BY THE IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY, PERIOD OF ELIZABETH I, CIRCA 1755-60

The Imperial Porcelain Factory was founded in 1744 during the reign of Elisabeth Petrovna under the supervision of Dmitrii Ivanovich Vinogradov, and the first objects were completed between 1746 and 1747. In 1751 the Empress was presented with a snuff-box by the factory. Vinogradov invented an independent method for Porcelain manufacture with the paste in these early days closer to the Chinese and Japanese than to German and French. The Private Service of Elisabeth I was the first large table service produced by the factory and represents one of the finest examples of early Russian porcelain.

For plates from the same service, see, Christie's New York, 12 April 1988, lot 119 and 121, Christie's Geneva, 16 November 1988, lot 108 and Christie's London, 26 April 1989, lots 192 and 193.