.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Jean Baptiste Vassou, maître in 1767.
Jacques-Antoine Leclere, maître in 1780.
The printed Cyrillic labels for Glavnaya Dacha on this pair of consoles desserte are inventory labels from the Tsarskoe Selo palace complex. It was originally built as Peter the Great's (d. 1725) official Embassy to the West in 1697-98 and substantially expanded under Elizabeth I (d.1762) and later Catherine the Great (d.1796). Her insatiable passion for building and collecting combined with Russia's phenomenal wealth, acquired partly through extensive forestry and mining, enabled the construction of palaces of unsurpassed richness and grandeur. Catherine became enamored with the French Neoclassical style of the 1770's and spent the rest of her life remodeling and enlarging Tsarskoe Selo, which included building the Alexander Palace, the magnificent Amber Rooms and Great Hall in the Catherine Palace. Her architects also designed the interiors and commissioned local craftsmen to execute their designs to supplement the vast quantities of furniture and objects ordered from Paris.
Although it is unclear when the consoles left Tsarskoe Selo, the majority of the Neoclassical interior furnishings were purchased during Catherine's reign. Glavnaya Dacha could refer to a specific, currently unknown ancillary building or the consoles also could have arrived from another Imperial palace at a later date. The printed label is from the latter half of the 19th century and both Catherine's son, Paul I, and grandson, Alexander I, were equally enamored with Neoclassical interiors. They also purchased hundreds of items from France and these consoles could have been moved from one of their residences.
Jacques-Antoine Leclere, maître in 1780.
The printed Cyrillic labels for Glavnaya Dacha on this pair of consoles desserte are inventory labels from the Tsarskoe Selo palace complex. It was originally built as Peter the Great's (d. 1725) official Embassy to the West in 1697-98 and substantially expanded under Elizabeth I (d.1762) and later Catherine the Great (d.1796). Her insatiable passion for building and collecting combined with Russia's phenomenal wealth, acquired partly through extensive forestry and mining, enabled the construction of palaces of unsurpassed richness and grandeur. Catherine became enamored with the French Neoclassical style of the 1770's and spent the rest of her life remodeling and enlarging Tsarskoe Selo, which included building the Alexander Palace, the magnificent Amber Rooms and Great Hall in the Catherine Palace. Her architects also designed the interiors and commissioned local craftsmen to execute their designs to supplement the vast quantities of furniture and objects ordered from Paris.
Although it is unclear when the consoles left Tsarskoe Selo, the majority of the Neoclassical interior furnishings were purchased during Catherine's reign. Glavnaya Dacha could refer to a specific, currently unknown ancillary building or the consoles also could have arrived from another Imperial palace at a later date. The printed label is from the latter half of the 19th century and both Catherine's son, Paul I, and grandson, Alexander I, were equally enamored with Neoclassical interiors. They also purchased hundreds of items from France and these consoles could have been moved from one of their residences.