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Lot Essay
The Orlov Breakfast and Toilette Services were commissioned by Catherine II from the Imperial Porcelain Factory in the 1760s for her favourite, Count Grigorii Grigorievich Orlov, who was instrumental in the Grand Duchess Catherine's ascent to the throne in 1762. Designed after drawings by G. Kozlov, each piece is decorated with the interlaced Cyrillic monogram 'GGO' and with trophies and scenes which refer to Count Orlov's military career. The Orlov Toilette service, numbering approximately 300 pieces, was unrecorded until 1912, when a number of items from the collection of Count V. A. Orlov Davidov were included in the St Petersburg exhibition of 'Lomonosov and the Elisabethan Era'. There is no mention of the service in the monumental history of the Imperial Porcelain Factory by Baron N. B. Wolf, published in 1907.
It is widely accepted that this unique porcelain ensemble, comprising more than 300 pieces, was executed by the Imperial Porcelain Factory between 1763 and 1770. No similar porcelain service has ever been manufactured nor can be viewed as comparable, bearing in mind the number of items produced but more especially the uniqueness of the design incorporating gold and silver on porcelain.
It is widely accepted that this unique porcelain ensemble, comprising more than 300 pieces, was executed by the Imperial Porcelain Factory between 1763 and 1770. No similar porcelain service has ever been manufactured nor can be viewed as comparable, bearing in mind the number of items produced but more especially the uniqueness of the design incorporating gold and silver on porcelain.