In 1900, it is estimated that there were 250 million icons in imperial Russia.
“And that is a conservative figure,” says James L. Jackson, president and C.E.O. of Cedar Falls, Iowa-based Jackson’s International Auctioneers & Appraisers of Antiques & Fine Art, who is also the founder and president of the Sacred Art Gallery, a by-appointment-only private gallery that deals in Christian ecclesiastical art from the 15th through the 19th century. “Icons were an integral part of Russian Orthodox life … they were used at weddings and funerals and were seen in schoolrooms, factories, stores, hospitals and prisons.
“Every home had a collection of icons and even a peasant household could own as many as 10. While Americans may think that icons are rare, they weren’t and they are not now. If anything, they’re as common as Tupperware.”