Soup plate, porcelain, centrally decorated with a polychrome scene representing a religious building on a background
of an Italian landscape, identified on the reverse as "Old Sepulchre", surrounded by an entourage of gold pearls and bordered on the rim with a garland of polychrome roses on a gold background. Slight wear of time, but good general condition.
Mark on the reverse in the paste with the cipher of Empress Catherine II (EII) in blue letters.
Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, Saint Petersburg, Catherine II period (1762-1796).
H.: 5 cm - Diameter: 5 cm.
Provenance: this service was ordered from the Manufacture Impériale de
Porcelain by Catherine II in 1793. It was imagined to be offered as
present to the Grand Chancellor of the Empress and Minister for
Foreigners, Count Alexander Bezborodko (1747-1799). This service was paid
by the Imperial Cabinet, which is why it received this name. Before that he
was known as Service Bezborodko. Complete, this service counted
more than 900 pieces and was certainly the largest service ever made in
Russia in the XNUMXth century
century. After Bezborodko's death, this service formed a
large part of the collections of the Winter Palace, and remained at the Hermitage until the
1920s. Many pieces of this service also include the
red mark and inventory numbers of the Winter Palace. This service was
produced during the artistic period called "Severe Classicism" in Russia.
Each piece represents a view of Italy surrounded by foliage scrolls.
The scenes illustrating this service were inspired by the illustrations published by
Giuseppe Vasi (1710-1782), in his work entitled: "Delle Magnificenze
di Roma antica e moderna", published in Rome in 1764 and by the work of
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778): “Antichita Romane” published in
1756. Empress Catherine II used this service as a way to test
the culture of young members of Russian high society who had just finished their
Initiation tower. Were they unable to name the landscape depicted, this
the latter was identified on the back of the plate. It will be until 1801.
Bibliography: see in reference several other models of plates of this
service from the collection of Mstislav Rostropovitch (1927-2007),
on sale in 2007 at Sotheby's, under n°155. In the exhibition "Maria
Pawlowna Zarentochter am Weimarer Hof”, were presented in 2004 at
Weimar several shaped pieces (see page 58 of the catalog) and in the
catalog of the exhibition organized by the Hermitage Museum in 2000 under the
name: “Treasures of Catherine the Great”, two other plates are visible
of this service (see pages 197 and 198 of the catalogue, inventory number ERF 6833 and
ERF 6852). Also illustrated in the following works are pieces of
this service: “Imperatorskii farforovyi zavod, 1744-1904”, by Baron NB
von Wolf, St. Petersburg 2003, pages: 83-84, 88-89; “Russian Imperial
Porcelain” by Tamara Kudriatseva, Saint-Petersburg, 2003, pages 65-67
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