A Meissen dish from the 'Empress Elizabeth of Russia' service, circa 1741. Photo: Bonhams.

Moulded with Gotzkowsky-Relief modelled by Johann Friedrich Eberlein, a floral wreath in the well and four flower panels around the rim, painted in the centre with a bird perched on indianische Blumen, and four European estuary and landscape scenes around the rim, each within a gilt border and blue scale-ground cartouche edged with iron-red and purple scrolls, the pierced and barbed rim decorated with gilt stripes above a line border, 26.2cm diam., crossed swords mark in underglaze-blue, impressed 20, incised / inside footrim, Winter Palace inv. no. Г.Ч. 2667. cold-painted in red (tiny rim chips). Estimate £15,000 - 20,000 (€19,000 - 25,000)

Provenance: Given by Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna of Russia;
Imperial Court Marshall's Office, Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Inv. No. Г.Ч. 2667, until 1911;
Hermitage Palace, St. Petersburg

Literature: H. Jedding, Meissener Porzellan aus Hamburger Privatbesitz (1982), no. 143;
U. Pietsch, Frühes Meissener Porzellan aus einer Privatsammlung (1993), no. 82

Exhibited: Hamburg, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, 'Meissener Porzellan aus Hamburger Privatbesitz', 4 June-5 September 1982;
Lübeck, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte der Hansestadt Lübeck - St. Annen-Museum, 'Frühes Meissener Porzellan aus einer Privatsammlung', 14 November-31 January 1994;
Aachen, Museen der Stadt Aachen - Couven Museum, 'Frühes Meissener Porzellan aus einer Privatsammlung', 26 February-20 April 1994

This service has been published in detail by Claus Boltz, and more recently, Lydia Liackhova, but its history remains incomplete. Johann Friedrich Eberlein's work records, published by Claus Boltz, show that work began on the service at the end of April 1741, at which time Russia was ruled by Anna Leopoldovna, Princess of Mecklenburg, on behalf of her two-month old son, Emperor Ivan VI. The regent had a romance with the Saxon envoy, Count zu Lynar, which may lend weight to the hypothesis that the service was ordered for her. According to the Meissen manufactory archives, the service was still in production at the end of November 1741. Peter I's daughter, Elizabeth Petrovna, seized power in a palace coup one week later, so the service could not have been delivered to Anna Leopoldovna, but was presumably delivered to the new Empress.

This suggestion is questioned, however, by a report by the Saxon ambassador to Russia, Nicolaus Williband Baron von Gersdorf, who reported in the summer of 1744 that the Empress Elizabeth had told him that she did not believe that she has a complete service of [Meissen] porcelain (quoted by Liackhova, op.cit., p. 72). This was quickly remedied by the magnificent gift of the St. Andrew Service in 1745, which demonstrates both the high value placed upon Meissen porcelain as a diplomatic gift, and the importance to Saxony of Russian support in their conflict with Prussia.

Another riddle associated with this service is that appears to have been produced in two groups: the first, to which the present plate belongs, is decorated with indianische Blumen and has mainly harbour scenes around the rims; the second group, which appears to date from around 1744-45, is painted with more naturalistic botanical flower studies and has Dutch-style landscapes and gallant scenes around the rim, among other smaller differences.

Of the sixty-nine pieces from this service in the Hermitage in 1910, twenty-seven were apportioned in 1929 to 'Gostorg' - an organisation founded after the revolution to dispose of art works from Russian museums - for sale inside Russia; ten pieces were received by the company 'Antiquariat' in 1932 for sale outside of Russia; and in October 1930, sixteen pieces, including seven plates, appeared at auction in Berlin (Rudolph Lepke's Kunst-Auctions-Haus, 21-22 October 1930, lot 203) in a sale of property from the Hermitage.

Another dish from the service is in the Arnhold Collection, New York (M. Cassidy-Geiger, The Arnhold Collection of Meissen Porcelain 1710-50 (2008), no. 208); a plate from the service is in the Wark Collection, The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Jacksonville, Florida (published by U. Pietsch, Early Meissen Porcelain (2011), no. 567).

Bonhams. FINE EUROPEAN CERAMICS. London, New Bond Street, 18 Jun 2014 - http://www.bonhams.com/