Lot number 1471 - Auction 161
GESCHENK VON NIKOLAUS II. AN DAS 160. ABCHASISCHE INFANTERIE-REGIMENT: KLEINE IKONE MIT DEM MANDYLION

A GIFT FROM NICHOLAS II TO THE 160TH ABKHAZIAN INFANTRY REGIMENT: A SMALL ICON SHOWING THE MANDYLION Russian, 1904 Tempera on wood panel, the reverse covered with velvet. Incised with the number 'N6' lower right. The reverse applied with a plaque bearing the Cyrillic dedicatory inscription: 'A blessing from Their Majesties for the campaign of 1904 to the 160th Abkhazian Infantry Regiment'. Minor areas of retouching. 13.1 x 10.9 cm. The 160th Abkhazian Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Russian Army was formed in the Caucasus in 1863 and belonged to the 40th Infantry Division. From the 1890s, the regiment was stationed in Gomel in the Mogilev Governorate. Its regimental church, dedicated to Saint George the Victorious, was also located there and, in 1903, was transferred from the cemetery church, which had become too small, to the barracks in the centre of Gomel. The years 1903-1905 were of particular significance for the regiment. Following the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, it initially detached one company to reinforce the 4th East Siberian Rifle Regiment. At Easter 1904, the regiment was still stationed at its garrison in Gomel. In December 1904, Emperor Nicholas II personally inspected the 159th Gurian and 160th Abkhazian Infantry Regiments near Bobruisk. At the beginning of 1905, the entire Abkhazian Regiment was finally deployed to the Far Eastern theatre of war. There it was employed primarily in the construction and reinforcement of the Gunzhulin position, building extensive trenches and fortifications over several kilometres; reconnaissance and security detachments of the regiment repeatedly engaged Japanese units.