HISTORICAL IMPERIAL RUSSIAN: a pair of silver-mounted ruby glass dessert tazzas from the dowry of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanovaby Carl Johan Tegelsten, assay master Dmitry Ilyich Tverskoy, St Petersburg 1846, 84 standard, one incuse stamped N:6, scratched beneath N:6 and the other N:13
Shaped circular form, a removable ruby cut-glass bowl featuring diamond patterns and leaf motifs, resting on a plain polished circular silver plate, the ruby cut-glass baluster stem attached via a connecting silver disc to a ruby glass domed spreading foot, mounted within an intricately chased silver acanthus base, terminating in four scroll feet, height 21cm, diameter plate 25cm. (2)FootnotesA similar pair of silver mounted ruby glass tazzas from the wedding dowry service of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna (the sister of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna) by Carl Tegelsten, St Peterburg 1844, were sold at Sotheby's London on 9th June 2010 in the 'Russian Works of Art, Fabergé and Icons' auction, Lot 574.
Provenance
From the wedding dowry service ordered by Tsar Nicholas I for his daughter, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, the future Queen Olga of Württemberg (1822-1892).
History
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna (1822-1892) was the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas I (1796-1855) and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna (1798-1860), born Charlotte of Prussia. Olga grew up as part of a close family of eight sisters and brothers. She had two elder siblings: Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, and five younger siblings: Grand Duchess Alexandra of Russia, Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia (died in infancy), Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia and Grand Duke Michael of Russia. Attractive, cultured and intelligent, she was considered to be one of the most eligible princesses in Europe. She spoke several languages, and was fond of music and painting. Olga met Crown Prince Charles of Württemberg in early 1846 in Palermo, and their subsequent marriage was a political and dynastic decision rather than a love match.
As an overt indicator of wealth and status, the sumptuous wedding dowry from Olga's father the Tsar included furs, furniture sets, carriages, porcelain, bed linen, glass, jewellery and an expansive silver service. These two dessert tazzas came from what was known as the 'Golden Ruby' dessert service, which included a large suite of Russian ruby glass from the Imperial Russian Glass Manufactory. This bespoke service included dessert plates and glasses, plus various silver mounted serving dishes. The Tsar was so impressed by this striking service that he ordered an almost identical set for his other daughter's wedding dowry, the Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna, which may be seen today in the Schloss Fasanerie Museum in Eichenzell near Fulda in Germany ('Die Mitgift einer Zarentochter' Exhibition Catalogue 1997/98).
Tsar Nicholas I insisted that everything created for Olga's dowry (and also those of his other two daughters) was to be in the "latest English fashion, particularly beautiful and fine" (M. N. Lopato, 'Iuveliery starogo Peterburga', St Petersburg, 2006, p. 128). The service commissioned by the Emperor for Olga included almost five hundred silver items, and the responsibility to fulfil this order fell to the main supplier of silver and bronzes in St Petersburg, the renowned English retailer 'Nicholls and Plincke'.
Charles Nicholls and William Plincke (in Russian: Николс и Плинке) were two English men trading in St Petersburg who were granted Russian citizenship in 1804. They were elevated to Merchants of the 1st Guild in 1808 and began trading to capitalise on an increased interest in English products in the first half of the 19th Century, at first importing things from England, but also retailing items made in the workshops of Russian craftsmen. Around 1815 they took over a business founded by their fellow countryman John Pickersgill (1765-1841), which was renamed 'William Plincke's English Shop'. In 1829 they established 'Messrs. Nicholls and Plincke's Magasin Anglais' which supplied luxury goods to the Russian market. 'Magasin Anglais' subsequently became one of the most celebrated shops in Russia and was considered the leading retailer of luxury goods to the aristocracy, with a virtual monopoly in the supply of artistic silverware to the Imperial Court (before eventually being supplanted by Carl Fabergé).
The silversmith Carl Johan Tegelsten, of Finnish descent, moved to St Petersburg in 1817. He built up a prosperous business during the next thirty-five years, supplying work to some of the city's best retail houses. Tegelsten's longtime connection with 'Nicholls and Plincke' is of particular interest as he produced for them a range of pieces in the then fashionable English taste, of which this pair of tazzas are a striking example, characterised by rococo motifs and naturalistic foliage.
When Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia married Crown Prince Charles of Württemberg (1823-1891) on 13th July 1846 at the Peterhof Palace near St. Petersburg, a grand celebration was held at the Tsar's summer palace, and the extensive dowry was then taken by the newlyweds to Württemberg in Germany. They resided in both the Villa Berg in Stuttgart and the Kloster Hofen in Friedrichshafen, located on the shore of Lake Constance in southern Germany. In 1864, Karl acceded the throne and became the third King of Württemberg, making Olga its Queen. When her husband died on 6 October 1891, Olga became Queen Dowager of Württemberg. She died one year later, on 30 October 1892 in Friedrichshafen aged 70, and was buried in the crypt of the Old Castle in Stuttgart.
At the beginning of the 20th century, with the turbulence in Russia, the Grand Duchess Olga's extravagant service was distributed amongst various museums and private collections. Today, nineteen pieces of the original silver service are kept in the storeroom of the Peterhof State Museum, and other pieces are exhibited in the Fabergé Museum in St Petersburg. Few silver items from the Grand Duchess's dowry are still in private hands, but some pieces have been sold at auction over the years, including an impressive tureen from the Van Cliburn Collection that was previously acquired in Vienna in the 1960s (Christie's New York, 17 May 2012, 'The Van Cliburn Collection', lot 21). As such, this pair of silver mounted ruby glass dessert tazzas, steeped in Imperial Russian history, are a rarity to appear on the open market.
Literature
John Culme, 'Marks, Fine Antique Silver', (London: A. M. Marks Limited, 2005), pp.82-85 with photographs
M. N. Lopato, 'Iuveliery starogo Peterburga', (St Petersburg: 2006), p.128
Schloss Fasanerie Museum in Eichenzell, 'Die Mitgift einer Zarentochter' Exhibition Catalogue 1997/98
HISTORICAL IMPERIAL RUSSIAN: a pair of silver-mounted ruby glass dessert tazzas from the dowry of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanovaby Carl Johan Tegelsten, assay master Dmitry Ilyich Tverskoy, St Petersburg 1846, 84 standard, one incuse stamped N:6, scratched beneath N:6 and the other N:13
Shaped circular form, a removable ruby cut-glass bowl featuring diamond patterns and leaf motifs, resting on a plain polished circular silver plate, the ruby cut-glass baluster stem attached via a connecting silver disc to a ruby glass domed spreading foot, mounted within an intricately chased silver acanthus base, terminating in four scroll feet, height 21cm, diameter plate 25cm. (2)FootnotesA similar pair of silver mounted ruby glass tazzas from the wedding dowry service of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna (the sister of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna) by Carl Tegelsten, St Peterburg 1844, were sold at Sotheby's London on 9th June 2010 in the 'Russian Works of Art, Fabergé and Icons' auction, Lot 574.
Provenance
From the wedding dowry service ordered by Tsar Nicholas I for his daughter, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, the future Queen Olga of Württemberg (1822-1892).
History
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna (1822-1892) was the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas I (1796-1855) and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna (1798-1860), born Charlotte of Prussia. Olga grew up as part of a close family of eight sisters and brothers. She had two elder siblings: Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, and five younger siblings: Grand Duchess Alexandra of Russia, Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia (died in infancy), Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia and Grand Duke Michael of Russia. Attractive, cultured and intelligent, she was considered to be one of the most eligible princesses in Europe. She spoke several languages, and was fond of music and painting. Olga met Crown Prince Charles of Württemberg in early 1846 in Palermo, and their subsequent marriage was a political and dynastic decision rather than a love match.
