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Lot Essay
The Imperial Porcelain Factory produced a remarkable number of vases during the period of Nicholas I (1825-1855), widely considered the height of craftsmanship at the factory. Many of the vases were decorated with copies of Old Master or nineteenth century paintings, the finest of which were presented as gifts to the Imperial family at Christmas and Easter and were used to adorn palaces, mansions and pavilions. Some vases were intended as grand presentation gifts to both Russians and foreigners, the latter often as high-level diplomatic gifts.
Consistent with the European predilection for using academic paintings as porcelain design sources, the middle sections of the vases were treated by Imperial Porcelain Factory artists as a canvas on which to showcase their work after important paintings. The paintings were typically scaled-down, faithful copies of originals in the Hermitage, the Academy of Arts or from collections in the Imperial Palaces in the vicinity of St Petersburg. The names of both the original artist and factory artist were usually added to the paintings.
The present vases are painted after original works by the seventeenth century Dutch genre painters Jacob Ochtervelt (1634-1682) and Gerard ter Borch (1617-1681). Both original works by the artists were in the collection of the Hermitage at the time the vases were manufactured by the Imperial Porcelain Factory and were copied by painters from the factory.
The Messenger, painted by ter Borch, is recorded by Andrei Somov, curator of the Imperial Hermitage, in his catalogue of the collection (A. Somov, Imperial Hermitage. Catalogue of the painting gallery. [Imperatorskii Ermitazh. Katalog kartinnoi galerei.], St Petersburg, 1902, vol. II, p. 503, no. 872). The Messenger was originally part of the collection of Dutch Old Master and Flemish School works belonging to Saxon Count Heinrich von Brühl of Dresden, which Empress Catherine II purchased en bloc in 1769. The painting remains in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum to this day.
The Singer, painted by Ochtervelt, is also recorded by Somov (As Pevets, A. Somov, op. cit., p. 352, no. 891). An alternative title for the work is The Serenade (S. Donahue Kuretsky, The Paintings of Jacob Ochtervelt (1634-1682), Montclair, USA, 1979, p. 78, no. 59 and p. 146, fig. 58.). The painting was purchased for 1,500 roubles in 1826 and acquired from the collection of Prince M.A. Miloradovich. By 1930, it was with van Diemen and Benedict in Berlin and has since passed through several private collections. Its current whereabouts are unknown. The reproduction on the present porcelain vase is one of the only surviving records of the original painting.
Alexander Nesterov, the son of a workman from the Imperial Porcelain Factory, was appointed master painter in 1834. He worked at the factory until 1859 and was regarded as one of the best figure painters during the reign of Nicholas I.
The decoration used on the reverse of the bodies of the present vases, gilt scrolling foliage on a glazed cobalt ground, was also used on porcelain table services and smaller wares produced by the Imperial Porcelain Factory in the 1840-1850s. A pair of large porcelain vases, period of Nicholas I, circa 1854-1857, with similar decoration, is in the State Peterhof Museum Reserve (N.B. von Wolf (ed. T.N. Nosovich), Imperatorskii farforovyi zavod, 1744-1904, St. Petersburg, 2008, p. 476).
Consistent with the European predilection for using academic paintings as porcelain design sources, the middle sections of the vases were treated by Imperial Porcelain Factory artists as a canvas on which to showcase their work after important paintings. The paintings were typically scaled-down, faithful copies of originals in the Hermitage, the Academy of Arts or from collections in the Imperial Palaces in the vicinity of St Petersburg. The names of both the original artist and factory artist were usually added to the paintings.
The present vases are painted after original works by the seventeenth century Dutch genre painters Jacob Ochtervelt (1634-1682) and Gerard ter Borch (1617-1681). Both original works by the artists were in the collection of the Hermitage at the time the vases were manufactured by the Imperial Porcelain Factory and were copied by painters from the factory.
The Messenger, painted by ter Borch, is recorded by Andrei Somov, curator of the Imperial Hermitage, in his catalogue of the collection (A. Somov, Imperial Hermitage. Catalogue of the painting gallery. [Imperatorskii Ermitazh. Katalog kartinnoi galerei.], St Petersburg, 1902, vol. II, p. 503, no. 872). The Messenger was originally part of the collection of Dutch Old Master and Flemish School works belonging to Saxon Count Heinrich von Brühl of Dresden, which Empress Catherine II purchased en bloc in 1769. The painting remains in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum to this day.
The Singer, painted by Ochtervelt, is also recorded by Somov (As Pevets, A. Somov, op. cit., p. 352, no. 891). An alternative title for the work is The Serenade (S. Donahue Kuretsky, The Paintings of Jacob Ochtervelt (1634-1682), Montclair, USA, 1979, p. 78, no. 59 and p. 146, fig. 58.). The painting was purchased for 1,500 roubles in 1826 and acquired from the collection of Prince M.A. Miloradovich. By 1930, it was with van Diemen and Benedict in Berlin and has since passed through several private collections. Its current whereabouts are unknown. The reproduction on the present porcelain vase is one of the only surviving records of the original painting.
Alexander Nesterov, the son of a workman from the Imperial Porcelain Factory, was appointed master painter in 1834. He worked at the factory until 1859 and was regarded as one of the best figure painters during the reign of Nicholas I.
The decoration used on the reverse of the bodies of the present vases, gilt scrolling foliage on a glazed cobalt ground, was also used on porcelain table services and smaller wares produced by the Imperial Porcelain Factory in the 1840-1850s. A pair of large porcelain vases, period of Nicholas I, circa 1854-1857, with similar decoration, is in the State Peterhof Museum Reserve (N.B. von Wolf (ed. T.N. Nosovich), Imperatorskii farforovyi zavod, 1744-1904, St. Petersburg, 2008, p. 476).