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Lot Essay
This splendid malachite vase on pedestal is a fine example of the luxurious works of art produced at the Russian Imperial lapidary workshops in the early 19th century. Combining the stone for which the manufactories were perhaps most famous, malachite, with finely chased ormolu mounts in a refined, neo-classical form, this work is emblematic of the superb objects created for an international clientele, and today in important collections around the world. When the present vase and pedestal were last sold in these rooms, they came from Longleat, the Wiltshire seat of the Marquess of Bath, having formerly been offered by the visiting Count August Aleksandrovich Potocki and Countess Alexandra Stanislavovna to ancestors of the wife of the 4th Marquess of Bath, the Earl and Countess of Dunmore in 1840.
The Imperial lapidary workshops in Russia, at Peterhof and Ekaterinburg – founded in 1721 and 1751, respectively – created luxurious works of art combining hardstones with ormolu-mounts heavily influenced by Empire designs of the early 19th century in France, such as those on the present vase. Malachite – the stone for which their production was most celebrated – is a stalagmitic form of copper carbonate, and the technique used in the manufacture of objects and furniture is known as Russian mosaic. The malachite was sawn into very thin slices and then applied to a stone or metal ground, the veins being laid to form pleasing patterns. The whole piece was then highly polished with the joins barely visible. Peterhof is the oldest stone-cutting factory, just a few miles from St. Petersburg, however the huge distances from the mines and quarries meant that it was soon joined by the new imperial factory at Ekaterinburg, in the heart of the Ural Mountains. The third most famous factory was Kolyvan, in western Siberia, which specialised in colossal pieces made from the stones extracted from the Altai Mountains.
The present vase relates closely to one in a coloured drawing for a malachite mosaic cup of the same unusual form, with square top, circular body and socle square base resting on gilt-bronze sphinx-supports, designed by I.I. Galberg and made for Prince Alexander Nikolaevich Golitsyn which derives from an original design of 1816 by Carlo Rossi. The Galberg design, dated 1826, was drawn in St. Petersburg and the cup made at the Ekaterinburg lapidary works. Another design, dated 1842, and also drawn in St. Petersburg by Galberg, has the same square form. It was never executed. (V.B. Semyonov, Malachite, Sverdlovsk, 1987, vol. I, p. 133, fig. 11 and vol. II, pp. 112 and 124, figs. 10 and 59) A similar vase, made by the Ekaterinburg lapidary works and from the second quarter of the 19th Century, in now on display in the Hermitage (ibid, vol. I, p. 182, fig. 45).
In a reflection of the international appeal for such works of art, malachite vases produced in Russia can be found in important collections around the world. One notable example is a tazza of similar neo-classic design to the present lot, which was acquired by George, Prince of Wales, later George IV for Windsor Castle, with mounts added by Messrs. Morel and Seddon in 1828, and remains in the Royal Collection (illustrated in H. Roberts, For the King's Pleasure, London, 2001, p.178, fig.205).
This present malachite vase and pedestal was presented to the 6th Earl and Countess of Dunmore by the Count and Countess Potocki. The Countess of Dunmore (d. 1886) was the daughter of the 11th Earl of Pembroke (1759-1827) and had a Russian mother, Catherine (1783-1856), who was the only daughter of Semyon Romanovich, Count Vorontsov, the Russian Ambassador to London. A Countess 'Alexandrine' Potocki is recorded at a ball attended by Queen Victoria in May 1839. The present malachite tazza passed by way of inheritance to The Hon. Frances Vesey (d. 1915), daughter of the 3rd Viscount de Vesci and wife of John Alexander, 4th Marquess of Bath, who presumably moved it to Longleat, the seat of the Marquess of Bath. Begun in the mid-16th century by Sir John Thynne, and renovated and enlarged over the following three centuries, Longleat is one of the most splendid English country houses and has a significant collection of works of art. The present vase is visible in a photograph dated to circa 1949 of the cloister-galleries by Sir Jeffrey Wyattville, who refurburbished Longleat under the direction of the second Marquess of Bath in the early 19th century. The present lot is visible in the hall just before the grand staircase in a more recent photograph published in a guide book for Longleat, prior to its sale at Christie’s in 2002.
The Imperial lapidary workshops in Russia, at Peterhof and Ekaterinburg – founded in 1721 and 1751, respectively – created luxurious works of art combining hardstones with ormolu-mounts heavily influenced by Empire designs of the early 19th century in France, such as those on the present vase. Malachite – the stone for which their production was most celebrated – is a stalagmitic form of copper carbonate, and the technique used in the manufacture of objects and furniture is known as Russian mosaic. The malachite was sawn into very thin slices and then applied to a stone or metal ground, the veins being laid to form pleasing patterns. The whole piece was then highly polished with the joins barely visible. Peterhof is the oldest stone-cutting factory, just a few miles from St. Petersburg, however the huge distances from the mines and quarries meant that it was soon joined by the new imperial factory at Ekaterinburg, in the heart of the Ural Mountains. The third most famous factory was Kolyvan, in western Siberia, which specialised in colossal pieces made from the stones extracted from the Altai Mountains.
The present vase relates closely to one in a coloured drawing for a malachite mosaic cup of the same unusual form, with square top, circular body and socle square base resting on gilt-bronze sphinx-supports, designed by I.I. Galberg and made for Prince Alexander Nikolaevich Golitsyn which derives from an original design of 1816 by Carlo Rossi. The Galberg design, dated 1826, was drawn in St. Petersburg and the cup made at the Ekaterinburg lapidary works. Another design, dated 1842, and also drawn in St. Petersburg by Galberg, has the same square form. It was never executed. (V.B. Semyonov, Malachite, Sverdlovsk, 1987, vol. I, p. 133, fig. 11 and vol. II, pp. 112 and 124, figs. 10 and 59) A similar vase, made by the Ekaterinburg lapidary works and from the second quarter of the 19th Century, in now on display in the Hermitage (ibid, vol. I, p. 182, fig. 45).
In a reflection of the international appeal for such works of art, malachite vases produced in Russia can be found in important collections around the world. One notable example is a tazza of similar neo-classic design to the present lot, which was acquired by George, Prince of Wales, later George IV for Windsor Castle, with mounts added by Messrs. Morel and Seddon in 1828, and remains in the Royal Collection (illustrated in H. Roberts, For the King's Pleasure, London, 2001, p.178, fig.205).
This present malachite vase and pedestal was presented to the 6th Earl and Countess of Dunmore by the Count and Countess Potocki. The Countess of Dunmore (d. 1886) was the daughter of the 11th Earl of Pembroke (1759-1827) and had a Russian mother, Catherine (1783-1856), who was the only daughter of Semyon Romanovich, Count Vorontsov, the Russian Ambassador to London. A Countess 'Alexandrine' Potocki is recorded at a ball attended by Queen Victoria in May 1839. The present malachite tazza passed by way of inheritance to The Hon. Frances Vesey (d. 1915), daughter of the 3rd Viscount de Vesci and wife of John Alexander, 4th Marquess of Bath, who presumably moved it to Longleat, the seat of the Marquess of Bath. Begun in the mid-16th century by Sir John Thynne, and renovated and enlarged over the following three centuries, Longleat is one of the most splendid English country houses and has a significant collection of works of art. The present vase is visible in a photograph dated to circa 1949 of the cloister-galleries by Sir Jeffrey Wyattville, who refurburbished Longleat under the direction of the second Marquess of Bath in the early 19th century. The present lot is visible in the hall just before the grand staircase in a more recent photograph published in a guide book for Longleat, prior to its sale at Christie’s in 2002.