a rare pair of russian opaline glass vases, imperial glass manufactory, circa 1835

of crater shape, in the "Etruscan" style, painted with palm fronds on an orange/red ground, each body with a reserve enclosing a neo-classical figure on each side, the square bases also bordered by palm fronds

A comparable vase is preserved in the collection of the State History Museum, Moscow. See, Arcadi Gaydamak, Russian Empire, Trefoil Press, Moscow/Paris, 2000, p.54 where the author observes that  "the most interesting works of this series were produced from sketches by the architect Aleksandr Briullov, brother of the famous painter Karl Briullov," and notes that these vases were modelled on ancient Greek red-figure and black-figure painting.  Another vase, or night light, of opaque white glass, similarly decorated, is preserved at Pavlovsk. See, Anatoly Kuchumov, Russian Decorative Art in the Collection of Pavlovsk Palace Museum, 1981, pl.108.