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Lot Essay
The Orlov Toilette Service, including a breakfast set, was commissioned by Catherine the Great from the Imperial Porcelain Factory in the 1760's for her favorite, Count Grigorii Grigorievich Orlov, who, with his four brothers, was instrumental in the Grand Duchess Catherine's ascent to the throne in 1762. Designed after drawings by G. Kozlov, each piece is decorated with interlaced Cyrillic monogram GGO, trophies and scenes which refer to Orlov's military career. The Orlov toilette service, numbering approximately 300 pieces was unrecorded until 1912, when a number of items from the collection of Count V.A. Orlov Davidov were included in the St. Petersburg exhibition: 'Lomonosov and the Elizabethan Era'. There is no mention of the service in the monumental history of the Imperial Porcelain Factory, written by Baron N.B. Wolff in 1907.
The impressed factory mark found on items in this service was in use during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna (1741-1762) and still in use during the first part of Catherine II's reign. The coronet (which does not appear on many pieces of the toilette service) dates the piece no earlier than 1762 when Orlov received his title, whilst the laurels and border of cannon-balls pertaining to the artillery, could be a reflection of Orlov's appointment to Fieldmarshall of the Artillery in 1765.
See Christie's Geneva, 12 May 1981, lot 23-28, now in the Hermitage Museum and 17 November 1981, lot 37-45. for a series of pieces from the Orlov Service and 30 November 1982, lot 24 for a plate of the same design
Further pieces from the service (excluding the coronet) may be seen Christie's London, 22 October 1987, lot 264; and 5 October 1989, lot 153. and further reference may be made to
S. Troinitski, Amongst Collectors, 1923, N1-2, pp.14-19RA. Popoff, Russian Imperial Porcelain, pp. 4-5.
Russian Applied Art, Leningrad, The Russian Museum, 1976, N32-33
T. Kudriatseva, 'The Orlov Service of the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg' The State Hermitage,XLIX, Leningrad, 1984, p.23-26
An Imperial Fascination: Porcelain, New York, A La Vieille Russie, New York, March - April 1991, p.31 and 33.
A. Odom, Russian Imperial Porcelain at Hillwood, Washington, 1999, p.24-26
The impressed factory mark found on items in this service was in use during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna (1741-1762) and still in use during the first part of Catherine II's reign. The coronet (which does not appear on many pieces of the toilette service) dates the piece no earlier than 1762 when Orlov received his title, whilst the laurels and border of cannon-balls pertaining to the artillery, could be a reflection of Orlov's appointment to Fieldmarshall of the Artillery in 1765.
See Christie's Geneva, 12 May 1981, lot 23-28, now in the Hermitage Museum and 17 November 1981, lot 37-45. for a series of pieces from the Orlov Service and 30 November 1982, lot 24 for a plate of the same design
Further pieces from the service (excluding the coronet) may be seen Christie's London, 22 October 1987, lot 264; and 5 October 1989, lot 153. and further reference may be made to
S. Troinitski, Amongst Collectors, 1923, N1-2, pp.14-19RA. Popoff, Russian Imperial Porcelain, pp. 4-5.
Russian Applied Art, Leningrad, The Russian Museum, 1976, N32-33
T. Kudriatseva, 'The Orlov Service of the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg' The State Hermitage,XLIX, Leningrad, 1984, p.23-26
An Imperial Fascination: Porcelain, New York, A La Vieille Russie, New York, March - April 1991, p.31 and 33.
A. Odom, Russian Imperial Porcelain at Hillwood, Washington, 1999, p.24-26