An important Royal Copenhagen porcelain vase commemorating Tsar Nicholas II and Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt, later Tsarina Alexandra Fjodorovna
Decorated with finely painted atmospheric snowy scenes of the palaces of Amalienborg and Fredensborg divided by large tulips, white camelias, chrysanthemums and a birch tree. The shoulders of the vase with two oval reserves, one monogrammed NAII and one dated "14 NOVEMBRE 1894". Signed below Fredensborg palace "FAHallin 1894." Green stamped crown mark and DANMARK, blue wave mark, 4756. and K 5. in blue, signed "FAHallin" in blue, incised marks. H 35.5 cm.
Royal Copenhagen porcelain manufactory, 1894, decorated by August Hallin.
The young Tsarevich, born in 1868, decided shortly after the unexpected death of his father Tsar Alexander III and his coronation as Tsar Nicholas II on 1st November 1894, to carry out the planned wedding with the Hessian Princess Alix as soon as possible. The wedding ceremony took place on 26th November 1894. One can only assume that the vase was a wedding gift from the Danish court, the decoration of which was possibly intended to recall earlier visits by the Crown Prince.
The vase was painted by a skilled and extremely talented porcelain painter, August Hallin (1865 - 1947). He was employed at the royal manufactory from 1885 to 1895, after which he moved to Bing & Gröndahl.
Literature
For more on Hallin see Reineking von Bock/Dietze, Kopenhagener Porzellan und Steinzeug, Unikate des Jugendstil und Art Déco, Cologne 1991, p. 151.
Cf. Hayen, Kopenhagener Porzellan, London-Leipzig 1913, pl. LXVII, for a vase of the same form painted in 1890 by Arnold Krog (Hallin's tutor), from the collection of Tsar Alexander III.