Original Item: One of a Kind. Of supreme quality and of diminutive size, measuring just 8" tall and 2 ½” wide at its broadest, these were carried by Czar Peter the Great’s Personal Guards on a long slim haft, probably used essentially for crowd control. It was most likely used to escort the Czar on his European tours of 1697-1698 and 1716-1717. Taking the form of a Partizan head of iron heavily carved and inlaid with silver florets and studs and still showing portions of the fire gilt decoration which probably originally completely covered the entire head. The central oval silver plaque clearly bears the personal Cypher of CZAR PETER THE GREAT who, born in 1672 became Czar in 1682 with his Mother as Guardian.

He fully took control in the 1690's and founded St. Petersburg on the NEVA River in 1703 making it the Capital of the Russian Empire. He later died in 1725 at the age of 53 years. The Cypher in the central panel is of intertwined "P's" under a Russian Orthodox Crown, which appears on both sides of the head.

Beautifully made and an irreplaceable part of early Imperial Russian History which most likely accompanied CZAR PETER THE GREAT to Western Europe in the early 1700's. An amazing item to find from over 300 years ago, Ideal for further research!

Peter I (Russian: Пётр I Алексеевич, romanized: Pyotr I Alekseyevich, 9 June [O.S. 30 May] 1672 – 8 February [O.S. 28 January] 1725), commonly known as Peter the Great, was Tsar of all Russia from 1682, and the first Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V until 1696. From this year, Peter was an absolute monarch who remained the ultimate authority. His methods were often harsh and autocratic.

Most of Peter's reign was consumed by long wars against the Ottoman and Swedish Empires. Despite initial difficulties, the wars were ultimately successful and led to expansion to the Sea of Azov and the Baltic Sea, thus laying the groundwork for the Imperial Russian Navy. His victory in the Great Northern War ended Sweden's era as a great power and its domination of the Baltic region while elevating Russia's standing to the extent it came to be acknowledged as an empire. Peter led a cultural revolution that replaced some of the traditionalist and medieval social and political systems with ones that were modern, scientific, Westernized, and based on radical Enlightenment.

In 1700, he introduced the Gregorian calendar but the Russian Orthodox Church was particularly resistant to this change; they wanted to maintain its distinct identity and avoid appearing influenced by Catholic practices. In 1703, he introduced the first Russian newspaper, Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti, ordered the civil script, a reform of Russian orthography largely designed by himself. He founded the city of Saint Petersburg on the shore of the Neva as a "window to the West" in May 1703. In 1712 Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, where it remained – with only a brief interruption – until 1918. He promoted higher education and industrialization in the Russian Empire.

Peter had a great interest in plants, animals and minerals, in malformed creatures or exceptions to the law of nature for his cabinet of curiosities. He encouraged research of deformities, all along trying to debunk the superstitious fear of monsters. The Russian Academy of Sciences and the Saint Petersburg State University were founded in 1724, a year before his death.

Peter is primarily credited with the modernization of the country, transforming it into a major European power. His administrative reforms, creating a Governing Senate in 1711, the Collegium in 1717 and the Table of Ranks in 1722 had a lasting impact on Russia, and many institutions of the Russian government trace their origins to his reign.