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拍品专文
THE GUBERNATORIAL SERVICES
From 1775, Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (r.1762-1796), commissioned at least thirteen dinner-services, known as the Gubernatorial Services, made variously in Paris, Augsburg, and London to be used in the regional capitals of the Russian Empire avoiding the expense and risk of shipping extensive silver services for the Empress’ use as she toured her realm. These services which included Riga, Ekaterinoslav, Moscow, Nizhnyi Novgorod, Kazan, Iaroslavl, Tula, St. Petersburg, Perm, Tver and Kharkov are listed in Catherine’s secretary, A. V. Khrapovitskii's diary, edited and published by N. Barsukov in 1874 (see Baron Foelkersam, Inventaire de l’Argenterie conservé dans les gardemeubles des Palais Impériaux, St. Petersburg, 1907).
A COLLABORATIVE COMMISSION
The Riga service delivered on 4 April 1784, during the governorship of Count George von Browne (1698-1792) can be identified by the prick engraved Cyrillic initials ‘RIZH’, the Russian adjectival form of the name of the city of Riga. It is listed in considerable detail in two inventories -The Verzeichnis von dem Silbernen Tisch Service, [Inventory of the Silver Table Service] of April 1784, including the weights, and the Die benutzungdes Rigaer Gouvernementsservices: Besuch des Herzogs von Kurland [The Use of the Riga Gubernatorial Service: Visit of the Duke of Kurland] of January 1795, quoted by Dr. B. R. Kommer, Zirbelnuß und Zarenadle, Augsburger Silber für Katharina II von Rußland, Augsburg, 1997, pp. 40-44 and pp. 35-37 respectively. Made for forty people, it comprised amongst other four oval tureens, eight candelabra, twenty-four candlesticks, eight wine-coolers (including the present set of four and a pair sold Christie’s, Paris, 8 November 2013, lot 137), sauceboats, plates, dishes and dish covers and other smaller items with a total weight in excess of 17,000 oz.
The extent of the service meant that it was not possible for it to be produced in a single workshop in a reasonable time. Instead, most of the leading Augsburg goldsmiths of the late 18th century collaborated in its production, probably working under the direction of a single retailer. Besides the workshop of Johann-Christian Neuss pieces from the service are known to have been made by Sebald Heinrich Blau, Johann Philipp Heckenhauer, Philipp Friedrich Bruglocher, Johann Georg I Stenglin, Johann Jakob and Hermann Grabe.
LITTLE USED
The Riga Service, in common with the other Gubernatorial Services, conveyed the power and authority of the Empress through its scale and splendour. The documentary evidence shows that the Riga Service was not used a great deal, as confirmed by the remarkable condition of the surviving pieces.
On its arrival in Riga in 1784, Governor Count George von Browne ordered an inventory to be undertaken of the entire service. This inventory was conducted by Nikifor Kargorodow, described by Kommer as the ‘Collegian Assessor’ (see Kommer, op. cit., pp. 40-44). This was a precursor to the service being packed and stored. It was decreed that, should pieces be wanted for use, an application should be made listing the pieces that were required. From this list a receipt was prepared to check the pieces in and out of storage. There seems to be no record of such an application being made until January 1795 when a selection of pieces is recorded, including sauceboats and candelabra to be used at a reception in honour of Peter von Biron, Duke of Kurland (1724-1800).
The following year, after the death of Catherine the Great on 17 November 1796, her son, now Paul I, Emperor of Russia took a very different view of the Gubernatorial Services. He decided that they should be sent to the Imperial Court in St. Petersburg. To this end instruction was given on 14 December 1796 to Baron Meyerdorf that the entire service was being recalled by the Emperor. On 2 January 1797, under supervision of Michael Morosow, Second Lieutenant of the 3rd Battalion of Riga, the service was packed into its cases, locked and sealed for its journey to St. Petersburg.
REDISCOVERED IN 1925
Unlike much of the other silver from the Russian Imperial Collection, the Riga Service is not included in Baron Foelkersam’s inventory published in 1907 and the whereabouts, and indeed the very existence, of the Riga Service was unknown until pieces reappeared in an auction of the Demidoff Collection held by the firm Frederik Müller et Cie. in Amsterdam in June 1925. The service was divided into three lots, 895-897, in the sale. A group, presumably representative, photograph of many pieces from the service, including five wine-coolers, displayed on a mirrored plateau was included in the catalogue (Kommer, op. cit. 47-4, pl. 5)." This would suggest that at least some of the service was either given to or purchased on the open market by the Russian industrialist and collector Anatole Demidof, Prince of San Donato (1812-1870) at some point in the 19th century.
The Gubernatorial Services were a continuation of a tradition that began much earlier in the reign of Catherine the Great. The presentations of these Imperial services were made to both official bodies and to individuals. The lavish scale of her generosity is perhaps best illustrated by the presentation, in 1765 on the anniversary of her accession, of no less than 33 silver services to her stalwarts, many of whom had been directly or indirectly involved in the coup against her husband (J. T. Alexander, Catherine the Great; Life and Legend, Oxford, 1989, p. 99).
