shaped oval with gadroon rim, engraved with the Imperial eagle and crown, struck on reverse and with stamped and pricked number 6

Catherine the Great, purchased 1777 and allocated to the Governor of Tula
Paul I, St. Petersburg
By descent at the Winter Palace
Sold under Soviet rule, probably 1920s or 1930s
Sotheby's New York, 23 October 2003, lot 227, illustrated

Baron A. Foelkersam, Opisi serebra dvora Ego Imperatorskogo Velichestva, St. Petersburg, 1907, vol. II, p. 252, no. 44

Some minor scratching consistent with age. In otherwise fine condition.
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.

Under Catherine II, Russia was divided in the mid 1770s into 11 provinces, a number which was increased to 40 by 1796. Governors were appointed by the Empress to each of the provinces and each was allocated a silver table service befitting his viceregal dignity. In all, four, possibly five, of these services were ordered from London, beginning in 1774 with one for the Province of Tver, followed by another for Volynsk; these cost not less than 125,000 rubles apiece. The next, in May 1776, was for the armsmaking center at Tula whose governor was then Gen. Mikhail Krechetnikov (1729-1793), while the last was for Yarsolavl. These latter two, which appear to have cost up to twice as much as the first, arrived at St. Petersburg in May 1777, when customs payments for them were made amounting to 6,240 rubles. Following Catherine’s death in 1796, her son, Paul I, recalled all the governors’ silver services to St. Petersburg for his own use. In 1907, Foelkersam found in the Imperial Collections only round and oval platters by Heming and Chawner, candlesticks by Thomas Heming and a salver by John Carter. The offered piece appears with other oval platters under his number 44, one of the 8 meat platters "numbered 6." On the service, see E. Alfred Jones, The Old English Plate of the Emperor of Russia, London, 1909, pp. lvj & 92-92, pl. XLVI and Marina Lopato, "English Silver in St. Petersburg," British Art treasures from Russian Imperial Collections in the Hermitage, New Haven, 1996, pp. 131-132.