.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This magnificent jewel-like table is undoubtedly one of finest examples of ornamental 'Tulaware', named after the Imperial Arms factory which was founded at Tula by Peter the Great in 1712. The Imperial armoury became the centre of the Russian arms production and supplied weapons to the Russian forces during the war against Sweden. However, by about 1730 not only military and hunting weapons but also decorative objects including caskets, folding chairs and tables were being made with the techniques associated with gun-making like chasing, blueing and overlay. During the reign of Empress Catherine II a new technique was perfected by which metal was cut and polished in facets like diamonds, often combined with silver inlays and ormolu mounts (see A. Chenevière, Russian Furniture, The Golden Age 1780-1840, London, 1988, pp. 245-246).
IMPERIAL PATRONAGE
The Tula factory was extensively patronised by the Imperial family and as early as 1751 the Imperial Treasury paid 1474 roubles for a set of twelve chairs for Tsarköe Selo, which had been made at Tula in 1746. Tulaware was parcticularly admired by Catherine, who made important puchases throughout her reign and visited the workshops personally in 1775 and 1787, when she was presented with various items including an extensive toilet set comprising a dressing-table with six legs, an adjustable mirror, two obelisks, two boxes, two hairpin cushions and a stool. The set was brought to the Palace of Pavlovsk where the Empress kept the principal part of her collection of Tulaware. The inventory of furniture compiled in 1790 lists another toilet set by the master armourer Semion Samarin, which was presented to her daughter-in-law Maria Feodorovna in 1789, but also mentions two chandeliers, various footstools, candlesticks, and even chess sets and parasols (see M. Malchenko, Art Objects in Steel by Tula Craftsmen, Leningrad, 1974, p. 6).
The Oldenburg Tula table is closely related to two examples acquired by the Empress circa 1785, possibly at the annual fair held at Sofia near Tsarköe Selo. They are conceived in a similar fashion with a tilt-top allowing the table to serve as a fire screen, a baluster support and characteristic cabriole legs with ormolu feet shaped as dolphins. One of these tables is in the Empress's bedroom at the Catherine Palace, Pushkin. It has a rectangular tole top decorated with a lozenge motif and is framed by a silver-inlaid drapery rim. The turned polished steel support and legs are sparsely decorated clearly to focus on the ormolu clasps to the legs and the sabots. The second table, which was probabaly purchased for Catherine's cabinet of curiosities at the Hermitage, has a circular gilt-brass top which is centred by a star with the arms of Tula and dated '1785'. The stem is of square spreading shape while the tripod base is supported by cabriole legs decorated by a scaled pattern and ribbon-tied medallions. The Oldenburg table has a similar overall design but it is notably the most richly-decorated and most sophisticated of the three. It is entirely decorated with graduated rows of faceted diamond-shaped studs, and brilliant ormolu mounts to the legs and feet, while the top is edged by silver-inlaid drapery garlands (A. Chenevière, op. cit, p. 251, fig. 266; and N. Guseva, Treasures of Catherine the Great, London, 2000, pp. 165 and 178, cat. 281).
THE GRAND DUKES OF OLDENBURG
One of the oldest German dynasties, the House of Oldenburg is first recorded in 1088, and has since played an 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 futher branches: the senior Holstein-Gottorp branch, later Emperors of Russia, and the cadet Holstein-Gottorp branch, later Dukes and Grand Dukes of Oldenburg. Oldenburg fell under Danish rule from 1667 until 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 would later include the principality of Lübeck, the counties of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst, Kniphausen and Jeverm and the estate of Birkenfeld.
