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Lot Essay
This striking vase with its rare, enormous scale and beautifully chased mounts exemplifies the skill and creativity of Russian bronziers at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Their synthesis of French Empire designs and Russia’s vast natural resources of exotic hardstones resulted in a distinctly Russian aesthetic.
The art of stonecutting has been prized as a national art in Russia since the early 18th century but its dramatic expansion occurred in the 1770s and 1780s when a series of geological expeditions to the Ural and Altai mountains sponsored by the Academy of Arts yielded amazing discoveries of hardstones. The difficulties of transporting large blocks of hardstones over Russia’s vast distances led to the establishment of stone-cutting workshops near the sites where the stones were extracted; the Kolyvan workshop was established in 1802.
As the Imperial administration had the sole right to mine for hardstones, the products of the Imperial workshops incorporating hardstones were almost exclusively created for the Imperial court or used as diplomatic gifts. The Imperial Bronze Workshops was established in 1778 specifically to meet the demand for mounting hardstones and the vast majority of bronziers it employed were skilled German emigrés who came to St. Petersburg to take advantage of the demand for their work. By the 1790s, these German craftsmen were producing commissions for Pavlovsk as well as for the Tauride palace.
Although it is frustratingly difficult to attribute pieces to individual designers or bronziers, it is certain that they were clearly familiar with the work of the French designers of Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine. Their Recueil de decorations intérieures which depicted their commissions for room schemes, furniture and objects were published in installments from 1801 until 1812 and became a template for what is now known as the Empire style. The designs for military trophies for a room at Malmaison in plate fifty-five (partially reproduced here) are certainly the source for the distinctive helmet on the handles.
Its fidelity to these designs makes the vase somewhat of a mystery as no related examples with such an overtly militaristic aesthetic are currently known to exist. However, both its massive size and the quality of the chasing of the bronzes could certainly point to Andrei Voronikhin (1759-1814), the celebrated Russian architect and designer, and Friedrich Bergenfeldt (1760-1814), probably the finest bronzier working in St. Petersburg at the turn of the century. Voronikhin was one of the most creative and talented architects and designers working in Russia in the late 18th and early 19th century. His later work, perhaps more than any other designer of the period, perfectly encapsulates the Russian Empire style. Further, both Voronikhin and Bergenfeldt had spent time in Paris and their work exhibits a close familiarity with French Neoclassical designs. One of what was originally a pair of glass and ormolu athéniennes designed by Voronikhin in 1808 for the Hall of Peace at Pavlovsk (A. Kuchomov, Pavlovsk, Leningrad, 1975, fig. 54) owe a clear debt to Percier and Fontaine. Its pared down tripod frame with arrow stretchers and massive size, just under five feet tall, provide the most concrete link to the origins of this important vase. One should also not discount the possibility that this spectacular vase was made slightly later than Bergenfeldt and Voronikhin, as a series of tazze and monumental vases, executed in lapis lazuli in the 1820s and 1830s, are in the collection of the Hermitage, demonstrating the fascination the Imperial Court had for dazzling hardstones at this period (see N. Mavrodina, The State Hermitage Museum: The Art of Russian Stone Carvers 18th-19th Centuries, St. Petersburg, 2007, pp. 2228, 232, 253 and 270).
The art of stonecutting has been prized as a national art in Russia since the early 18th century but its dramatic expansion occurred in the 1770s and 1780s when a series of geological expeditions to the Ural and Altai mountains sponsored by the Academy of Arts yielded amazing discoveries of hardstones. The difficulties of transporting large blocks of hardstones over Russia’s vast distances led to the establishment of stone-cutting workshops near the sites where the stones were extracted; the Kolyvan workshop was established in 1802.
As the Imperial administration had the sole right to mine for hardstones, the products of the Imperial workshops incorporating hardstones were almost exclusively created for the Imperial court or used as diplomatic gifts. The Imperial Bronze Workshops was established in 1778 specifically to meet the demand for mounting hardstones and the vast majority of bronziers it employed were skilled German emigrés who came to St. Petersburg to take advantage of the demand for their work. By the 1790s, these German craftsmen were producing commissions for Pavlovsk as well as for the Tauride palace.
Although it is frustratingly difficult to attribute pieces to individual designers or bronziers, it is certain that they were clearly familiar with the work of the French designers of Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine. Their Recueil de decorations intérieures which depicted their commissions for room schemes, furniture and objects were published in installments from 1801 until 1812 and became a template for what is now known as the Empire style. The designs for military trophies for a room at Malmaison in plate fifty-five (partially reproduced here) are certainly the source for the distinctive helmet on the handles.
Its fidelity to these designs makes the vase somewhat of a mystery as no related examples with such an overtly militaristic aesthetic are currently known to exist. However, both its massive size and the quality of the chasing of the bronzes could certainly point to Andrei Voronikhin (1759-1814), the celebrated Russian architect and designer, and Friedrich Bergenfeldt (1760-1814), probably the finest bronzier working in St. Petersburg at the turn of the century. Voronikhin was one of the most creative and talented architects and designers working in Russia in the late 18th and early 19th century. His later work, perhaps more than any other designer of the period, perfectly encapsulates the Russian Empire style. Further, both Voronikhin and Bergenfeldt had spent time in Paris and their work exhibits a close familiarity with French Neoclassical designs. One of what was originally a pair of glass and ormolu athéniennes designed by Voronikhin in 1808 for the Hall of Peace at Pavlovsk (A. Kuchomov, Pavlovsk, Leningrad, 1975, fig. 54) owe a clear debt to Percier and Fontaine. Its pared down tripod frame with arrow stretchers and massive size, just under five feet tall, provide the most concrete link to the origins of this important vase. One should also not discount the possibility that this spectacular vase was made slightly later than Bergenfeldt and Voronikhin, as a series of tazze and monumental vases, executed in lapis lazuli in the 1820s and 1830s, are in the collection of the Hermitage, demonstrating the fascination the Imperial Court had for dazzling hardstones at this period (see N. Mavrodina, The State Hermitage Museum: The Art of Russian Stone Carvers 18th-19th Centuries, St. Petersburg, 2007, pp. 2228, 232, 253 and 270).