BY THE IMPERIAL LAPIDARY WORKSHOPS, EKATERINBURG, 1896

This large and impressive charger was manufactured at the Ekaterinburg Lapidary Factory during its golden age in the late nineteenth century. The art of stonecutting has been prized in the Russian Empire since the early eighteenth century, utilizing the country’s mineral deposits and local craftsmen. A series of geological expeditions to the Ural and Altai mountains sponsored by the Academy of Arts in the second half of the eighteenth century yielded amazing discoveries of hardstones, including kalgan jasper, discovered in 1756.

Emperor Nicholas II acceded to the throne in 1894 but the coronation was held in May 1896, and was accompanied by a series of celebrations. Such large chargers were offered on the coronation days by visiting provincial dignitaries who presented the emperor with bread and salt in an elaborate ceremony. Of traditional circular form, the chargers vary in design and were executed by the leading silversmiths, lapidaries and jewelers of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

For a smaller kalgan jasper platter of very similar design from the Moscow Kremlin Museums, see T. Muntyan, Carl Fabergé and Masters of Stone Carving. Russian Gems, Moscow, 2011, p. 261, no. 316.