Lot 26•
RUSSIA - WHITE ARMY IN EXILE An Ottoman Turkish register of assets, embellished with Russian army cartoons on the blank versos, [c.1920, the register c.1900]
26 June 2019, 13:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £2,295 inc. premium
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RUSSIA - WHITE ARMY IN EXILE
An Ottoman Turkish register of assets, embellished with Russian army cartoons on the blank versos, the register printed in Ottoman Turkish (with sections completed in manuscript), approximately 54 CARTOONS IN WATERCOLOUR AND PENCIL captioned in Russian, the first 2 leaves strengthened at fore-edge, contemporary half roan, defective, tall 12mo, [c.1920, the register c.1900]
Footnotes
An intriguing juxtaposition of Ottoman bureaucracy and Russian army humour. The cartoons appear to focus on the exploits of the defeated anti-Bolshevik White Army, which had taken refuge in Gallipoli in 1920.
Images include: a bedraggled soldier, with inset scene of a date in a fine restaurant ("Who you were; who you are now; what you have" [a pile of canteens]); a woman attracting attention in camp ("The power of a woman"); soldier huddled around a fire ("Listening out for wolves"); "Community service in front of the Authorities"; hungry soldier eyeing up a menu of rations held by a skeleton ("Grateful ally"); "The Gallipolis welcoming men of the Artillery Division bringing food"); the "Ruski Pasha" addressing soldiers, and the Russian flag flying at Gallipoli; sneaking up on a field of vegetables ("Attack on Turkish peas"). The sequence ends with soldiers making their way to Varna, Bulgaria.