A pair of silver serving dishes from the service made for Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna Retailed by Nicholls and Plinke, workmaster Robert Kokhun (Colqhoun), St. Petersburg, 1857

Nichols and Plinke under Imperial Warrant, workmaster's mark 'PK', St. Petersburg, 1857

Nichols and Plinke under Imperial Warrant, workmaster's mark 'PK', St. Petersburg, 1857
rectangular form, with shaped rim decorated with cast and chased rocaille border, one side engraved with Imperial Russian eagle, opposite side engraved with Cyrillic monogram "MN' under the Russian Imperial crown, 84 standard (2)
26.7 x 22.8cm (10 1/2 x 9in).

Provenance
Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (1819-1876)
Thence by descent

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna (1819-1876) was the oldest daughter of Emperor Nicholas I and the first to marry in 1839. For her first marriage to Maximilian, the third Duke of Leuchtenberg (1817-1852), Emperor Nicholas I ordered vast quantities of silver, porcelain, glass and furniture. A well-known company and supplier to the court the firm of Nicholls & Plinke , knowns as ' English Shop', was commissioned to delivered the wedding service. After the early deaths of her husband in 1852, Maria Nikolaevna married in November 1856 her long-term friend Count Grigory Stroganov (1824-1879); the pair of dishes are presumably the additions to the original service ordered around the time of her second wedding.
For a silver tray identically decorated and made by Nicholls and Plinke at the same time, see: Sotheby's, 15 April 2016, lot 22.