A PORCELAIN DESSERT PLATE FROM THE DOWRY SERVICE OF GRAND DUCHESS ALEXANDRA NIKOLAEVNA

The present plate is part of the dowry of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna (1825-1844), the youngest daughter of Emperor Nicholas I, who married Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel (1820-1884). The wedding took place at the Winter Palace in 1844 and among the presents was a set of thirty-two dozen porcelain dessert plates produced by the Imperial Porcelain Factory. The plates, all with polychrome borders and gilt neo-Rococo scrollwork, were painted variously with images of pretty women from fashion magazines, genre scenes, birds and flowers, views of St Petersburg, Moscow and other Russian cities, and paintings from the Hermitage collection (T.V. Kudriavtseva, Russian Imperial Porcelain, St Petersburg, 2003, p. 161). Prince Friedrich Wilhelm was allowed to keep the porcelain service following the untimely death of Alexandra, only months after their wedding. Part of the service is now in the collection of the Museum Schloss Fasanerie, near Fulda, Germany.

We are grateful to Tamara Nosovich for identifying this service.