Lot Essay
With the arms of the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, the daughter of Peter the Great who reigned from 1741-1762, this dish was assayed in the latter part of the reign of Catherine the Great. It may have been and individual order or part of a service commissioned by Elizabeth at the end of her reign, but never completed or marked, or it might be a replacement for a now lost service. Baron Foelkersam in his famous inventory of the Imperial collections in St. Petersburg details the numerous individual pieces and services still belonging to the Imperial family in 1907. He describes how Catherine the Great ordered pieces to be assayed and marked in the capital city, but he does not mention treasures that may have remained in Moscow during her reign, and which were assayed there.