372 Service St. Andreas Orden

A Meissen porcelain plate from a later order for the St. Andrew's service. Gotzkowsky model plate, the lip painted with the Imperial Russian Eagle above the Cross of the Order of Saint Andrew. Blue crossed swords mark. D 24.6 cm. Presumably around 1750, model by Johann Friedrich Eberlein.

As a sign of the strengthening of the Saxon-Russian alliance, the Russian Empress Elisabeth I received what was probably one of the most extensive services ever produced by the Meissen manufactory, the so-called "St. Andrew's Service", in 1744. As the service was used for the dessert course at the annual banquets of the Order, occasional replacement commissions from the Court were necessary. The subsequent deliveries by the Meissen Manufactory and the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory of St. Petersburg both in the latter half of the 18th century and as well as after the abolition of the St. Andrew's Day in 1801 are known and published. In contrast to the early service of 1744, which was decorated with the finest woodcut style flowers, the later pieces use simple floral designs.

Literature Cf. a plate in the Dresden porcelain collection, inv. no. P.E. 7700, in Pietsch (ed.), Meißen für die Zaren. Porzellan als Mittel sächsisch-russischer Politik im 18. Jh., Munich 2004, cat. no. 104. 

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