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Lot Essay
EMPRESS CATHERINE THE GREAT'S GUBERNATORIAL SERVICES
During her reign and following her 1775 provincial reforms, Empress Catherine the Great (1729-1796) ordered a series of twenty-two monumental silver table services, known today as the Gubernatorial Services, for the principal administrative capitals of the Russian Empire. Their purpose was both practical and political: each governor's palace was to possess a complete silver service suitable for hosting the Empress during her travels, avoiding the expense and risk of transporting large quantities of court silver across the Empire.
Although these were made by a number of goldsmiths in Russia, Paris, London, and Augsburg, the programme started in Paris with Robert-Joseph Auguste who supplied four of the most important services over a period of seven years; the Ekaterinoslav Service from 1776 to 1778, the Kazan and the Nizhny Novgorod Services from 1778 to 1779 and the Moscow Service from 1782 to 1783. Because of the scale of these commissions, Auguste collaborated with the Paris silversmith Louis-Joseph Lenhendrick, particularly on the earlier services.
The following two lots comprising a group of fourteen candlesticks as well as the seven cloches and dishes form an impressive group. Mr and Mrs Blaquier-Arrieta acquired elements of these services, which had been sold separately after the Russian Revolution and grouped them to form an ensemble of fourteen candlesticks for lot 160 while lot 161 comprises seven cloches and dishes from two services. These two consistent ensembles allowed them to recreate the grandeur of Empress Catherine the Great's dining table.
These candlesticks were once part of the four gubernatorial services delivered by Robert-Joseph Auguste between 1776 and 1783 and comprised the Ekaterinoslav service (1776-1778), the Kazan service (1778-1779), the Nizhny Novgorod service (1778-1779) the Moscow service (1782-1783).
For the candlesticks of these services, Robert-Joseph Auguste found inspiration in the ornamental vocabulary of antiquity, adapting classical motifs while successfully reinventing the object. Candlesticks of circular section were traditionally sparingly ornamented if not plain, goldsmiths resorting to elaborate chasing for square or triangular section examples. However, Auguste's use of the scale work chased on the stems enhance and energise the model.
During her reign and following her 1775 provincial reforms, Empress Catherine the Great (1729-1796) ordered a series of twenty-two monumental silver table services, known today as the Gubernatorial Services, for the principal administrative capitals of the Russian Empire. Their purpose was both practical and political: each governor's palace was to possess a complete silver service suitable for hosting the Empress during her travels, avoiding the expense and risk of transporting large quantities of court silver across the Empire.
Although these were made by a number of goldsmiths in Russia, Paris, London, and Augsburg, the programme started in Paris with Robert-Joseph Auguste who supplied four of the most important services over a period of seven years; the Ekaterinoslav Service from 1776 to 1778, the Kazan and the Nizhny Novgorod Services from 1778 to 1779 and the Moscow Service from 1782 to 1783. Because of the scale of these commissions, Auguste collaborated with the Paris silversmith Louis-Joseph Lenhendrick, particularly on the earlier services.
The following two lots comprising a group of fourteen candlesticks as well as the seven cloches and dishes form an impressive group. Mr and Mrs Blaquier-Arrieta acquired elements of these services, which had been sold separately after the Russian Revolution and grouped them to form an ensemble of fourteen candlesticks for lot 160 while lot 161 comprises seven cloches and dishes from two services. These two consistent ensembles allowed them to recreate the grandeur of Empress Catherine the Great's dining table.
These candlesticks were once part of the four gubernatorial services delivered by Robert-Joseph Auguste between 1776 and 1783 and comprised the Ekaterinoslav service (1776-1778), the Kazan service (1778-1779), the Nizhny Novgorod service (1778-1779) the Moscow service (1782-1783).
For the candlesticks of these services, Robert-Joseph Auguste found inspiration in the ornamental vocabulary of antiquity, adapting classical motifs while successfully reinventing the object. Candlesticks of circular section were traditionally sparingly ornamented if not plain, goldsmiths resorting to elaborate chasing for square or triangular section examples. However, Auguste's use of the scale work chased on the stems enhance and energise the model.