From 1775, Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (r.1762-1796), commissioned at least thirteen dinner-services, known as the Gubernatorial Services, made variously in Paris, Augsburg, and London to be used in the regional capitals of the Russian Empire avoiding the expense and risk of shipping extensive silver services for the Empress’ use as she toured her realm. These services which included Riga, Ekaterinoslav, Moscow, Nizhnyi Novgorod, Kazan, Iaroslavl, Tula, St. Petersburg, Perm, Tver and Kharkov are listed in Catherine’s secretary, A. V. Khrapovitskii's diary, edited and published by N. Barsukov in 1874 (see Baron Foelkersam, Inventaire de l’Argenterie conservé dans les gardemeubles des Palais Impériaux, St. Petersburg, 1907).
A COLLABORATIVE COMMISSION
The Riga service delivered on 4 April 1784, during the governorship of Count George von Browne (1698-1792) can be identified by the prick engraved Cyrillic initials ‘RIZH’, the Russian adjectival form of the name of the city of Riga. It is listed in considerable detail in two inventories -The Verzeichnis von dem Silbernen Tisch Service, [Inventory of the Silver Table Service] of April 1784, including the weights, and the Die benutzungdes Rigaer Gouvernementsservices: Besuch des Herzogs von Kurland [The Use of the Riga Gubernatorial Service: Visit of the Duke of Kurland] of January 1795, quoted by Dr. B. R. Kommer, Zirbelnuß und Zarenadle, Augsburger Silber für Katharina II von Rußland, Augsburg, 1997, pp. 40-44 and pp. 35-37 respectively. Made for forty people, it comprised amongst other four oval tureens, eight candelabra, twenty-four candlesticks, eight wine-coolers (including the present set of four and a pair sold Christie’s, Paris, 8 November 2013, lot 137), sauceboats, plates, dishes and dish covers and other smaller items with a total weight in excess of 17,000 oz.
The extent of the service meant that it was not possible for it to be produced in a single workshop in a reasonable time. Instead, most of the leading Augsburg goldsmiths of the late 18th century collaborated in its production, probably working under the direction of a single retailer. Besides the workshop of Johann-Christian Neuss pieces from the service are known to have been made by Sebald Heinrich Blau, Johann Philipp Heckenhauer, Philipp Friedrich Bruglocher, Johann Georg I Stenglin, Johann Jakob and Hermann Grabe.
LITTLE USED
The Riga Service, in common with the other Gubernatorial Services, conveyed the power and authority of the Empress through its scale and splendour. The documentary evidence shows that the Riga Service was not used a great deal, as confirmed by the remarkable condition of the surviving pieces.
On its arrival in Riga in 1784, Governor Count George von Browne ordered an inventory to be undertaken of the entire service. This inventory was conducted by Nikifor Kargorodow, described by Kommer as the ‘Collegian Assessor’ (see Kommer, op. cit., pp. 40-44). This was a precursor to the service being packed and stored. It was decreed that, should pieces be wanted for use, an application should be made listing the pieces that were required. From this list a receipt was prepared to check the pieces in and out of storage. There seems to be no record of such an application being made until January 1795 when a selection of pieces is recorded, including sauceboats and candelabra to be used at a reception in honour of Peter von Biron, Duke of Kurland (1724-1800).
The following year, after the death of Catherine the Great on 17 November 1796, her son, now Paul I, Emperor of Russia took a very different view of the Gubernatorial Services. He decided that they should be sent to the Imperial Court in St. Petersburg. To this end instruction was given on 14 December 1796 to Baron Meyerdorf that the entire service was being recalled by the Emperor. On 2 January 1797, under supervision of Michael Morosow, Second Lieutenant of the 3rd Battalion of Riga, the service was packed into its cases, locked and sealed for its journey to St. Petersburg.
REDISCOVERED IN 1925
Unlike much of the other silver from the Russian Imperial Collection, the Riga Service is not included in Baron Foelkersam’s inventory published in 1907 and the whereabouts, and indeed the very existence, of the Riga Service was unknown until pieces reappeared in an auction of the Demidoff Collection held by the firm Frederik Müller et Cie. in Amsterdam in June 1925. The service was divided into three lots, 895-897, in the sale. A group, presumably representative, photograph of many pieces from the service, including five wine-coolers, displayed on a mirrored plateau was included in the catalogue (Kommer, op. cit. 47-4, pl. 5)." This would suggest that at least some of the service was either given to or purchased on the open market by the Russian industrialist and collector Anatole Demidof, Prince of San Donato (1812-1870) at some point in the 19th century.
The Gubernatorial Services were a continuation of a tradition that began much earlier in the reign of Catherine the Great. The presentations of these Imperial services were made to both official bodies and to individuals. The lavish scale of her generosity is perhaps best illustrated by the presentation, in 1765 on the anniversary of her accession, of no less than 33 silver services to her stalwarts, many of whom had been directly or indirectly involved in the coup against her husband (J. T. Alexander, Catherine the Great; Life and Legend, Oxford, 1989, p. 99).