A Russian Porcelain Soup Plate and Condiment Spoon from Her Majesty Elizaveta Petrovna's Own Service, Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, St. Petersburg, 1756-early 1760s

the soup plate circular with a scalloped border, decorated with a molded and gilded trellis pattern, the crossing points with molded blossoms painted pink with yellow centers; the spoon with shovel-shaped bowl and handle with conforming gilded trellis pattern and gilded border

The Winter Palace, London, 1982 (the soup plate)
Christie's New York, October 5, 1983, lot 500A (the condiment spoon)

the plate with some losses to gilding, particularly around the scalloped border, also with a small chip to the foot; the spoon with a chip to the top of the handle
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Empress Elizaveta Petrovna (reigned 1741-1761), a daughter of Emperor Peter the I of Russia, was a great patroness of the arts and culture in Russia. Her rule saw the founding of such influential institutions as the University of Moscow and the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. One of her greatest legacies was the founding of the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in St. Petersburg in 1744, an institution that has functioned continually to the present day. Early attempts sponsored by her father and her predecessor Anna Ioannovna (reigned 1730-1740) were unsuccesful; only during Elizabeth's reign was the ambition of creating Russian porcelain on Russian soil realized by the Russian scientist Dmitrii Vinogradov (1720-1758). The initial production were small, but delightful, pieces such as cane handles and snuffboxes. It was only in 1756 that Vinogradov and his workers were able to design and construct a kiln large enough to produce all the pieces of a full table service. The factory's first service was Empress Elizabeth's Own (Sobstvennyi) Table and Dessert Service. As Natalia Sipovskaia notes, "each piece and every detail of its decor -- from the molded trellis pattern to each garland of flowers -- was molded and sculpted by hand."  Initially designed for twenty-five persons, it included a great number of soup plates (glubokie tarelki) both with and without lids as well as several sorts of spoons. On this service, see I. Popova and N. Sipovskaia's essays on the factory's earliest services in Shedevry russkogo farfora XVIII veka iz sobraniia galerei "Popov i Ko.,"  Moscow, 2009, pp. 52-53; 56-62. For a comparable condiment spoon in the collection of Kuskovo, see Fragile: Tsarskie stoly i farfor revoliutsionerov, Frankfurt, 2008, cat. no. 7, pp. 81, 386.