A Russian Porcelain Plate, Yusupov Manufactory, Archangel'skoe, 1827

the cavetto with a large pink rose blossom with yellow center on a leafy branch after a design by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, the border with a continuous stylized foliate wreath.

Christie's London, October 22, 1987, lot 265, illustrated

with some scratches and wear to gilding
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

When Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov commissioned the series of Rose Plates from the Porcelain Atelier at Arkhangelskoe, his grand estate outside Moscow, he could hardly have imagined the fame the delicately painted porcelains would achieve in the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. The Yusupov porcelains were intended for the Prince's own collections or as gifts to a select few. Ironically, the porcelains remained a great rarity until the Bolshevik Revolution. Archival records indicate that a great deal of the service was transferred from Arkhangelskoe to the Yusupov Palace on St. Petersburg's Moika Canal in the mid-19th century. In his memoir, Prince Felix Yusupov took credit for rediscovering the Atelier's porcelains and describes them as having been hidden away: "In 1912 when I modernized the private apartments of the [family's country estate at Arkhangelskoe], I had to be on the spot to superintend the work. I took advantage of this to look through the storerooms, the basement and the attics and discovered some wonderful treasures. ...I found whole crates full of crystal and porcelain from the Arkhangelskoe factory. I took this treasure trove to St. Petersburg where it adorned the cabinets in my dining room" (F. Yusupov, Lost Splendor, New York, 1953, p. 17). Whatever the case, 1916 photos of the Dining Room of the wing of the Palace used by Felix and his wife and niece of Nicholas II, Princess Irina Yusupova, show the walls lined with cabinets filled with plates from the Rose Service and other early and rare Yusupov porcelains. After the fall of the Romanovs and the Bolshevik Revolution, the house and its property were nationalized. Nadezhda Berezhnaya recounts the odd history of an authorized sale of antiques from the house in 1919. Agathon Fabergé, son of the Court jeweler Karl Fabergé, purchased fifty of the plates. The sale was declared illegal and the plates were transferred to the Hermitage and other state museums. Some were sold abroad in the twenties and thirties, however, and are now among the most desirable examples of Russian porcelain painting. On the history of this series of plates, see N. Berezhnaya, Iusupovskii farfor. Izdeliia farforovogo zavedeniia kniazia N.B. Iusupova v Arkhangel'skom, Moscow, 2009, pp. 76-91, 224-239.