The Oldenburg Tula table is stamped 'P' beneath a closed crown, an inventory stamp used during the reign of Peter Friedrich Ludwig of Oldenburg, the first Grand Duke, who acquired important works of art for his castles Eutin, Rastede and Guldenstein. These purchases included, for instance, furniture by David Roentgen (to be sold at Christie's Germany, Deustche Schloss-Auktion, Schloss Anholt, 21/22 November 2001, lots 570-572), portraits by Johann Friedrich August Tischbein, and in the early 19th Century Empire candelabra by Pierre-Philippe Thomire. The Tula table may have been been acquired by Peter during one of his visits to his Russian cousins, or, more likely, presented to him by the Empress.
IMPERIAL PATRONAGE
The Tula factory was extensively patronised by the Imperial family and as early as 1751 the Imperial Treasury paid 1474 roubles for a set of twelve chairs for Tsarköe Selo, which had been made at Tula in 1746. Tulaware was parcticularly admired by Catherine, who made important puchases throughout her reign and visited the workshops personally in 1775 and 1787, when she was presented with various items including an extensive toilet set comprising a dressing-table with six legs, an adjustable mirror, two obelisks, two boxes, two hairpin cushions and a stool. The set was brought to the Palace of Pavlovsk where the Empress kept the principal part of her collection of Tulaware. The inventory of furniture compiled in 1790 lists another toilet set by the master armourer Semion Samarin, which was presented to her daughter-in-law Maria Feodorovna in 1789, but also mentions two chandeliers, various footstools, candlesticks, and even chess sets and parasols (see M. Malchenko, Art Objects in Steel by Tula Craftsmen, Leningrad, 1974, p. 6).
The Oldenburg Tula table is closely related to two examples acquired by the Empress circa 1785, possibly at the annual fair held at Sofia near Tsarköe Selo. They are conceived in a similar fashion with a tilt-top allowing the table to serve as a fire screen, a baluster support and characteristic cabriole legs with ormolu feet shaped as dolphins. One of these tables is in the Empress's bedroom at the Catherine Palace, Pushkin. It has a rectangular tole top decorated with a lozenge motif and is framed by a silver-inlaid drapery rim. The turned polished steel support and legs are sparsely decorated clearly to focus on the ormolu clasps to the legs and the sabots. The second table, which was probabaly purchased for Catherine's cabinet of curiosities at the Hermitage, has a circular gilt-brass top which is centred by a star with the arms of Tula and dated '1785'. The stem is of square spreading shape while the tripod base is supported by cabriole legs decorated by a scaled pattern and ribbon-tied medallions. The Oldenburg table has a similar overall design but it is notably the most richly-decorated and most sophisticated of the three. It is entirely decorated with graduated rows of faceted diamond-shaped studs, and brilliant ormolu mounts to the legs and feet, while the top is edged by silver-inlaid drapery garlands (A. Chenevière, op. cit, p. 251, fig. 266; and N. Guseva, Treasures of Catherine the Great, London, 2000, pp. 165 and 178, cat. 281).
THE GRAND DUKES OF OLDENBURG
One of the oldest German dynasties, the House of Oldenburg is first recorded in 1088, and has since played an 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 futher branches: the senior Holstein-Gottorp branch, later Emperors of Russia, and the cadet Holstein-Gottorp branch, later Dukes and Grand Dukes of Oldenburg. Oldenburg fell under Danish rule from 1667 until 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 would later include the principality of Lübeck, the counties of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst, Kniphausen and Jeverm and the estate of Birkenfeld.
The Oldenburg Tula table is stamped 'P' beneath a closed crown, an inventory stamp used during the reign of Peter Friedrich Ludwig of Oldenburg, the first Grand Duke, who acquired important works of art for his castles Eutin, Rastede and Guldenstein. These purchases included, for instance, furniture by David Roentgen (to be sold at Christie's Germany, Deustche Schloss-Auktion, Schloss Anholt, 21/22 November 2001, lots 570-572), portraits by Johann Friedrich August Tischbein, and in the early 19th Century Empire candelabra by Pierre-Philippe Thomire. The Tula table may have been been acquired by Peter during one of his visits to his Russian cousins, or, more likely, presented to him by the Empress.