BY THE IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY, ST. PETERSBURG, PERIOD OF NICHOLAS I

The Kremlin Service was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas I in 1836 from the Imperial Porcelain Factory, and the design was entrusted to the painter and archaeologist F.G. Solntsev. The motifs were inspired by designs in the 17th Century on Russian metalwork. For instance, the dessert plates get their influence from the jewelled, gold and enamelled plate executed in 1667 for Natalia Kirilovna, née Naryshkina, the wife of the second Tsar of the Romanov dynasty, Aleksei Mikhailovich. Part of this service was originally offered as part of a 205-piece service in a sale on behalf of the Soviet Government at Christie's, 21 March 1967 in London.