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Lot Essay
The Imperial Porcelain Factory was the personal domain of the Tsar and produced works mainly for him and his family, with very occasional other commissions. Founded in 1744 by Elizabeth Petrovna, it quickly achieved the quality of western European factories. By the second quarter of the 19th Century, it produced magnificent large vases, with superb gilding, many decorated with copies of paintings in the Imperial collections.
Various candletsicks with glass from the Imperial glass factory are known to exist (I. Sychev, The Russian Chandeliers, 1760-1830, Moscow, 2003, p. 190, figs. 962-965). Examples with a stem of porcelain were extremely costly and rare. Their ormolu nozzles and bases are similar to those used for glass examples and may have been provided through Ivan Ivanov, the principal designer of the Imperial glass factory between 1819 and 1848, who was responsible for most of the designs for coloured glass or crystal items executed for the Imperial family (N. Thon (ed.), St. Petersburg um 1800, Recklinghausen, 1990, pp. 395 and 398, no. 344).
Various candletsicks with glass from the Imperial glass factory are known to exist (I. Sychev, The Russian Chandeliers, 1760-1830, Moscow, 2003, p. 190, figs. 962-965). Examples with a stem of porcelain were extremely costly and rare. Their ormolu nozzles and bases are similar to those used for glass examples and may have been provided through Ivan Ivanov, the principal designer of the Imperial glass factory between 1819 and 1848, who was responsible for most of the designs for coloured glass or crystal items executed for the Imperial family (N. Thon (ed.), St. Petersburg um 1800, Recklinghausen, 1990, pp. 395 and 398, no. 344).