Russian Works of Art

Russian Works of Art

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 169. TWO PORCELAIN PLATES FROM HER MAJESTY ELIZABETH PETROVNA'S OWN SERVICE, IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY, ST PETERSBURG, CIRCA 1760.

TWO PORCELAIN PLATES FROM HER MAJESTY ELIZABETH PETROVNA'S OWN SERVICE, IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY, ST PETERSBURG, CIRCA 1760

Lot Closed

June 17, 03:47 PM GMT

Estimate

8,000 - 12,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

TWO PORCELAIN PLATES FROM HER MAJESTY ELIZABETH PETROVNA'S OWN SERVICE, IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY, ST PETERSBURG, CIRCA 1760


with gilt scalloped borders, painted with pink flowerheads on a raised radiating gilt trellis, one with faint black factory mark, the other unmarked

(2)

diameter 25.4cm, 10in.


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Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (reigned 1741-1761) was a great patron of the arts and culture in Russia. Her rule saw the founding of institutions such as the University of Moscow and the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. One of her greatest legacies was the 1744 foundation of the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in St. Petersburg, an institution which has continued to function to the present day. Early attempts sponsored by her father and her predecessor Anna Ioannovna (reigned 1730-1740) were unsuccessful and it was only during Elizabeth's reign that the ambition of creating Russian porcelain on Russian soil was realised thanks to the experiments of Dmitrii Vinogradov (1720-1758). The initial production consisted of small, but delightful, pieces such as cane handles and snuffboxes. By 1756 Vinogradov and his workers designed and constructed a kiln large enough to produce a full table service. The manufactory's first service was Empress Elizabeth's Own (Sobstvennyi) Table and Dessert Service, initially designed for twenty-five persons. As Natalia Sipovskaia notes, 'each piece and every detail of its decor - from the molded trellis pattern to each garland of flowers - was molded and sculpted by hand.' For further details, see I. Popova and N. Sipovskaia's essays on the manufactory's earliest services in Shedevry russkogo farfora XVIII veka iz sobraniia galerei "Popov i Ko.," Moscow, 2009, pp. 52-53; 56-62.