The self-described "Anglo-Russian adventurer" has travelled by horse and camel (yes, you read that right) for nine months on the Silk Road across central Asia to China, hosted a BBC TV . So we went to Chanel and bought a dress. Royal Geographical Society in London that first got me into leading tours. Countess Alexandra Tolstoy is selling furniture, rugs and personal treasures that decorated the 12million London home she once shared with her Russian billionaire ex. Her 1999 trek along the Silk Road by horse and camel is perhaps the most documented. Within months, Tolstoy and was pregnant with Sergei's child. She organises adventurous horse riding holidays in Kyrgyzstan, and runs The Tolstoy Edit, a curated shop of her favourite interiors discoveries. The broadcaster, author and businesswoman Alexandra Tolstoy has beautiful taste in interiors - here at House & Garden we've featured her fairytale cottage in Oxfordshire as well as her Chelsea house.This week, the contents of the latter are on sale at Christie's as she moves out into a new home (the progress of which we've been avidly following on Instagram). Everything weve got I feel is in its own right very unusual and special.. The Russian authorities froze his assets, put him on Interpol's wanted list and obtained a court order in Britain forcing him to hand over his passports. Its complete freedom. ", "The long Italian table - elegant and non-obtrusive, it was a fantastic background for photographs and pieces of Russian enamel that I had collected. Now I embrace embroidery, vintage Fair Isle knitwear from eBay and clothes by the Russian designer Russmotive, which reprints old fabric designs. I think its difficult for anybody in those circumstances to be creative; how can you be original? Together, in 1939 they founded the Tolstoy Foundation.[4]. [1][2][3], The youngest daughter of Leo Tolstoy (18281910) and of his wife Sophia (18441919), Alexandra was close to her father. They were symbols of a bad time so it doesnt matter.. In 1934, she authored a book about her life entitled "I Worked for the Soviet" and it was published by Yale University Press. I just had to pack my suitcase and I could go.'. Estimate: 2,000-3,000. She pairs this with other traditional Russian symbols such as matryoshkas, or Russian dolls, which represent motherhood and. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many users needs. Now free to raise them in a lifestyle similar to that of her own childhood, they wont be familiar with the world of Russian high-society which had caused such anguish for their mother: though it remains that their father, who they havent seen in four years since his escape to France, remains in the top three of the Kremlin hit list. Offered in Alexandra Tolstoy: An Interior by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, 4-25 November, Online, If you have that rapport and that friendship, you can understand the living space, says Slowik. I think that probably this business partner had been the brains, and Sergei had been the power broker, Despite the tumult of threats, financial loss, and romantic decline, complicated with the duty of raising small children, Alexandra seems at harmony with her present situation, and this is thanks to her newly unostentatious lifestyle that of the billionaires wife just didnt suit her: My whole confidence got so smashed when I was with him; he was so very manipulative, very denigrating about my riding, my exhibitions, my travel and so, I began to focus on all these things which a normal kind of oligarchs girlfriend would focus on. At the time of writing, there are dresses and jewellery by Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci shoes, Saint Laurent trainers, Hermes scarves and Valentino jackets available to buy. We have noticed that there is an issue with your subscription billing details. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. The industry is completely different now. In the chaos, she even lost jewellery shed been planning to sell. Alexandra Tolstoy and "Lucky Diamond" arrives at the fourth annual Paws for Style fundraiser hosted by Animal Fair Magazine May 1, 2003 in New York. It was the love story of my life, and it did feel dangerous he was this very powerful person, and he did turn on me sometimes in the early days, but there was this drama of winning him back round; I didnt realise that this was all very dangerous abusive pattern., Alexandra believes Sergei spun a false narrative to malign her and distract from his own culpability for the disastrous failure of his business interests; particularly, Sergei blames his downfall on the fact that Putin supposedly disliked his marriage to a foreigner, which she frustratedly contests: Its a very narcissistic thing to do; he made up this whole narrative [in the documentary] which suited its all about belittling me, and by saying that particularly to his close family it gave them a narrative that it was my fault that everything had gone wrong for him; he blamed it on me, saying that Putin didnt like me. I think those prepared me more than anything, really., But, when Alexandra had first met Sergei, shed recently ended an unhappy marriage and fell very much in love with the oligarch, despite the potential risk involved with someone so closely linked to the elite levels of Communist politics: I was obviously a thrill-seeker; I loved an adventure and I loved the feeling of adrenaline and excitement. Image courtesy of Christies, Tolstoys happy working relationship with Slowik dates back more than a decade. [4] Her father having been excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox Church for his teachings, she commented: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, I don't believe in everything the Orthodox Church says, I don't believe in miracles, but want the people to go to church. But I will never go to France. Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. I wanted it to be really comfortable not to be stilted and too formal. During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages. We camp and sometimes people have reservations about that. It completely goes when you can buy it all and who doesnt love a bargain? Earlier that day, she proudly tells me, shed found wonderful vintage Hungarian fabrics and embroidery to re-use for the childrens little wooden caravan, making curtains: thats just so rewarding. I obviously didnt have a very big budget, but when I lived in Russia, there was this amazing flea market on the outskirts of Moscow and I used to go at the weekend and hunt for antiques. [9][10], In 1974, at the age of ninety, Tolstaya received birthday greetings from President of the United States Richard Nixon, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and others, and was interviewed by The New York Times. Last year I had a big sale at home of my own stuff from my oligarch years. Riding the length of the Silk Road in 1999, from the . | Our privacy policy, Website design and operation by Nelson Fernandes Serrao. Offered in Alexandra Tolstoy: An Interior by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, 4-25 November, Online. It has since been pursuing Sergei Pugachev through the High Court claiming he illegally siphoned hundreds of millions of pounds from the government bailout of the Mezhprombank. However, after allowing White Russians to meet in her Moscow home, she was arrested five times by the Bolsheviks and in 1920 was sent to prison for a year. Three North European decorated and painted lidded jars, mid-19th century. Shes a pin-up for authentic prairie chic. Shortly afterwards I introduced her to Emma for decoration help with other projects globally and the relationship grew and grew. I thought I had to be someone else, I thought I had to be like those girls. Alexandra's Russian heritage was also crucial for determining the schemes, and drove much of the eclectic, pattern-filled decoration. Alexandra Tolstoy, Sigrid Kirk and Isabella Macpherson attend the Molly Goddard presentation during London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2016 at the BFC. On the order of the High Court, the family home was put on the market and Alexandra made a deal with the Russian government to drop her claim to his fortune. analyse how our Sites are used. Check out our alexandra tolstoy selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. Later, while living and working in Moscow, she met Sergei Pugachev, with whom she would have three children. Id only been to France on holiday, I didnt speak Russian and all my friends were on gap years in Thailand and India. Selling her designer clothes and handbags allowed her to start again, and to be herself. I started the Preloved business originally with the idea of cleansing my own wardrobe, she explains. Amid it all she has continued to build her collection of vintage pieces from all corners of the globe. Offered in Alexandra Tolstoy: An Interior by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, 4-25 November, Online, Their bedroom was like a little world of its own, full of imagination and toys and pictures and books, she says. In her judgment jailing him, Mrs Justice Rose noted he does have a genuine fear that his life is in danger from agents of the Russian state. Biographies of Teymuraz K. Bagration :::: Tatiana Schaufuss. As well as her own pre-loved pieces, there are also bargains from some of her fashionable friends, including Cond Nast Traveller's fashion director Martha Ward and chic interiors store owner Alex Eagle. Pugachev once owned two major shipyards, the world's biggest mine and large chunks of real estate in Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as the Mezhprombank, which he co-founded in the 1990s. Their gilded life of globe trotting with a small army of staff evaporates as Pugachev falls out of favour with Putin, eventually holing up at his chateau in the South of France with Tolstoy and their three children, Aliosha, Ivan, and Maria, left to fend for themselves. When I was with Sergei, I stopped reading so much of that 19th-century literature which Im so passionate about With the life I live now, emotionally and mentally I can romantically dream and escape whereas then, it was so stultifying., I wonder if, like her fashion sense, her interior design interests were affected during her time with Sergei, as one might imagine they would be, but she says that they werent: Weirdly, the interior decorating never changed I could afford more things, but [Sergei] didnt really give me the opportunity to do very much the taste never changed there at all. Some people dont care about aesthetics, but for me, to be creative is really part of my DNA. Alexandra tells me how her appreciation for books and visual arts were completely crushed: I couldnt do anything; the luxury afforded to her nevertheless impeded her fundamental desire to be productive and freedom to explore creatively. In Nice, he was visited by the DIA who demanded repayment of the billion dollar loan and threatened his family, saying they could 'cut off his son's finger and send it back to him.'. I thought Id just sell a few things but it went quite viral. Its the colours, the texture, the natural ageing of it, she enthuses. It was shocking how he had absolutely no clue about finances, about running a company; it was shocking basic accounting, he didnt even understand. Alexandra is passionate about Russia; her lifestyle, home and wardrobe reflect as such. I never failed to fill one. A total of 130 items once displayed in the home, including a Scottish Regency bookcase, carved alabaster models and mid-20th century artwork will be auctioned at Christie's. [5] Originally given permission to stay for six months to study schools,[6] she ultimately stayed in the country for 18 months. "Decorative, colourful, comfortable, quirky, full of pattern and informal," is how Daniel describes the aesthetic. The author and broadcaster invites us on a brief tour of the London home she created with interior design firm Colefax & Fowler, introducing some of the beautiful and eclectic items now being offered in a special online sale. and other data for a number of reasons, such as keeping FT Sites reliable and secure, 1,514 posts. When he fled to France in 2015, I ultimately felt such relief. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. It was a real adventure. organisation 894646. Countess Alexandra Tolstoy whose oligarch ex was known as 'Putin's banker' auctions off 250,000 of antiques that decorated her 12million London home before she was evicted after he fell foul. Alexandra is cheerfully conversational, and I congratulate her on the release of the recent BBC documentary about her and her husbands complex relationship (The Countess and the Russian Billionaire); its hard not to be compelled by the remarkable situation of her marriage to one of the worlds richest men, and we soon discuss the astonishing details: While living in London with Sergei, the couple became aware of surveillance placed upon them by the Russian state; Sergeis security company found GPS trackers planted under their cars (which were initially suspected to be explosive devices), including the car used exclusively by Alexandra and the children. She was born in Poole, Dorset. The book details the difficulties she faced living in Russia during and after the revolution. She had - still has - the English Rose looks to match; subtly tanned from hours of outdoor pursuits, rosy cheeks and often wearing her blonde hair in Heidi plaits or tied up with a scarf. 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