A porcelain Easter Egg, Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, circa 1890

after a design by Osip Chirikov, the central reserve with a finely painted figure of St. Boris depicted wearing pink and green robes holding a cross and a spear within an oval blue frame decorated with crosses and stars, the reverse decorated with the Greek cross with Christ Pantocrator in the centre painted on pink ground and encircled by a pattern of stars, rosettes and garlands of stylised leaves

There is wear to the gilding and the glaze consistent with age. The bottom has very few minor chips, but overall in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, a revival of interest in ancient Russian art forms including icons swept the Russian upper classes. In the field of iconography, probably no other icon workshop was as highly sought out as was that of Osip Semeonovich Chirikov (?-1903).  A peasant by birth, an icon painter from Mstera and a collector and restorer of icons with his own icons painting workshop in Moscow. Chirikov's icons are noted for their exceptional attention to detail and their likeness to various styles of ancient Russian painting. Chirikov's workshop undertook several commissions for the Royal court, and his icons were often purchased as gifts for the Royal family, and other persons of high social standing.

 In 1887-1889 he was commissioned by the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory to create a series of sketches that would serve as prototypes for painted porcelain eggs. The compositions consisted of a large-scale monument figure of the saint is depicted against a broad expanse of sky and a low horizon with churches and monastery towers. The details of the costumes and the landscape are executed in great detail in the style of nineteenth-century Mstera icon painting. Throughout the 1890s Chirikov's drawings were reproduced on porcelain Easter eggs after they had first been submitted to Alexander III for his approval. The artist also devised ornaments for the reverse side of the eggs, but in the end it was the designs created for the factory in 1890 by Architect Alexander Kaminsky that were used.

For other examples of Easter eggs painted after designs by Osip Chirikov and Alexander Kaminsky, see Tamara Kudriavtseva and Harold A. Whitbeck Russian Imperial Easter Eggs, Merrell London, 2001, pp.192- 220