These custard cups are the same form as the custard cups ordered by Catherine II (the Great) for the "Green Frog Service" executed in 1773-1774 by Wedgewood. Although pieces of this pattern have been sold as a later comission for Alexander I, there is no evidence that Russian monarchs after Catherine comissioned services from Wedgewood (cf. Reilly, Wedgewood, 1989) The offered lot appears to have been a blank sent to Russia as a replacement piece to be decorated in the event of breakage. As the service fell into disuse, it is possible that the blanks were decorated by the Imperial Porcelain Factory's artists in the reign of Alexander I or Nicholas I.