A pair of kalgan jasper vases

Imperial Lapidary Works, Ekaterinburg, circa 1860s-1870s

Imperial Lapidary Works, Ekaterinburg, circa 1860s-1870s
of Medici form, with finely carved acanthus leaves tapering to gadrooned section above spreading fluted stems supported by square bases
height: 38cm (14 15/16in).

Provenance
Galerie J. Kugel, Paris
Christie's, Paris, Une Americaine a Paris: Un Pied-a-terre par Francois Catroux, 11 October 2006, lot 17
Sotheby's, London, 27 November 2007, lot 480
Private European Collection

Literature
J. Kugel, Treasures of the Czars: Russia & Europe from Peter the Great to Nicholas I, Paris, 1998, pl. 293

In the second half of the 19th century, the Imperial Lapidary workshop at Ekaterinburg produced a significant number of small cabinet items: cups, vases, ashtrays, candlesticks made of rhodonite and Kalgan grey-green jasper. In 1863, the factory received a set of 16 drawings from St. Petersburg together with instructions from His Imperial Majesty's Cabinet, according to which similar works were executed over the next twenty years.

The drawing, marked with the letter "F" (GASO, f.86, op. 1., d. 860, p. 30), is a design for a small Medici vase in Kalgan jasper, with gadrooned ornament on the base and one row of vertical acanthus leaves on the main body. The new version of the design differs from the 1830's workshop executed design by I.I. Galberg (a vase in the State Hermitage Museum, reproduced in N.M. Mavrodina, The art of Russian stone-cutters of the XVIII-XIX centuries, 2007, pp. 238-239) by the absence of handles and more concise interpretation of acanthus on the body. From this 1863 drawing, two pairs of vases were created in Ekaterinburg: in 1864-1868 and in 1869-1874. Perhaps one of the pairs was in the palace of the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (N.V. Borovkov, "Works of the Yekaterinburg Cutting Factory of 1865-1878", in the University Scientific Journal, no. 16, 2015, p. 128).

We are grateful to Dr Ludmila Budrina for assistance in cataloguing this lot.

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???????, ??????????????? ?????? «F» (????, ?.86, ??. 1., ?. 860, ?. 30), ???????????? ?????? ????????? ???? ?????? ?? ?????????? ????, ? ???????? ?????????? ?????? ? ????? ????? ???????????? ????????? ??????? ?? ???????? ??????. ?? ???????????? ?? ??????? ? 1830-? ????? ??????? ?.?. ????????? (???? ? ??????????????? ????????, ?????????????? ? ?.?. ?????????, ????????? ??????? ?????????? XVIII-XIX ?????, 2007, ?. 238-239) ????? ??????? ?????????? ??????????? ????? ? ????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????? ?? ??????. ?? ????? ??????? 1863 ?. ? ????????????? ???? ??????? ??? ???? ???: ? 1864-1868 ? ? 1869-1874. ????????, ???? ?? ??? ?????????? ?? ?????? ???????? ????? ????????? ?????????????? (?.?. ?????????, "???????????? ???????????????? ?????????? ??????? 1865-1878 ?????", ? ??????????????? ??????? ??????, ? 16, 2015, ?. 128).

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