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Lot Essay
The service, of which these dishes and covers form part, was originally commissioned by the Empress Catherine the Great and added to by various French and Russian makers over a period of 15 years, from around 1770 onwards.
The Mecklenburg-Schwerin service appears to have been given by Catherine the Great's son Paul I to his daughter Helene on her marriage to Friedrich-Ludwig, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at Gatchina in October 1799. it is interesting that Emperor Paul also presented his daughter with a gold tea and coffee service by Iwar Wenfeldt Buch. That service, dated 1799, was created using a number of gold pieces which the Emperor had requisitioned from the imperial collection (Christie's, New York, 13 April 2016, lot 15).
A pair of vegetable dishes from this service, also in a distinctly French neo-classical style and attributed to attributed to Carl Gustav Hallmuth, were sold sold Christie's, New York, 21 October 2003, lot 255.
The tradition of presenting silver as wedding gifts to the Mecklenburg-Schwerin family, like to many other noble families of Europe and elsewhere, was continued into the 20th century when Frederick Franz IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1882-1945) was presented with a pair of massive two-handled jardinières. These jardinieres, made by O. Rohloff, Berlin, dated 1904 were sold Christie's, London, 31 March 1998, lot 116 and formed part of a large group of silver created to celebrate the marriage.
The Mecklenburg-Schwerin service appears to have been given by Catherine the Great's son Paul I to his daughter Helene on her marriage to Friedrich-Ludwig, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at Gatchina in October 1799. it is interesting that Emperor Paul also presented his daughter with a gold tea and coffee service by Iwar Wenfeldt Buch. That service, dated 1799, was created using a number of gold pieces which the Emperor had requisitioned from the imperial collection (Christie's, New York, 13 April 2016, lot 15).
A pair of vegetable dishes from this service, also in a distinctly French neo-classical style and attributed to attributed to Carl Gustav Hallmuth, were sold sold Christie's, New York, 21 October 2003, lot 255.
The tradition of presenting silver as wedding gifts to the Mecklenburg-Schwerin family, like to many other noble families of Europe and elsewhere, was continued into the 20th century when Frederick Franz IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1882-1945) was presented with a pair of massive two-handled jardinières. These jardinieres, made by O. Rohloff, Berlin, dated 1904 were sold Christie's, London, 31 March 1998, lot 116 and formed part of a large group of silver created to celebrate the marriage.