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Lot Essay
These pieces are from the Berlin service made for Grand Duke Paul Petrovich (1754-1801), who became Tsar Paul I of Russia in 1796. The armorial panels relate to the House of Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp rather than his marriages. A dessert plate from the service illustrated in E. Köllmann and M. Jarchow, Berliner Porzellan, Munich, 1987, Vol. II, p. 449, fig. 291a was sold Christie's, London, 8 October 2002, lot 222.
Paul was the son of Tsar Peter III and Catherine the Great. His first wife, Wilhelmina Natalia, died in 1776 and in the same year he married Sophia Maria, daughter of Friedrich Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. Catherine the Great's maternal grandfather was Christian Augustus, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and her husband's father was Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. Paul succeeded his mother in 1796 becoming Tsar Paul I. His despotic rule and fits of rage led to his assassination in 1801 and to the succession of his son Alexander I to the throne.
Paul was the son of Tsar Peter III and Catherine the Great. His first wife, Wilhelmina Natalia, died in 1776 and in the same year he married Sophia Maria, daughter of Friedrich Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. Catherine the Great's maternal grandfather was Christian Augustus, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and her husband's father was Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. Paul succeeded his mother in 1796 becoming Tsar Paul I. His despotic rule and fits of rage led to his assassination in 1801 and to the succession of his son Alexander I to the throne.