Porcelain tureen and gravy boat, circa 1900, from the service made for Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (1857-1905, son of Alexander II, Governor of Moscow), and his wife Grand Duchess Elizabeth (1864-1918, sister of Empress Alexandra Fedorovna), with royal blue borders and gilded rims, decorated with two-tone gold conjoined Cyrillic monograms: ‘C’ for Sergei and ‘E’ for Elizabeth under large Imperial crown. The gravy boat has a gold Kuznetsov factory mark which was reserved for important commissions only, the tureen is unmarked but unquestionably by the same factory as well.

A shell-shaped dish from this service from the collection of the Hillwood museum (Washington, D.C.), also by Kuznetsov factory, is published in “Russian Porcelains” by Marvin C. Ross, page 403.

The gravy boat is monogramed on both sides. Condition: a tiny firing crack on one of the handles, no chips, mostly intact gilding.

Kuznetsov mark with Imperial eagle in gold under the base.

Width of the tureen 11 3/4 in. (29,7 cm), height 7 in. (17,2 cm).

The tureen has a small rim chip and an almost unnoticeable chip underneath one of the handles. Intact gilding.