Badge of the Order of St. Stanislaus of the 3rd art. for civil merit on the neck ribbon

56 gold, guilloche, enamel. The original order is in excellent collector's condition. On the ear is the stamp of the St. Petersburg district assay office with a metal breakdown and the initials of the assay district manager A.V. Romanov in an oval shield (56, female head in a cocoanut, left, AR). On the upper beam is the brand of the manufacturer – the well—known company "EDUARD", on the lower - the personal brand of the master "IL". The original neck band is included. Guarantee of authenticity.

The art workshop of diamond, gold and silver products "Eduard" (Nevsky Prospekt, 10), founded by Eduard Ferdinandovich Ditvald (1868-1910), then his wife Vera Petrovna and son Vladimir Ditvald continued the business. The nameplate "IA" belonged to goldsmith Johann Gustavovich Ainstead. The firm "Eduard" has been a supplier of the Chapter of Orders since January 1906. V. Ya. Dinakov, a St. Petersburg silversmith shop foreman with the personal stamp "VD", also collaborated with the company "Eduard".

Historical background: The Imperial and Royal Order of St. Stanislaus was an order of the Russian Empire from 1831 to 1917. The youngest in the hierarchy of orders of the Russian Empire, mainly for the distinction of officials. It was established on May 7, 1765 by the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Stanislaw August Poniatowski. He was an award of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Duchy of Warsaw, the Kingdom of Poland. See the history of the Order in the Polish period in the article The Order of St. Stanislaus (Poland).

In 1831, after the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1830-1831, along with the Polish Order of the White Eagle, he was ranked among the orders of the Russian Empire. The management of the order and the issues of awarding were transferred from Warsaw to St. Petersburg. In 1832, the image of St. Nicholas was removed from it. Stanislaus, replacing it with the monograms SS, and the single-headed Polish eagles on the Order's cross were replaced by the double-headed eagles of the Russian Empire. In 1839, Nicholas I issued a new Statute of the order, according to which it was now divided into three degrees, and "any subject of the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Poland" could be awarded both for military and civil distinctions, and for private merits, for example charity. The badge of the Order of the second degree was divided into two types: a cross decorated with an imperial crown, and a cross without a crown (the division was abolished in 1874).

Since 1844, on the badges of the order, complained to persons of non-Christian faith, the image of the monogram name of St. Stanislav began to be replaced by the black imperial Russian eagle.

The Order of St. Stanislav of the 3rd degree became the youngest in the order of seniority of Russian orders and was awarded more often than others. It was received by many military and civil servants who served the established terms and had ranks not lower than the 12th class. At the establishment of the order of any degree granted the rights of hereditary nobility, but among the nobility there was discontent from too many new nobles from among merchants and small employees. In 1845, the awarding of the 2nd and 3rd degrees was suspended by the supreme command. Awards were resumed only from June 28, 1855, but from that time only the 1st degree of the Order of St. Stanislaus granted the right of hereditary nobility. Since 1855, two crossed swords have been attached to the badges of the Order for Military distinctions. In the case of awarding the same order of a higher degree for non-military merit, swords were placed at the top of the cross and star. Since 1874, the decoration of the badge of the order with the imperial crown has been canceled, but those who received such orders previously retained the right to wear them with a crown.

After the February Revolution, the order was not abolished. The Provisional government of Russia retained the Order of St. Stanislaus, changing its appearance: the imperial eagles were replaced by republican ones. Since 1917, the awarding of this order in Soviet Russia has been discontinued. At the same time, the heads of the Russian Imperial House in exile continued to award the Imperial and Royal Order of St. Stanislav. About the awards of the Imperial and Royal Order of St. Stanislav after 1917, see the article Conferring titles and Orders of the Russian Empire after 1917. The visible difference between the Order of the Russian Imperial House as a dynastic property and an award from the so-called "international public awards" with a similar name is the prefix "Imperial and Royal", which follows before the term "Order of St. Stanislav".

Degrees of the order and rules of wearing:

• I degree — a silver star and a large gold cross on a ribbon at the left hip.

• II degree — a smaller gold cross on a neck band.

• III degree — a small gold cross on the chest, in the buttonhole.

• IV degree (before 1839).