A Set of Six Russian Soup Plates from the Kremlin Service, Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, St. Petersburg, Period of Nicholas I (1825-1855)

of circular, gently scalloped form, the centers with an ornate gilt flowerhead, the borders with brightly colored geometric and Russian Style strapwork in shades of iron red, emerald green, and lapis blue alternating with the Imperial Russian state coat-of-arms within a circular cartouche, the outer band of the cavetto with a band of emerald green flowerheads against an iron red band with gilt ornament.

Kremlin Palace
"Magnificent Imperial Russian Banqueting Services," Christie's London, March 21, 1967
Anonymous
Sotheby's New York, December 15, 1987, lot 200, illustrated

some minor rubbing to gilding and wear
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.

While artist-designer Fedor Solntsev's (1801-1892) used important jeweled and enameled goldwork acquired by the Romanovs in the seventeenth century as models for the majority of the Kremlin Service, his designs for the "white" portion of the service were entirely the product of his artistic imagination. Irina Gorbatova, Curator of Ceramics and Porcelain in the Kremlin Museums, notes that the so-called "white" part of the Kremlin Service was used as a second-course plate and for soups. She argues that Solntsev adapted the strapwork decorating books and architectural ornament of the sort he had recorded in his monumental Drevnosti rossiiskago gosudarstva (Antiquities of the Russian State, Moscow, 1849-1853) inspired his complex, intensely-colored border in which interlace ornament alternates with the Imperial coat-of-arms. On this service, see I. Gorbatova, "Kremlevskii serviz F.G. Solntseva," in Russkii farfor: 250 let istorii, Moscow, 1995, pp. 24-27 and Pod tsarskim venzelem, St. Petersburg, 2007, pp. 104-107.