Live Auction 7734Russian Art
Christie’s roundel
Lot 174

A German porcelain plate with a view of the Novodevichii Monastery

BY THE ROYAL PORCELAIN FACTORY, BERLIN, 1849-1870

Closed9 June 2009

Price Realised

GBP 5,000

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A German porcelain plate with a view of the Novodevichii Monastery
by the Royal Porcelain Factory, Berlin, 1849-1870
Shaped circular, the centre painted with a view across the Devichie Pole [Virgin's Field] to the Monastery, with pilgrims, monks and visitors in the foreground, surrounded by a gilt band, the border with strapwork lozenge design of red and green on foliate scroll ground, incorporating an oval with Cyrillic initials AV beneath a princely crown, within a gilt rim, inscribed Monastère de Devitchié=Polé. and marked under base
10 in. (25 cm.) diameter

Specialist note

The Novodevichi Convent was built in 1551 on the Devichie Pole to commemorate the return of Smolensk to Moscow. However, Peter the Great later used the convent firstly to house his wife Evdokiya Lopukhina, whom he persuaded to become a nun, thus freeing him of his marriage, and secondly as a prison for his half sister, Sophia, who had plotted against him.
It has been suggested that the initials below the crown refer to a member of Volkonsky Family.