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Lot Essay
The Princely crown and crest is that of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
The Mecklenburg-Schwerin service was originally commissioned by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great and executed by various Russian and French makers from 1770 onwards. The service appears to have passed from Catherine the Great's son Paul I to his daughter Helene, upon her marriage to Friedrich-Ludwig, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in October 1799. The service was further added to around 1904, at the time of the marriage of Friederich Franz IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin to HRH Alexandra, Princess Royal of Great Britain and Ireland.
A number of pieces from this service, including the present lot, were sold in Hamburg at Galerie Dr. Phil. Hans Rudolph on October 4-5, 1951, lots 75-83. That sale included a pair of square entree dishes of similar design, by Carl Gustav Hallmuth, St. Petersburg, 1774, and French and Russian dinner plates, by Just Nicolaus Lundt and Nikifor Moschtjalkin, St. Petersburg, 1775-93.
A dish and cover, circa 1770, sold in these Rooms, October 26, 2001, lot 36; a pair of meat dishes, 1774, were offered at Christie's, London, November 23, 1999, lot 67 and German additions to the service, circa 1904, sold at Christie's, London, March 31, 1998, lots 116-119.