As an overt indicator of wealth and status, the sumptuous wedding dowry from Olga's father the Tsar included furs, furniture sets, carriages, porcelain, bed linen, glass, jewellery and an expansive silver service. These two dessert tazzas came from what was known as the 'Golden Ruby' dessert service, which included a large suite of Russian ruby glass from the Imperial Russian Glass Manufactory. This bespoke service included dessert plates and glasses, plus various silver mounted serving dishes. The Tsar was so impressed by this striking service that he ordered an almost identical set for his other daughter's wedding dowry, the Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna, which may be seen today in the Schloss Fasanerie Museum in Eichenzell near Fulda in Germany ('Die Mitgift einer Zarentochter' Exhibition Catalogue 1997/98).
Tsar Nicholas I insisted that everything created for Olga's dowry (and also those of his other two daughters) was to be in the "latest English fashion, particularly beautiful and fine" (M. N. Lopato, 'Iuveliery starogo Peterburga', St Petersburg, 2006, p. 128). The service commissioned by the Emperor for Olga included almost five hundred silver items, and the responsibility to fulfil this order fell to the main supplier of silver and bronzes in St Petersburg, the renowned English retailer 'Nicholls and Plincke'.
Charles Nicholls and William Plincke (in Russian: Николс и Плинке) were two English men trading in St Petersburg who were granted Russian citizenship in 1804. They were elevated to Merchants of the 1st Guild in 1808 and began trading to capitalise on an increased interest in English products in the first half of the 19th Century, at first importing things from England, but also retailing items made in the workshops of Russian craftsmen. Around 1815 they took over a business founded by their fellow countryman John Pickersgill (1765-1841), which was renamed 'William Plincke's English Shop'. In 1829 they established 'Messrs. Nicholls and Plincke's Magasin Anglais' which supplied luxury goods to the Russian market. 'Magasin Anglais' subsequently became one of the most celebrated shops in Russia and was considered the leading retailer of luxury goods to the aristocracy, with a virtual monopoly in the supply of artistic silverware to the Imperial Court (before eventually being supplanted by Carl Fabergé).
The silversmith Carl Johan Tegelsten, of Finnish descent, moved to St Petersburg in 1817. He built up a prosperous business during the next thirty-five years, supplying work to some of the city's best retail houses. Tegelsten's longtime connection with 'Nicholls and Plincke' is of particular interest as he produced for them a range of pieces in the then fashionable English taste, of which this pair of tazzas are a striking example, characterised by rococo motifs and naturalistic foliage.
When Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia married Crown Prince Charles of Württemberg (1823-1891) on 13th July 1846 at the Peterhof Palace near St. Petersburg, a grand celebration was held at the Tsar's summer palace, and the extensive dowry was then taken by the newlyweds to Württemberg in Germany. They resided in both the Villa Berg in Stuttgart and the Kloster Hofen in Friedrichshafen, located on the shore of Lake Constance in southern Germany. In 1864, Karl acceded the throne and became the third King of Württemberg, making Olga its Queen. When her husband died on 6 October 1891, Olga became Queen Dowager of Württemberg. She died one year later, on 30 October 1892 in Friedrichshafen aged 70, and was buried in the crypt of the Old Castle in Stuttgart.
At the beginning of the 20th century, with the turbulence in Russia, the Grand Duchess Olga's extravagant service was distributed amongst various museums and private collections. Today, nineteen pieces of the original silver service are kept in the storeroom of the Peterhof State Museum, and other pieces are exhibited in the Fabergé Museum in St Petersburg. Few silver items from the Grand Duchess's dowry are still in private hands, but some pieces have been sold at auction over the years, including an impressive tureen from the Van Cliburn Collection that was previously acquired in Vienna in the 1960s (Christie's New York, 17 May 2012, 'The Van Cliburn Collection', lot 21). As such, this pair of silver mounted ruby glass dessert tazzas, steeped in Imperial Russian history, are a rarity to appear on the open market.
Literature
John Culme, 'Marks, Fine Antique Silver', (London: A. M. Marks Limited, 2005), pp.82-85 with photographs
M. N. Lopato, 'Iuveliery starogo Peterburga', (St Petersburg: 2006), p.128
Schloss Fasanerie Museum in Eichenzell, 'Die Mitgift einer Zarentochter' Exhibition Catalogue 1997/98
.jpg?w=400?width=1600&quality=70 "Quelle: Christie's")
.jpg "Quelle: Christie's")
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