A Very Fine Russian Imperial Presentation Porcelain Easter Egg, circa 1865

with a miniature of Archangel Gabriel after a painting by T.A. Neff, the Imperial Porcelain Factory (St. Petersburg). The Archangel Gabriel is depicted within oval gilt-tooled frame. His left hand is raised in blessing and in his right hand, he holds a white lily, symbol of the Madonna’s purity.

Diameter 2 3/4 in. (6,8 cm). Height 4 in. (10 cm).

Such porcelain eggs were made exclusively for the Emperor and Empress. They were personally presented to those close to the Royal Family by the Sovereigns on Easter Day. During the 19th century, the factory had a limited annual production of 20 to 50 eggs painted with religious subjects.

The reverse is decorated with a gilt-tooled five pointed star in a sunburst.

Condition: light scratches and contact marks to the gilt ground.

Signed in Cyrillic on the miniature with initials ‘V.K’ for Vasily Kornilov, a painter-decorator, worked at the factory in the 1860s, specialized in the painting of historical scenes and human figures.

Impressed numeral ’34’ under the base.