CATHERINE II, Empress of Russia (1762-96). Gramota [Grant of Land] in favour of Stepan Baranovskii of the Kiev Regiment, signed 'Ekaterina' in Russian, St. Petersburg, 30 January 1774.

CATHERINE II, Empress of Russia (1762-96). Gramota [Grant of Land] in favour of Stepan Baranovskii of the Kiev Regiment, signed \'Ekaterina\' in Russian, St. Petersburg, 30 January 1774.



Illuminated manuscript on vellum, 2½ pages, square 2° (380 x 303mm), the first leaf with illuminated headpiece in gold and colours incorporating the Imperial arms and text in gold, second and third leaf with text in black and gold within a border with shell decoration at intervals, counter-signed by Vice Chancellor Prince Aleksandr Golitsyn, noted in the Ministry of the Interior on 31 July 1774, and in the Senate by Secretary Vasilii Khlebnikov. Original green velvet, with gold and green brocade cord suspending a wax seal in a parcel-gilt circular box, the detachable cover repoussé, chased and engraved with the Imperial arms (spine and extremities worn), in green cloth box. Provenance: Christie\'s King Street, 29 November 2007, lot 6.



A GRANT OF LAND SIGNED BY CATHERINE, confirming an earlier grant of 22 August 1768 in recognition of Baranovskii\'s services in the free armies in Ukraine, giving 40 homesteads in the village of Nechatovka and 34 in the village of Omelianovka (Rovno district), with their inhabitants, houses, lands etc.