Lot 10
10
A PAIR OF RUSSIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED JASPER VASES
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more These magnificent Russian hardstone vases are among the finest examples of late 18th Century stone-cutting at the Imperial lapidary workshops. The group was possibly part of the furnishings of the Palace of Pavlovsk near St. Petersburg, and may have been presented to Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig of Oldenburg (1755-1829) in 1801 by his sister-in-law Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (1759-1828) PAVLOVSK The construction of Pavlovsk was begun by the Scottish architect Charles Cameron (1745-1812) in 1777. Cameron was assisted by the Italian architect and designer Vincenzo Brenna (1745-1820), and was replaced by him 1786. Brenna made various additions to the building and designed many of the interiors. The palace was a gift from Empress Catherine the Great to her son Grand Duke Paul on the occasion of the birth of his son, Alexander, the future Alexander the Great. Both the Grand Duke and his wife Maria Feodorovna were passionate about the estate, their private property, which they filled with treasures purchased on their European tour of 1781-1782. Amongst the treasures they acquired were Italian, Dutch, Flemish, French and German pictures ranging from the 16th to the late 18th Century; sculpture, both Antique and contemporary, brought back from Italy; furniture, largely from Paris, including seat-furniture by Henri Jacob and exquisite porcelain-mounted furniture supplied by the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre, but also furniture by David Roentgen from Neuwied; silks, tapestries and embroideries, primarily purchased in Paris including silk wall-hangings and covers for seat-furniture from Lyon and Beauvais; large quantities of porcelain from Sèvres, some of which ormolu-mounted and finally clocks and bronzes d'ameublement by Jean-Louis Prieur, François Rémond and Pierre-Philippe Thomire (E. Ducamp (ed.), Pavlovsk, the Collections, Paris, 1993). As outlined above, the neoclassical interiors at Pavlovsk, both coherent in style and unsurpassed in richness, were largely formed with works of art imported from abroad by Grand Duke Paul and his wife. However, the palace incorporates various characteristically Russian elements as well. The superb Russian furniture and hardstone vases and artefacts made between 1790 and 1805 enhance the collection and add a bold Russian touch. Clearly there was no need to import hardstone artefacts, as a Russian tradition for hardstones had been established that could rival any work from elsewhere. While various hardstone deposits had already been discovered in Siberia in the early 18th Century, the major organised excavations only took place later in that Century. These were carried out by the Imperial administration, who had the sole right to exploit the Crown territory. The three main stone-cutting centres at Peterhof, Ekaterinburg an Kolyvan, founded in 1721, 1751 and 1786 respectively, produced pieces of remarkable workmanship destined specially for the Imperial palaces and as diplomatic gifts (A. Chenevière, Russian Furniture, London, 1989, pp. 259-279). DUKE PETER FRIEDRICH LUDWIG OF OLDENBURG IN RUSSIA The Duke visited Russia in May-June 1801 to pay his respects to the new Emperor Alexander I (r. 1801-1825). He stayed with the recently widowed Maria Feodorovna at Pavlovsk, and received various gifts from her, including items of furniture, but probably also the present group of vases, as well as pictures and porcelain. Some of these were the personal belongings of the Empress and are listed in the inventory compiled of the palace after the death of her husband Paul I in 1801. The handwritten annotation 'Given as a gift to the duke of Golsteen [Holstein] by her Majesty, the Empress' appears next to one entry and provides a crucial clue for the provenance of these items. In this context it is interesting to note that for his return home, the Duke bought an extra wagon to transport his acquisitions (W. Koeppe in 'European Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art', New York, 2006, pp. 192-194). RUSSIA AND OLDENBURG One of the oldest German dynasties, the House of Oldenburg is first recorded in 1088, and has since played a leading role in the history of Northern Europe. In 1448, Count Christian of Oldenburg (1425-1481) became King Christian I of Denmark. Apart from the Royal Danish line, the dynasty was divided into two further branches: the senior Holstein-Gottorp branch, later Emperors of Russia, and the cadet Holstein-Gottorp branch, later Duke and Grand Dukes of Oldenburg. Oldenburg fell under Danish rule from 1667-1773, when Catherine the Great exchanged the Gottorp part of Schleswig-Holstein with the King of Denmark for the Dukedom of Oldenburg. She re-instated her Oldenburg cousins as rulers of the area when Friedrich August (1711-1787) became Duke of Oldenburg in 1777. The Grand-Duchy included the principality of Lübeck, one of their earliest lands, the counties of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst, Kniphausen and Jeverm and the estate of Birkenfeld. THE PROPERTY OF A GERMAN ROYAL FAMILY (LOTS 10-13)
A PAIR OF RUSSIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED JASPER VASES

CIRCA 1790

Details
A PAIR OF RUSSIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED JASPER VASES
CIRCA 1790
Each with circular spreading lid with grape bunch and vine leaf finial, the tapering body with everted lip above bacchic mask handles, above a stylised scrolling border decorated with lotus and anthemion, the tapering base with a stiff-leaf cup, on a circular spreading moulded foot and square plinth, inscribed '168-45', 'No 00194' and No 00195', one section of the foliate border missing on one vase, one lid with two losses to the edge, the finials lacking one leaf, on square simulated porphyry bases
33½ in. (85 cm.) high; 22 in. (56 cm.) diameter (2)
Provenance
Possibly Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, Pavlovsk.
Grand Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig of Oldenburg.
Thence by descent.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

These monumental vases are executed in superb Jasper from the Ural mountain quarries, and were produced either at Ekaterinburg or at Kolyvan, besides Peterhof the two most important Imperial lapidary centres. There are various related vases at Pavlovsk, some part of the early purchases by Grand Duke Paul and his wife Maria Feodorovna around 1780-1790, others acquired by the Dowager Empress after the refurbishment following the fire of 1803.
Their purchases include an unmounted pair of around 1780 made from a red transluscent Jasper with almost identical figuring as the present vases. They are in the so-called Greek Hall, which was designed by Vincenzo Brenna (1745-1820) in 1789 and re-modelled after the fire by Andrei Voronikhn (1760-1814) in 1803-1804 (E. Ducamp, Pavlovsk, the Collections, Paris, 1993, p. 204, fig 7 and A. Koutchoumov, Pavlovsk, Leningrad, 1976, fig. 28). Interestingly, Ducamp attributes this pair to the Ekaterinburg workshops while Koutchoumov credits them to those at Kolyvan.
A further related pair are in the Picture gallery. These were made at Kolyvan of red Korgon porphyry and are richly mounted with ram's mask handles and vine. Ducamp's attribution to these workshops is based on designs for an identical vase found in Hermitage museum, which are inscribed 'Two vases in Korgon porphyry were sent to St. Petersburg on 5 June 1789' (Ducamp, op. cit, p. 199 and p. 205, fig 11).

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