A Meissen porcelain plate from the St. Andrew's service made for Tsarina Elisabeth I
Gotzkowsky model, the rim decorated with the Russian imperial eagle above the Cross of St. Andrew. With "woodcut" style flowers scattered throughout and a gilt lace border. Blue crossed swords mark, dreher's number 16, inventory no. in red lacquer (cyrillic) ГЧ 1716. D 24.1 cm.
C. 1744/ 45, model by Johann Friedrich Eberlein.
In 1745, as a sign of the strengthening of the Saxon-Russian alliance, the Russian Tsarina Elizabeth I was presented with what is probably one of the most extensive services ever produced by the Meissen manufactory, the so-called "St. Andrew's Service". Cassidy-Geiger assumes that the announcement of the marriage of the heir to the Russian throne Karl Peter Ulrich von Holstein-Gottorf (later Tsar Peter III Fedorovich) to Sophie Auguste Friederike von Anhalt Zerbst (later Tsarina Katharina II) in February 1745 was what originally prompted the creation of the service, which had already been in production for six months and was finally presented as a gift on occasion of their marriage on 2nd September 1745. The Tsarina was so proud of the gift that she initially kept the elaborately designed service in her private rooms. It was probably used for the first time on 12th December 1745 for the annual court banquet of the Order of St. Andrew.
Provenance
Former Russian Imperial Collection St. Petersburg, then State Hermitage.
Berlin private collection.
Literature
Cf. Pietsch (ed.), Meißen für die Zaren. Porzellan als Mittel sächsisch-russischer Politik im 18. Jh., Munich 2004, p. 66 ff., cat. no. 84 ff.
Cf. also Cassidy Geiger, Fragile Diplomacy. Meissen Porcelain for European Courts ca. 1710 - 63, New Haven-London 2007, p. 74 f., fig. 4-22.
Further items from this service in The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, inv. nos. ГЧ-1746, ГЧ-1617, ГЧ-1734.