Porcelain cup and saucer from the Raphael service, the Imperial Porcelain Factory 1894, painted with panels depicting classical figures and fantastic beasts en grisaille. The service was commissioned in 1883 for the Tsarskoe Selo Palace. It was the most important service of the period. The ornament is derived from the wall paintings in the Raphael loggia of the Hermitage, decorated for Catherine II after the original Raphael frescoes in Vatican. The designs for the service were personally approved by the Emperor Alexander III. It took 20 years to complete the service.

Diameter 4 7/8 in. (12,3 cm). Height 1 7/8 in. (4,8 cm).

Although both pieces are dated 1894, they have two different cypher marks. The cup is painted with a cypher mark of Alexander III and the saucer with a mark of Nicholas II. Emperor Alexander III died in 1894 and his son – Nicholas ascended the throne.

The cup has a minor rim crack which is hardly visible and a repaired small chip on the inner side of the foot rim. Local, museum type restoration.