A set of Meissen porcelain gilt-plated flatware for six, probably from the Hunting Service made for the Russian Court, circa 1766

Lord Astor of Hever (1918–1984) Collection, offered, Christie’s, London, 2 July 1984, lot 180 (part); 

Property of a Nobleman, Christie’s, London, 30 March 1987, lot 145 (part).

Düsseldorf, Hetjens-Museum, Frühes Meissener Porzellan Kostbarkeiten aus deutschen Privatsammlungen, 19 January-6 April 1997;

Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Porzellansammlung im Zwinger, Albertinum, Frühes Meissener Porzellan Kostbarkeiten aus deutschen Privatsammlungen, 7 May-13 July 1997.

Ulrich Pietsch and Kristian Jakobsen, Frühes Meissener Porzellan, Kostbarkeiten aus deutschen Privasammlungen, exh. cat., Munich, 1997, p. 95, cat. no. 62.

Hunting and equestrian pursuits ranked among the defining passions of Catherine the Great (1729-1796), and in 1766 she commissioned an exceptionally ambitious Meissen service. Conceived on a grand scale, the service comprised around 1,000 pieces—making it, after the celebrated 'Swan' Service, one of the largest and most significant table services of the 18th century—and required the collaboration of at least twenty-nine painters for its richly varied decoration. In both conception and subsequent expansion, the service illustrates the empress’s engagement with European luxury goods. Additions were later commissioned from the Russian Imperial porcelain manufactory, with production continuing into the reign of Alexander II of Russia. Today, surviving elements are dispersed among major collections, including the State Hermitage Museum, the Gatchina Palace, the Moscow Historical Museum, Kuskovo Palace, and the Hetjens Museum. For a detailed discussion, see Ulrich Pietsch (ed.), Meissen for the Tsars, Munich, 2004, pp. 95-101, cat. nos. 147-164.

Lydia Liackova notes that scholars have hypothesized that the service was presented by Catherine the Great to her lover Grigory Orlov (1734-1783), himself an enthusiastic huntsman. She records that the hunting estate at Gatchina Palace was gifted to Orlov in 1765, with building works continuing until 1777; and that the service was housed and used there following its commission (see Porzellan Parforce, Munich, 2005, pp. 49–53, cat. nos. 80–82). After Orlov’s death, Catherine repurchased the palace and its contents, including the service, and later presented it to her son Paul I of Russia. In 1890, the Meissen pieces, together with some later Russian replacements, were transferred to the Winter Palace, and in 1911 to the State Hermitage Museum, where they briefly formed part of a museum display. The service was subsequently dispersed, with 132 pieces sold in Russia in 1930 and 124 pieces sold at Rudolph Lepke’s in Berlin.

The extraordinary scale of the original service is underscored by Pietsch, who, drawing on the painters’ work reports between December 1766 and June 1768, records remarkably large production figures, including no fewer than 122 knife handles (op. cit., p. 95). However, pieces from this service have only rarely appeared on the auction market. A notable exception is the group of twelve knives, forks, and spoons—of which the present lot formed part—formerly in the collection of Lord Astor of Hever (1918–1984), sold at Christie's, London, 30 March 1987, lot 145. A single porcelain fork handle was sold at Christie’s, London, Galerie Popoff: An Enduring Passion for Russian Art, 13 October 2009, lot 180.