circa 1870, unmarked, almost certainly by the Imperial Glass Factory, St. Petersburg
A very rare glass caviar bowl from the service made for Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna daughter of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.
The bowl is finely engraved with conjoined cipher of Maria Nikolaevna (1819-1876) and her husband Maximilian de Beauharnais Duke of Leuchtenberg (grandson of Napoleon’s first wife, the Empress Josephine): interlaced M and H (for Maria) with Cyrillic letter ‘ Л ‘ in center for Leuchtenberg, beneath Russian Imperial crown.
Total length with handle 17 cm (6 3/4 in.)
Condition: minor rim chips