PORCELAIN PLATE FROM THE "ST. ANDREW-SERVICE" FOR CZARINA ELIZABETH OF RUSSIA.
Meissen.
Around 1744-45.
Design J.F. Eberlein; um 1741-45.
Porcelain; enriched in colours and gold.
Scalloped edge with Gotzkowsky relief decor. On the edge; opposing each other; two
imperial double eagles with St. George in blazon. Below the cross of St. Andrew with the
initials SAPR for the Order of St. Andrew. On two additional fields on the rim as well as
in the center woodcut flowers.
Measurement: ?24cm.
Mark: Swordsmark; No 16 impressed; inv-no. Heremitage St. Petersburg with 1716.


Provenance:
Collection northern Germany.

Literature:
Kasakievitsch; Natalia: Entstehung und Geschichte des Andreas-Services. In: Keramos; 149; 1995; p.47-52.

The 'Order of St. Andrew the First-Called' was founded by Tsar Peter I in 1698 and was awarded for outstanding military achievements. Also it was the house order of the Romanov dynasty. The plate presented here originates from one of the most extensive diplomatic gifts ever commissioned from the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory. Friedrich August II of Saxony commissioned the service in order to strengthen the alliance with Tsarina Elizabeth of Russia. It was transported to and presented at the tsar's court in 1745 on the occasion of the wedding of the Russian heir to the throne; Karl Ulrich von Holstein-Gottdorf; with Sophie Auguste Friederike von Anhalt-Zerbst; the future Catherine the Great.
Art trade; Van Ham.