Eight items of Berlin KPM porcelain from a royal service for the Grand Dukes of Russia
Model no. 631. Comprising a small tureen and cover, a dinner plate, four dessert plates, and two dessert bowls. All pieces decorated with the double-headed eagle beneath the imperial crown holding the Russian coat of arms and the family arms of the house of Holstein-Gottorp. Blue sceptre mark, various incised and impressed marks, five pieces with inventory number G.28291 in green. H tureen 15.8, D 14.9 cm.
1778.
The order for this service is recorded in Friedrich II's royal invoices on 5th June 1778. The Prussian King ordered a "dinner service for the grand prince of Russia". It was to be decorated with "the Russian coat of arms and richly gilt". No delivery date is mentioned, but the service was presumably sent directly from the manufactory to Russia.
Grand Prince Pavel Petrovitch (1754 - 1801) was Duke of Holstein-Gottorp from 1762 to 1773 and ruled the Russian empire as Tsar Paul I until his death in 1801. Interestingly, he was presented with this service before ascending the throne and after renouncing the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp. Another possible occasion for the presentation may have been his marriage to Sophie Dorothee von Württemberg in 1776. The presentation of the service by Friedrich II is generally interpreted as an attempt to influence the crown prince politically.
The service was kept in Gatchina palace until the late 19th century, with a total of 357 items listed in the inventory of 1884. After 1917, the pieces were moved to the Gatchina Museum. In 1938, 58 items were sold by the Antikvariat (Soviet department for the purchase and sale of antiques), which was founded in 1925. From 1918 to 1938, the Soviet Union exported and brought onto the western market countless works of art under this department's name. The present works certainly originate from one of these sales.