Emperor’s throne

About a month after the beginning of the Finnish War in February 1808, the Russian Emperor Alexander I declared that he would keep the areas conquered from Sweden as part of Russia. At the turn of the year 1808–1809, “Grand Duke of Finland” was added to the Emperor’s titles, as Russian emperors assumed the highest title used in the territory annexed to the empire. It was also normal practice to enter into a status agreement with the occupied territory, under which subjects were required to swear allegiance to their new ruler. The ruler, on the other hand, retained the religion, laws and privileges of the subjects. The Emperor also convened the Diet of Porvoo.

The Estates met in Porvoo in March 1809 in accordance with the Swedish Parliament Act. Alexander I arrived in the town on 27 March, and the next day saw the inaugural ceremonies of the Diet, a church service in the Cathedral and a ball. The Estates swore an oath of allegiance to the Emperor at a ceremony held in the Cathedral on 29 March, after which the Emperor gave his oath as a ruler.

The Imperial throne was brought from Russia for the celebrations in Porvoo. Nicholas Clausen, a Dutch-born silversmith based in London, had made a silver throne for Empress Anna Ivanovna in 1731, of which Emperor Paul I commissioned six copies in the 1790s. These gilded wooden thrones were to be placed throughout the empire as symbols of the Emperor’s power and presence. The throne brought to Porvoo is one of these. Two of the thrones are in the Kremlin in Moscow, one in the Hermitage in St Petersburg.

After the Diet, the throne was left in Porvoo Cathedral, but it was soon moved to the premises of the new administrative body of the Grand Duchy of Finland, the Administrative Council in Turku, and later to the session hall of the Imperial Finnish Senate in Helsinki. The throne symbolised the Emperor’s presence and, for the opening of the Diet in 1863, it was moved to the State Hall of the Imperial Palace. In front of the throne, the Governor-General read out the Emperor’s speech written for the occasion, the so-called throne speech.

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Made by Christian Meyer in St Petersburg in 1797–1799, the throne is made of gilded wood (linden) and upholstered with red velvet, lined with silver cording on the back and the seat. The throne includes a stool, which had been placed in front of it in Porvoo. The throne was on a five-step platform covered with green cloth. The baldachin of the throne – the canopy and its backcloth – was also made in Russia. The coat of arms of Russia is embroidered on the backcloth with silver thread, with a shield depicting the Great Martyr Saint George. The tassels hanging at the edge of the canopy are also silver thread.

The throne was needed in Porvoo in two places where the Emperor appeared: in the Cathedral and in the hall of the Chapter House, which served as the Knights’ Hall for the duration of the Diet. For the events in the Chapter House, the throne was transported from the Cathedral to the Chapter House, which had another purple backcloth brought from Russia and a smaller canopy made of gilded wood. The canopy had a purple velvet trim attached to the edge, and the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Finland framed by a wreath was embroidered with silver thread in the backcloth.