A Porcelain Portrait Cup and Saucer

For a comparable cup and saucer by the Gardner Factory with a portrait of Kutuzov, preserved in the State Russian Museum, see Porcelain in Russia: XVIII-XIX Centuries, Gardner Factory, St Petersburg, 2003, pp. 119, no. 142, illustrated.
Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1745-1813), the celebrated Russian commander, was the hero of the Patriotic War of 1812. At the beginning of the war, General Kutuzov was chosen as the leader of the Petersburg, and thus also the Moscow, militia. The start of the war was unfortunate for the Russians, and it impelled Alexander I to appoint Kutuzov as general from the infantry, commanding the entire Russian army and militia. On the 26th August 1812, beneath the town of Borodino, there took place one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the Napoleonic War. The Russian army exhausted Napoleon's army and set the stage for his eventual defeat. After the battle of Borodino, Kutuzov was made Field Marshal General. On the 12th December 1812 he was awarded the Order of St George first class, 'For the defeat and banishment of the enemy from the borders of Russia in 1812'.