An icon of Saint Nicholas, Novgorod or Vologda, 16th century, renewed in the 19th century

Andrei Mikhailovich Postnikov (1835-1900) was an entrepreneur and collector. Born into a merchant family in Moscow, in 1868 he established a hugely successful silver, gold and bronze manufactory. Hs manufactory was especially known for silver tableware, household ornaments and ecclesiastical accoutrements, and within a few years received the honoured title of supplier to the Imperial Court as well as to the British Royal Household. His older brother, Nikolai Mikhailovich (1827-1897) was a passionate collector of antique icons, of which he had three thousand two hundred and forty-five, at the time the largest and most significant icon collection in the whole of Russia. The collection was published in a luxurious catalogue in 1888, but was dispersed after his death and is now scattered amongst many Russian museums, including the Historical Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery.

The offered panel is a delightful witness to the pioneering days of icon collecting, the period when icons began to be cleaned and admired as paintings for the first time. As all the major private collections were confiscated and nationalised after the revolution, such things are extremely rare in private hands, particularly outside Russia.