A Russian silver platter from the Grand Duchess Olga...

A Russian silver platter from the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Service

Nichols & Plinke and Henrik August Lang, St. Petersburg, 1840

The large shaped round tray with moulded and acanthus-cast rim, engraved with the Imperial State arms as well as the crowned cypher of Grand Duchess Olga Nikoalevna; marked to underside with stamps of Nichols & Plinke as well as Henrik August Lang, assaymaster mark of Dimitriy Ilyich Tverskoy and dated 1840, with additional marks for St. Petersburg and 84 zolotniki, as well as scratched "No. 31."

Dia: 14 1/8 in. Total weight: 41.5 oz. t.

PROVENANCE:

H.I.H. Grand Duchess Olga Nikoalevna of Russia (1822-1892)
H.R.H. King Wilhelm II of Wurttemberg
by descent in the family of the Dukes of Wurttemberg
Private Collection

Presented to Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia (1822-1892), daughter of H.M. Emperor Nicholas I Pavlovich and the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, on Olga's marriage to Crown Prince Karl of Württemberg (1823-1891) in 1846.

The silver service for 500 guests was executed over several years by the "English shop" of N. Nichols & Plinke, in the Rococo Revival style. The marriage was childless, and so the service passed to their nephew, who became King Wilhelm II of Wurttemberg, and ultimately descended through multiple branches of the family of the Dukes of Wurttemberg.

A group of silver trays and plates from the "dowry service" were donated to the Peterhof Palace Collection in 2005, and in late 2014 the museum's collection was expanded further with an additional nineteen pieces related to the offered lot.