After more than a century and a half, Sisi and Franz, vulgo Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Emperor Francis Joseph, remain present in popular culture. Films and TV series about the couple continue to crop up in the present day. The sale of Imperial court memorabilia on 14 June 2022 will bring together objects from their personal possessions. The auction will include works of art and precious objects from many important noble houses in Europe.

There will be plenty to choose from, especially among objects from Emperor Francis Joseph’s possessions. The most curious and historically valuable object is probably the Emperor’s personal rosary from his death chamber. It was a gift from the Emperor’s children, the Archduchesses Gisela and Marie Valerie, to the Prince-Primate of Hungary and Archbishop of Esztergom, Cardinal Janos Csernoch. The letter enclosed with the object from Archduchess Elisabeth (“Erzsi”), the granddaughter of the imperial couple and the only daughter of Crown Prince Rudolf, confirms this. In the letter of 1917, written in Hungarian, Franz Joseph’s favourite granddaughter Elisabeth Petznek, who lived as an active social democrat after 1948, writes: “My late grandfather always used this rosary and kept it by his prayer chair. We present this rosary to Your Eminence with the request to cherish it as our late grandfather did. Please include my royal grandfather and myself in your daily prayers” (€ 8,000 – 12,000).

An pair of tortoise-shell spectacles, made by K. und K. Hof-Optiker Simon Waldstein, Vienna Kohlmarkt No. 3 (Emperor Francis Joseph needed three dioptres, as a recent measurement showed), as well as a pair of riding spurs certified with the sealed visiting card of the personal valet Eugen Ketterl 1916, are among the Emperor’s other personal objects offered in the auction (€ 2,500 – 5,000, € 2,000 – 4,000). A five-piece travelling tea service engraved with the initials FJI and the imperial crown will also be up for auction. It is from the Emperor’s possession and has been passed down in succession to Archduchess Marie Valerie and her descendants. The silver cups and jugs, preserved in their original case, bear the master’s mark VMS, Vincenz Mayer's Söhne (€ 20,000 – 30,000).

Sisi's children's dress
Very few pieces of clothing from the early childhood of the later Empress Elisabeth have survived. This makes the undergarment of the approximately 3-year-old Elisabeth, made of the finest silk in excellent quality and condition, all the more valuable. The white monogram “E” with a Bavarian crown is embroidered into the fabric. (€ 5,000 – 10,000).
The collection of Sisi’s possessions includes a special souvenir: the cross pendant in gold was a gift from the then 13-year-old granddaughter, Archduchess Elisabeth Marie ("Erzsi") (1883-1963), to her grandmother Empress Elisabeth. Commemorating a stay at the Hermes Villa near Vienna in June 1896, the engraving on the back reads: “Villa Hermes June 1896 for Grandmama” (€ 3,000 – 5,000).

IMPERIAL COURT MEMORABILIA
Auction date | Tuesday, 14 June 2022, 3pm
Viewing starts | 9 June 2022
Venue | Palais Dorotheum, Dorotheergasse 17, 1010 Vienna
Specialist | Dr. Georg Ludwigstorff, tel. +43-1-515 60-363, georg.ludwigstorff@dorotheum.at