Of amphora form, both sides of the body finely painted with vari-color foliate scrolls, centering circular cartouches with gilt ciselé landscapes, surmounted by two pegasi, within gilt borders and bands of molded anthemia and rosettes on a white ground, flanked by two gilt winged caryatid-form handles supporting baskets of flowers, with royal blue waisted flared neck and everted gilt rim, the lower section gilt and molded with rising palmettes, acanthus and rosettes, with royal blue spreading circular foot, on a square ormolu base, apparently unmarked
30³⁄₈ in. (77.2 cm.) high

Conditions of Sale
FAQs
This lot is offered by Christie's Inc

Brought to you by

Lot Essay

The Imperial Porcelain Factory started to produce large vases for imperial presentations and for the decoration of palaces during the reign of Emperor Alexander I in 1801-1825. The tradition was then continued by Emperor Nicholas I, who commissioned and awarded a remarkable number of vases. Under his patronage, the production of the factory reached its apogee, and works from this period are the finest examples of palace and presentation vases produced.

Vases produced by the Imperial Porcelain Factory would either be decorated with copies of Old Master works, or painted with the designs of the factory artists. The foliate scrolling design on the present vase is almost identical to an early 1830s ornament from the Imperial Porcelain Factory archives, but features two pegasi above the cartouche instead of the fruit basket.

The present vase was produced by the Imperial Porcelain Factory circa 1830, at the beginning of the reign of Nicholas I (1825-1855), and retains many neo-classical influences from the reign of his predecessor, Alexander I (1800-1825). The form and decoration are closely related to two pairs of vases from the Peterhof Museum (see N.B. von Wolf (ed. V.V. Znamenov), Imperatorskii farforovyi zavod, 1744-1904, St Petersburg, 2008, pp. 325, 491). A pair of similar vases was sold at Christie's, London, 26 November 2018, lot 246.