A PAIR OF LARGE RUSSIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED MALACHITE VASES
A PAIR OF LARGE RUSSIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED MALACHITE VASES
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Specified lots (sold and unsold) marked with a fil… Read more
A PAIR OF LARGE RUSSIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED MALACHITE VASES

SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Details
A PAIR OF LARGE RUSSIAN ORMOLU-MOUNTED MALACHITE VASES
SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY
Each with twin dragon handles flanking a mask and hung with a swag, terminating in claw feet, minor losses to malachite
20 in. (51 cm.) high
Provenance
Anonymous sale; Hampel, Munich, 25 March, 2015, lot 85.
Special notice
Specified lots (sold and unsold) marked with a filled square not collected from Christie’s by 5.00 pm on the day of the sale will, at our option, be removed to Cadogan Tate. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Cadogan Tate Ltd. All collections will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Brought to you by

Alexandra Cruden
Alexandra Cruden

Lot Essay

This impressive pair of vases epitomises the Russian predilection for precious hardstones with finely-chased ormolu mounts. From the mid-18th century, French furniture and objects arrived in St Petersburg to furnish the newly built palaces of the Empress and her Imperial court. However, a trade embargo enacted by Russia in 1793 prohibiting the import of French goods led to the development of workshops in St Petersburg capable of producing distinctive, highly sophisticated objects that compared and at times surpassed their French counterparts. Decorative bronzes were supplied by the Imperial bronze factory and were supported by the lapidary workshops which had been in existence since 1721 when the first Imperial workshop was established at Peterhof. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, the finest malachite came from mines in the Ural Mountains owned by the Demidoff family. The celebrated 1880 sale catalogue of the contents of the Florentine villa of Prince Demidoff (1812-1870), the Palais de San Donato, illustrates a collection replete with malachite works of art.

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