Icon: The appearance of the Blessed Virgin To Saint Sergei of Radonezh

This icon and other objects was presented to General Piet Cronjé and his Boers as commemorative gifts symbolizing Russian's sympathy, towards the ZAR during the South African.

[Anglo-Boer War] (1899-1902).

The icon was originally exhibited at the “International Exhibition      in Paris” in 1900. Thereafter it was displayed at the “Zuid-Afrikaansche Museum in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, along with similar gifts. Some of the contents of the Dordrecht Museum arrived in South Africa in 1920, and since      (including the Russian items) then they were part of the collection of the then Transvaal Museum. They are currently part of the DITSONG: National Museum of Cultural History's collection.

Slavonic Gospel and Letter

The Bible was presented to General Piet  Cronjé and the Boer people symbolizing  Russia's  sympathy  the towards  ZAR during the South African War (1899-1900).

It is bound in blue velvet with a silver (gilded) plaque with the picture of Jesus Christ in the centre in the form of a medallion. In each corner there is another medallion with the engraved picture of the four Evangelists. Inside the cover is a letter in French in which General Cronjé is asked to accept this Holy Gospel.

Some of the contents  of the Dordrecht Museum arrived  in  South Africa in 1920 and since then they were part of the collection of the  Transvaal Museum. They are now part of the DITSONG: National Museum of Cultural History's collection.

Book of Russian Tokens of Honour

This album bound in olive green velvet with a silver plaque on the front with the engraving of the Moscow Kremlin and a bas relief of a flag and a sword of honour contains 20 photographs of buildings in Moscow. Engraved on it is to “Piet Cronjé the valiant hero”.

It was also displayed at the Zuid-Afrikaansche Museum" in Dordrecht, the  Netherlands, along with similar gifts. Some of the contents of the Dordrecht Museum arrived in South Africa in 1920 and since then they have been part of  the collection of the then Transvaal Museum.

They are now part of the DITSONG: National Museum of Cultural History’s collection.

Framed icon of the Russian patriarch, St. Metrophane

This icon of St. Metrophane has a gilded silver exterior façade, embellished with semi-precious and artificial stones. The façade is called a riza, a metal cover protecting the icon. It is designed specifically for the icon it is to cover. It leaves open spaces where the face and hands of the icon’s subjects can be seen.

Only the areas not covered by the riza, in this case, the face and hands were painted