BY THE IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY, ST PETERSBURG, PERIOD OF NICHOLAS I, CIRCA 1850

Details

A RARE AND IMPORTANT LARGE IMPERIAL PORCELAIN VASE
BY THE IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY, ST PETERSBURG, PERIOD OF NICHOLAS I, CIRCA 1850
Of campana form, the body finely painted with grapevines and nasturtium flowers suspended from blue ribbons, after Ernst-Gotthilf Bosse, signed in Cyrillic 'O. Krasovski’ (lower right of one side) and inscribed in Russian 'after the p[ainting] by G. Bosse' (lower right of the opposite side), within two gilt bronze laurel and beaded bands, the large flared and everted rim moulded with gilt leaves and finely decorated with ciselé gilt scrolling vine, the body flanked by three colour gold reeded handles capped with acanthus rosettes, the lower section of the body moulded with large gilt acanthus leaves, on a similarly decorated socle, the spreading circular foot with gadrooning, on a square ormolu base, apparently unmarked, inscribed with numeral ‘3’ on the rim
40 ½ in. (103 cm.) high, with base

Provenance

With Adrian Alan, London.
Acquired from the above by the present owner, circa 2000.

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Lot Essay

A remarkable number of large porcelain vases were produced during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I (1825-1855). Most of them were commissioned as diplomatic gifts and showpieces for international fairs, boasting the grandeur and exceptional quality of the production of the Imperial Porcelain Factory.

FEODOR KRASOVSKI AND THE FLORAL DESIGNS

Floral and ornamental painting on porcelain vases, plates and plaques was of the highest quality during this period. Specialist flower and fruit artists from Russia such as Feodor and Konstantin Krasovski were employed during this period, together with painters from France including Pierre Boudet and Vivant Beaucé.

Feodor Krasovski (1820-1863) painted the floral design of this vase in astonishing detail after Ernst-Gotthilf Bosse. Krasovski was considered one of the best masters of flower painting at the Imperial Porcelain Factory as a result of his technical and artistic abilities, together with a meticulous attention to detail. His elaborate porcelain plaque ‘Brazilian Flora’ won the Imperial Porcelain Factory a gold medal at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851.

ERNST-GOTTHILF BOSSE (1785-1862)

Ernst-Gotthilf Bosse was predominantly known as a portraitist and copyist of Old Master paintings. Born in Riga, he studied in Dresden and Rome before moving to St Petersburg in 1820. He became an Imperial court painter and was sent to Italy to copy Renaissance paintings for the St Petersburg Academy of Arts, of which he was a professor.

Artists employed at the Porcelain Factory painted from nature at the botanical gardens, as well as using specimens from the factory's orangery to reproduce a wide variety of flowers and fruits. Some floral motifs would be copied from Dutch and Flemish paintings. It is possible that Bosse copied the design reproduced on the present vase from a work by Jan Davidsz De Heem, a 17th century still life painter known for his detailed cartouches of flowers and fruit decorated with blue ribbons.

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