A PORCELAIN DINNER PLATE FROM THE RAPHAEL SERVICE

BY THE IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY, PERIOD OF NICHOLAS II, WITH LARGE PAINTED GILDED CYPHER OF THE REIGNING TSAR

Details

A PORCELAIN DINNER PLATE FROM THE RAPHAEL SERVICE
by the Imperial Porcelain Factory, period of Nicholas II, with large painted gilded cypher of the reigning Tsar
Circular, the center decorated with a classical figure on a rust-colored ground within a hexagonal border on white ground, the border with additional figures alternating with classical-style friezes, grottesques and foliate decoration, the rim and base edged in gilt, marked under the base
9½in. (24cm.) diameter

Literature

Baron von Wolf, The Imperial Porcelain Factory, 1744-1904, St. Petersburg, 1908, p. 292, ill. 402-405
A.K. Lanceray, Russian Porcelain, Leningrad, 1968, p. 42, ill. 181

Lot Essay

The Raphael Service was the largest and most important porcelain service produced during the reign of Alexander III (1881-1894) and was only completed in 1903. Made by the Imperial Porcelain Factory, the designs were originally derived from Raphael frescoes in the loggias of the Vatican.

These were subsequently reproduced in the Winter Palace by Quarenghi (1783-92) during the reign of Catherine the Great, and probably served as a direct source of inspiration to Alexander III.

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