CIRCA 1850, POSSIBLY BY THE IMPERIAL GLASS FACTORY

Precious red-glass, often called 'ruby', was probably first developed in Russia by the eminent scientist Mikhail Lomonosov (1711-1765), who provided recipes for coloured glass to the Imperial Glass Factory in 1752. Pyotr Druzhinin, Sidor Yurasov and Ivan Khyrov are also known to have mastered techniques for coloured glass around 1770 (N. Asharina et. al., Russian Glass, Moscow, 1990, p. 22). Coloured glass remained among the most prized products of the Imperial Glass Factory throughout the late 18th and 19th Centuries. Intricately-cut pieces were produced in red-glass from circa 1820 to 1850, of which the present vase is an outstanding example.