Attributed to W.A. Bolin, a princely smoky quartz desk seal

Attributed to W.A. Bolin, a princely smoky quartz desk seal, circa 1870s, of baluster form carved from smoky quartz, the base with an elaborate Russian coat of arms for Prince Barclay de Tolly-Weymarn, height 8.3cm, fitted case stamped W.A. Bolin

The coat of arms on this imposing desk seal are those of the Princes of Barclay de Tolly-Weymarn. The princely title of Barclay de Tolly was bestowed upon a branch of the Scottish Barclay clan who had fled their home after the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688, to settle in Swedish Livonia (covering parts of modern day Estonia and Latvia). The family distinguished themselves through military service, and were accepted into Russian nobility, rising to the rank of Prince in 1815. Upon the death of the last Prince of Barclay de Tolly, the princedom was permitted to pass through the female line to the prince's grand nephew, Alexander von Weymarn (1824-1905), himself a distinguished military commander, and the family title became Prince Barclay de Tolly von Weymarn in 1872. The coat of arms on the present seal is that of the Princes Barclay de Tolly-Weymarn, and may have been commissioned from the prominent jeweller Bolin (a close rival of Fabergé) around the time of this bestowal of princely rank in the early 1870s.