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拍品專文
The following two lots were part of a service given by Frederick the Great to Empress Catherine II of Russia in 1772 to celebrate her victory over the Turks and the increased size of her Empire. The service, which included a large centre-piece with Turks paying homage to the enthroned Empress1 was so magnificent that it was exhibited in Berlin for a week to anyone who wanted to see it before being sent to Russia; Royal guards were on duty in order to control the crowds. For two dessert-plates from this service, see Erich Köllmann and Margarete Jarchow, ibid. (Munich 1987), Vol. II, p. 417, fig. 248m and 248n.
Unlike Empress Elizabeth I, Catherine was well disposed to Frederick the Great, as he was to her, and she wrote to Sir Charles Hanbury-Williams: 'I read the writings of the King of Prussia with the same avidity as those of Voltaire. You will think that I am making up to you, if I tell you today that I am a profound admirer of His Prussian Majesty'2. She sent a precious black fox fur to Frederick as a Christmas present via the Prussian ambassador to St. Petersburg, Graf Solms, and in return Frederick asked Solms to find out if she would like a present of some Berlin porcelain. A correspondance about the gift began between the two monarchs, and the Empress politely said that she would most enjoy something that reflected Frederick's taste.
'Catherine the Great' (1729-1796) was born Sophia Augusta Frederica, the daughter of Prince Anhalt Zerbst, and changed her name in 1745 on her marriage to Grand Duke Peter, the nephew of Empress Elizabeth I, and later Tsar Peter III. Shortly after her husband succeeded to the throne he publicly threatened to marry his mistress Yelizaveta Vorontsova, divorce Catherine and incarcerate her in a convent. He was consequently famously deposed by her in 1762 and murdered shortly afterwards by one of her favourites, Count Aleksey Orlov.
Catherine was a prolific patron of the decorative arts, and encouraged craftsmen and painters from all over Europe to undertake commissions or settle in Russia. However, she preferred European painters and old masters to Russian artists, and Russian painters suffered under her rule. Commissions were usually given to foreign painters, and when Russian artists were given work they were vastly underpaid in comparison. During her reign she avidly collected old master paintings, buying 2,658 over a period of twenty-one years between 1764 and 1785. She frequently bought large collections en masse including those of Gotzkowsky, Brühl, Crozat and Walpole, and amassed what is still one of the world's greatest collections of art.
In 1777, the Empress ordered three dessert services for three of the Russian Imperial Orders; St. George, St. Aleksandr and St. Andrew, from the Gardner factory near Moscow. She provided the factory with examples from the 1772 Berlin service to be used as models for the Service for the Order of St. George. The present ice-cups are very similar in form, the principal difference being that St. George cups are painted with the order's star and ribbon just below the rim. For an ice-cup from the St. George Service in the Hillwood Museum, see Anne Odom and Liana Paredes Arend, 'A Taste for Splendor, Russian Imperial and European Treasures from the Hillwood Museum' Exhibition Catalogue (Alexandria, Virginia 1998), p. 155, pl. 63.
1. This piece proved difficult to fire and delayed the delivery of the service. 2. Letter of 20th November 1756. Sir Charles Hanbury-Williams was the British envoy to St. Petersburg.
Unlike Empress Elizabeth I, Catherine was well disposed to Frederick the Great, as he was to her, and she wrote to Sir Charles Hanbury-Williams: 'I read the writings of the King of Prussia with the same avidity as those of Voltaire. You will think that I am making up to you, if I tell you today that I am a profound admirer of His Prussian Majesty'2. She sent a precious black fox fur to Frederick as a Christmas present via the Prussian ambassador to St. Petersburg, Graf Solms, and in return Frederick asked Solms to find out if she would like a present of some Berlin porcelain. A correspondance about the gift began between the two monarchs, and the Empress politely said that she would most enjoy something that reflected Frederick's taste.
'Catherine the Great' (1729-1796) was born Sophia Augusta Frederica, the daughter of Prince Anhalt Zerbst, and changed her name in 1745 on her marriage to Grand Duke Peter, the nephew of Empress Elizabeth I, and later Tsar Peter III. Shortly after her husband succeeded to the throne he publicly threatened to marry his mistress Yelizaveta Vorontsova, divorce Catherine and incarcerate her in a convent. He was consequently famously deposed by her in 1762 and murdered shortly afterwards by one of her favourites, Count Aleksey Orlov.
Catherine was a prolific patron of the decorative arts, and encouraged craftsmen and painters from all over Europe to undertake commissions or settle in Russia. However, she preferred European painters and old masters to Russian artists, and Russian painters suffered under her rule. Commissions were usually given to foreign painters, and when Russian artists were given work they were vastly underpaid in comparison. During her reign she avidly collected old master paintings, buying 2,658 over a period of twenty-one years between 1764 and 1785. She frequently bought large collections en masse including those of Gotzkowsky, Brühl, Crozat and Walpole, and amassed what is still one of the world's greatest collections of art.
In 1777, the Empress ordered three dessert services for three of the Russian Imperial Orders; St. George, St. Aleksandr and St. Andrew, from the Gardner factory near Moscow. She provided the factory with examples from the 1772 Berlin service to be used as models for the Service for the Order of St. George. The present ice-cups are very similar in form, the principal difference being that St. George cups are painted with the order's star and ribbon just below the rim. For an ice-cup from the St. George Service in the Hillwood Museum, see Anne Odom and Liana Paredes Arend, 'A Taste for Splendor, Russian Imperial and European Treasures from the Hillwood Museum' Exhibition Catalogue (Alexandria, Virginia 1998), p. 155, pl. 63.
1. This piece proved difficult to fire and delayed the delivery of the service. 2. Letter of 20th November 1756. Sir Charles Hanbury-Williams was the British envoy to St. Petersburg.