February 14, 2008 in the Armorial Hall the Ceremonial Delivery of the “Alps”

Riton as a Gift to the Hermitage Took Place.

The introduction of new acquisitions.

The Exhibition of Hermitage gifts was held on December 7, 2007 on St. Catherine's Day in the Armorial Hall.

One of the main gifts of the year 2007 for Hermitage became objects bequeathed to the museum by the late Prince Nikolai Vladimirovich Orlov (1893-1961), the great-great-grandson of the grandee of Catherine reign Fedor Grigorievich Orlov (1741-1796). After the October Revolution, Prince N. Orlov, emigrated to France and lived in Paris until 1940, and in 1940 he moved to the USA and settled in New York. It is from there that the bequeathed to the Hermitage Orlovs’ family heirlooms - two charters, and two porcelain vases, were delivered.

The charter, given to Ivan Grigoryevich (1738-1791), the oldest of the Orlovs’ brothers, testified his being promoted to the earldom; with the second charter to the Prince Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov (1737-1808), dated back to December 11, 1775, Empress Catherine the Great confirmed his having obtained 4 000 vassals as a reward for his victory over the Turkish fleet, which was held in the famous battle at Cesme June 26, 1770. Both charters are signed by Catherine II's own hand; they are distinguished for their great decoration and are equipped with drooping wax seals, enclosed in silver Custody reliquaries with embossed emblems of the Russian Empire on the lids. One of these charters is decorated with beautifully watercolor executed portrait of Catherine II and the image of the I. Orlov’s Count's coat of arms.

The vases from the legacy of Prince N Orlov take the form of monumental craters of 32 inches high and are definitely among the best works of the Imperial Porcelain Factory during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I. Both are decorated with polychrome painting, executed by the artist of the Imperial Porcelain Factory N. Kornilov based on the patterns by A. Sauerweid; the first one depicts the  standard row of Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, the second one depicts the ranks of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. The Brand of the factory is preserved on the vases, one of the vases is dated back to 1831, the second preserved only the first three letters: "183 <...>".

The posthumous gifts of Prince Nikolai Vladimirovich Orlov - two charters, and two vases on display in the Armorial Hall will supplement the collection of the Russian Culture Department of the State Hermitage Museum.

The Acinaces sword is also given to Hermitage as a present (author - Asya Eutykh, 2003, gold damask, the length of a sheath - 30 inches, weight - 2 kg) from the President of the Federation Council of Russian Federal Assembly S. Mironov. The exhibition "In the mirror of traditions. The creations of Asya Eutykh (Republic Adygea) from public and private collections”, included to the program of celebrating 450 years of voluntary affiliation of Adygea and Kabardino-Balkaria in Russia, was quite a success in the Hermitage in autumn 2007.

Asya Eutykh – is a master of artistic metalwork, the goldsmith, the armourer. A member of Artists Union of Russia and National Artist of Adygea Republic. In her work she uses a variety of techniques for processing precious metals and finishing blades. Having studied the archaeological sources of the North-West Caucasus, Asya Eutykh restored the ancient recipe of bronze and reestablished the bronze casting technology. She doesn’t adhere only the contemporary style, but the great part in the master’s creativity is taken by the decorative elements and ornamental motifs which are the characteristic of ancient and medieval cultures of the Caucasus and Southwest Asia and, above all, of Circassian arts and crafts.

During the official visit of the President of Russian Federation to the Kingdom of Morocco the treaty on the establishment of Russian-Moroccan Business Council for CCI of Russian Federation was signed. The leaders of the CCI and Russian-Arab Business Council, the leading representatives of Russian and Moroccan business communities – the members of the Russian - Moroccan business council were present at the meeting.

Jewellers  Company "A. Eutykh" was incorporated into the Russian-Moroccan Business Council. The President of the company Victoria Kozlovskaja took part in the activity and the  meeting of the Council.