Beschreibung:

A Porcelain Dessert Plate from the Dowry Service of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna
IMPERIAL PORCELAIN MANUFACTORY, PERIOD OF NICHOLAS I (1825–1855), 1844 Diameter 23.5 cm. Circular, with scalloped rim, the cavetto painted with officers of Her Majesty’s Chevalier Guard Regiment within gilt band, the border decorated with gilt foliate scrollwork on a lilac ground, the reverse titled “Rt de Chevalier-garde de S.M. L’Imperatrice”, signed “N Kornilov”, with a blue Imperial cypher for Nicholas I and dated 1844. Provenance: The offered plates were part of an extensive dowry of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna (1825–1844) for her wedding in 1844 to Frederick William Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1820–1884). Collection of Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel after Alexandra’s death. Collection of Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel (1823– 1899), sister of Prince Frederick William Collection of Vilhelm Carl, Baron von Blixen-Finecke (1863–1942), son of Princess Augusta. Thence by descent. International Autumn Sale , Bukowski, Stockholm, 29 November 2007, lots 1151–1180. Important private collection, Europe. Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna was the fourth child of Nicholas I and Alexandra Feodorovna and the first wife of Prince Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel. She was born in Tsarskoye Selo in 1825 and was affectionally known as “Adini”. Prince Frederick and Adini fell in love during his visit to St Petersburg in winter of 1843 and their engagement was announced on 28 June 1843. Unfortunately, Adini became ill with tuberculosis before her wedding and passed away shortly afterwards never having left Russia for her new home. At the insistence of the Emperor Nicholas I and the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the Dowry, which had already been shipped to Grand Duchy of Hesse, remained there at the disposal of the Prince. Related literature: For plates from the same service, see exhibition catalogue, St. Petersburg um 1800. Ein goldenes Zeitalter des russischen Zarenreichs. Meisterwerke und authentische Zeugnisse der Zeit aus der Staatlichen Ermitage, Leningrad , Recklingshausen, Aurel Bongers Verlag, 1990, p. 160. Sankt-Peterburg. Portret goroda i gorozhan , St Petersburg, Palace Editions, 2003, p. 86, Nos. 138 and 140. The collection of dessert plates presented for auction is part of a dinner service from the dowry of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna (1825–1844), the youngest daughter of Emperor Nicholas I. The service was made at the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in 1843–1844, during its heyday. At that time, Russian porcelain designers were creating unique service sets, distinguished by the originality of their shapes and decoration, and among these, the sets ordered by Nicholas I for his daughters occupy a very special place. The present collection of dessert plates is of indisputable value, owing both to the number of items of which it is composed and their outstanding provenance. The Imperial Porcelain Manufactory’s grandiose service sets, which once consisted of up to 4,000 items (for 200 or more place settings), have not survived in their entirety in either museum or private collections because of the dramatic events of the 20th century. As a rule, items representing any particular service do not exceed 100–150 items in a single collection, so that the set of dessert plates now offered, comprising 61 pieces of imperial porcelain, is all the more valuable. Especially noteworthy is the provenance of dessert plates, which enables their history to be traced from the Winter Palace, where the service in which they were included was kept – part of the dowry of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna for her marriage to Frederick William Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1820–1884). Following Alexandra Nikolaevna’s tragic death shortly after the wedding, the set was sent to Germany and passed into the possession of Prince Frederick William Some of the plates from among those offered for auction were gifted by him to his sister, Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel (1823–1899), and she then passed them on to her younger son, William Carl