This ornate Emperor Alexander II dinner plate is from the Formal Service of the Tsar’s private yacht THE DERZHAVA (The Imperial Orb).
According to the archives, the service was recorded as “the formal service for the Imperial family” (see The Russian Imperial Yachts Late XVII – Early XX Century, page 39).
This is the most decorated yacht service of the Russian Tsars. It was designed by architect of the Court and professor of the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg Ippolit Monigetti (1819-1878).
The border is decorated with a jeweled gold Russian Imperial Orb on a royal blue ground (at 12 o’clock) and a jeweled gold cipher of Emperor Alexander II in Old Slavonic style (at 6 o’clock), further painted in gold with anchors and elaborately intertwined ship’s ropes forming double headed Russian eagles which are linked to the anchors with gold chains. The center is painted with a circle of rope knots.
The service was intended for 30 people. It was made at the Imperial Porcelain Factory between 1871 and 1874 with some later editions produced in 1878. Archival records indicate that there were 816 porcelain pieces from The Formal Service on board the yacht in 1890.
Diameter 9 3/4 in. (24.6 cm)
Condition: worn gilding of two lines that circle the center; intact gilding of the center and border; light rubbing to black ground of the border; no chips, no cracks, no restoration.
Marked with a green factory mark in the form of Alexander II cipher.
An attractive display plate from one of the rarest Russian Imperial yachts.
