centered with the gold Cyrillic monogram KP on cobalt blue oval cartouche within a gilt rim, surmounted by a Grand Ducal crown with two ribbon-tied laurel swags, the cobalt border with a continuous band of berry laurel, with blue Imperial cypher of Catherine II

L.F. Anatra Collection
Christie's London, 6 October 1988, lot 215, illustrated

scattered rubbing and losses to gilding consistent with age and use; the front of the plate with scattered inherent flaws to glaze, some on the edge of the cavetto have been gilded; some tiny chips to the gilded foot
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Although the services Catherine ordered for her granddaughter's dowries are well known, those ordered for her grandsons as children seem to have largely disappeared from history and are absent in the literature. The service is mentioned in a pamphlet published by the eminent porcelain collector and specialist in Russian porcelain Alexander Popov, who writes that it was ordered by Catherine for her second grandson Konstantin Pavlovich. It is extremely rare and is now known only from private collections.  In addition to a plate in a Moscow private collection (reproduced in A. Troshchinskaia, "'To bukva imeni, to venzel i korona'," Antikvariat 2003, no. 7/8), there are two examples formerly in the Anatra Collection (the offered lot and another example sold Sotheby's London, 14 December 1995, lot 456).  It is thought that there are no examples in Russian state collections. The Tsarevich Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich (1779-1831) was the second son of Pavel Petrovich and the younger brother of Alexander I. As an infant, he was assigned a Greek nurse, and taught to speak Greek, since Catherine destined him to be the monarch of a resurrected Greek Empire focused on Constantinople. He married morganatically, and had neither inclination, nor the ability, to ascend the throne, to which he renounced all claim. But Alexander unaccountably kept this document a secret, so that on Alexander's death in November 1825, he was automatically proclaimed as Emperor Konstantin I, while in Warsaw, where he was viceroy, he simultaneously proclaimed his younger brother Nicholas as all Russian Emperor and Autocrat, a chaotic situation which heralded the outbreak of the Decembrist revolt.