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Lot Essay
These dishes are described in Foelkersam's inventory in volume II, in 'Cat. 51' p. 40 for the large dish, No.1 and p. 41 for the deep dish, No.9.
EMPRESS ELIZABETH'S SERVICE DE PARIS - Lots 108 to 110:
Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1709-1762) was the daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine I. In 1741 she overthrew the regency government of the infant Ivan VI in a palace coup on 25 November 1741 and became Empress. She continued her father’s policy of strengthening Russia's position among the great European powers while fostering court culture on a lavish scale.
Because she had no recognized heir, Elizabeth designated her nephew, Grand Duke Peter Fyodorovich, later Emperor Peter III (1728-1762) as her successor upon her death in 1762. In the meantime, following his marriage in 1745, to Princess Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst, later Empress Catherine the Great (1729-1796), she installed the young couple at Oranienbaum, one of the principal imperial residences on the outskirts of St Petersburg. It was refurbished and furnished notably with the Paris Silver Service commissioned in the 1750s and supplied by the eminent Paris goldsmith Francois-Thomas Germain between 1757 and 1761. Some items were later made in 1767 and 1770 on the same model by the St Petersburg goldsmith Johan Friedrich Köpping. Following Empress Catherine the Great's coup d'état in 1762, deposing her husband, the new Empress ordered the Service to be moved to the Winter Palace.
In his 1907 inventory of the Imperial silver services, Foelkersam records only part of this vast service, as it is likely that most pieces were destroyed at the end of the 18th century during the reign of Emperor Paul, when much Imperial silver was melted for coin. The confusion raised by the appearance on the auction market of unmarked tureens (Sotheby’s London, 30 May 2012, lot 348 and Christie’s Geneva, 19 May 1998, lot 136) has led to the suggestion that the service could have been delivered earlier than the date indicated by Foelkersam. Certainly, Johan Friedrich Köpping was already working for the Imperial court from 1750 suggesting that the candlesticks (lot 111) dated 1753 and made by Germain may have been part of earlier commissions.
EMPRESS ELIZABETH'S SERVICE DE PARIS - Lots 108 to 110:
Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1709-1762) was the daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine I. In 1741 she overthrew the regency government of the infant Ivan VI in a palace coup on 25 November 1741 and became Empress. She continued her father’s policy of strengthening Russia's position among the great European powers while fostering court culture on a lavish scale.
Because she had no recognized heir, Elizabeth designated her nephew, Grand Duke Peter Fyodorovich, later Emperor Peter III (1728-1762) as her successor upon her death in 1762. In the meantime, following his marriage in 1745, to Princess Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst, later Empress Catherine the Great (1729-1796), she installed the young couple at Oranienbaum, one of the principal imperial residences on the outskirts of St Petersburg. It was refurbished and furnished notably with the Paris Silver Service commissioned in the 1750s and supplied by the eminent Paris goldsmith Francois-Thomas Germain between 1757 and 1761. Some items were later made in 1767 and 1770 on the same model by the St Petersburg goldsmith Johan Friedrich Köpping. Following Empress Catherine the Great's coup d'état in 1762, deposing her husband, the new Empress ordered the Service to be moved to the Winter Palace.
In his 1907 inventory of the Imperial silver services, Foelkersam records only part of this vast service, as it is likely that most pieces were destroyed at the end of the 18th century during the reign of Emperor Paul, when much Imperial silver was melted for coin. The confusion raised by the appearance on the auction market of unmarked tureens (Sotheby’s London, 30 May 2012, lot 348 and Christie’s Geneva, 19 May 1998, lot 136) has led to the suggestion that the service could have been delivered earlier than the date indicated by Foelkersam. Certainly, Johan Friedrich Köpping was already working for the Imperial court from 1750 suggesting that the candlesticks (lot 111) dated 1753 and made by Germain may have been part of earlier commissions.