Lot Essay
Sergei Vasil'evich Chekhonin (1878-1936) studied with Ilya Repin at the Tenisheva School from 1897-1900 and worked at the Abramtsevo Ceramics workshop of S. Mamontov from 1904 to 1907. He served as Artistic Director of the State Porcelain Factory in 1918-1923 and 1925-1927, and left Russia for Paris in 1928.
Little is known about this unusually large and rare plate, neither the occasion for which it was made nor how many examples were produced. The design is notable for incorporating a variety of styles of calligraphy, including Chekhonin's new technique, called blanc et noir, of 'emptying' the 'body' of each letter with scrolls. The red ribbon around the cavetto is derived from the service of the Order of St Alexander Nevsky, commissioned from the Gardner Factory by Empress Catherine II in 1780. Of the revolutionary leaders whose signatures appear on the border, at least five were victims of Stalin's purges.
For another example of this design, see Christie's, London, 6 October 1988, lot 292.
Little is known about this unusually large and rare plate, neither the occasion for which it was made nor how many examples were produced. The design is notable for incorporating a variety of styles of calligraphy, including Chekhonin's new technique, called blanc et noir, of 'emptying' the 'body' of each letter with scrolls. The red ribbon around the cavetto is derived from the service of the Order of St Alexander Nevsky, commissioned from the Gardner Factory by Empress Catherine II in 1780. Of the revolutionary leaders whose signatures appear on the border, at least five were victims of Stalin's purges.
For another example of this design, see Christie's, London, 6 October 1988, lot 292.