quality” attracted more attention and boosted demand. Foreign firms could also obtain this title.
At various times, the court’s suppliers included companies that are still familiar to us today:
— the Jacob Becker piano factory;
— “Pavel Bure” Department Store (watches);
— “Brokar & K” Perfume Manufacturing Partnership;
— L. S. Golitsyn’s champagne production;
— the vodka distilleries of P. A. Smirnov’s partnership (now Smirnoff);
— C. Fabergé’s jewelry factory;
— the “Shustov and Sons” partnership.
However, the court’s suppliers did not operate solely within the territory of the Russian Empire at that time. For example, the “tea kings”—the company “Perlov & Sons”—
In the late 19th century, they were suppliers to four foreign royal courts, namely:
1) His Majesty the Emperor of Austria.
2) His Majesty the King of Romania.
3) His Highness the Prince of Montenegro.
4) His Highness the Grand Duke of Nassau.
Naturally, the coats of arms of these countries were prominently displayed on all of the company’s packaging. In Kharkiv, the tea company “Perlov & Sons” had two stores:
1) Since 1866—on Torgovaya Square.
2) Since 1876—on Moskovskaya Street.
However, at one of the oldest breweries in the Russian Empire (which had been a supplier to the imperial court since 1896), the Shabolovskaya Brewery “Karneev, Gorshanov & Co.” in Shabolovo, relations with Kharkiv did not work out in the mid-19th century.
In 1879, Moscow merchants opened a warehouse in our beloved city. However, it remained in operation for only a year and was closed due to extremely low sales of beer from the Shabolovka Brewery among the local population.
The State Archives of the Kharkiv Region also contain some extremely interesting documents related to the royal court’s suppliers.
On November 5, 1910, the Chancellery of the Ministry of the Imperial Court sent a request to the governor of Kharkiv “Regarding Persons Holding the Title of Suppliers to the Court of His Imperial Majesty and the Grand Ducal Courts.” The document expressed concern that a number of firms bearing the title of “court supplier” had changed ownership. Consequently, all businesses in Kharkiv authorized to display the small state coat of arms on their signs and packaging were to be inspected.
In the end, there were only 3 such businesses in Kharkiv:
1) the “K. S. Popov Brothers” Tea Trading Partnership;
2) the “Georges Bormann” Partnership’s candy factory;
3) the “Triangle” Joint-Stock Company’s trading house.
The residents of our city know quite a bit about the “Georg Bormann” partnership’s candy factory. However, two other companies are also of considerable interest.
The “K. and S. Popov Brothers” Partnership was one of the largest tea trading companies in the Russian Empire. At the beginning of the 20th century, it consisted of a vast and extensive network of commercial and manufacturing operations and had eight branches. Incidentally, the Kharkiv branch ranked third in terms of profitability and generated 85,794 rubles in revenue in 1914.
The company was owned by two merchant dynasties: the Popovs and the Abrikosovs, who were closely related. The fact is that the company’s owner, Konstantin Abramovich Popov, and Alexei Ivanovich Abrikosov were married to sisters.
And this is where things really get interesting. After all, one of the empire’s finest confectionery firms—the “A. I. Abrikosov and Sons Manufacturing and Trading Partnership”—was the main competitor of Georges Bormann, whom we know so well. He must have had terrible nightmares in Kharkiv, in which the residents of our city washed down his delicious sweets with Popov tea.
The Russian-American Rubber Manufacturing Partnership, operating under the “Triangle” brand, was founded in 1860. The company’s founder was American businessman Ferdinand Krauskopf, who arrived in the Russian Empire in 1859. And as early as 1861, nine months after production began, the “Russian-American Rubber Manufacturing Partnership” received its first award for quality—a silver medal at the Manufacturing Exhibition in St. Petersburg. Over the first 50 years of its existence, the factory produced 282 million pairs of galoshes and became one of the world’s largest rubber manufacturers.
In addition to galoshes, the “Triangle” factory produced toys, products for heavy industry, as well as waterproof clothing, rubber pillows, and mattresses. At the height of World War I, “Trekhugolnik” became the main supplier of rubber for the automotive and aviation industries. In the early 20th century, the company’s Kharkiv branch was located at what is now Poltavskyi Shliakh Street, 35.
There were branches in our city of other large firms that bore the proud title of purveyors to the imperial court, but for some unknown reason, they were not mentioned in the document.
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