CLOUDS HILL MUSEUM

This Tsar Nicholas II Coronation Cup, is an enameled beaker that was made as a souvenir for the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II and Tasarina Alexandra Feodorovna on May 18, 1896 – the last Russian monarchs. 

 

The beaker features the cyphers of Nicholas and Alexandra surrounded by traditional Russian strapwork on one side with the Romanov double-headed eagle on the other.

The cup is referred to as the Khodynka Cup of Sorrows, the Sorrow Cup, or the Blood Cup.  It was distributed along with food presents and commemorative scarves to celebrate the coronation. 

 

On the morning of May 18th, 1896, over 500,000 people gathered on Khodynka Field in Moscow – an unsafe overcrowding, as the area was used for military training and was riddled with trenches and pits.  Word circulated through the crowd that the beakers each held a gold coin, and the resulting stampede ended with over 1000 people dead and between 9,000 and 20,000 injured.  This was considered a bad omen of things to come for the rest of Nicholas’ reign.  The cup became known as the Cup of Sorrow and Nicholas was nicknamed “Bloody Nicholas”. 

 

On July 17, 1918, the family was assassinated and Communism started in Russia.