SERVICE DES CHASSES DE L’IMPÉRATRICE CATHERINE... Lot n° 307

Porcelain knife of the service of hunting of the empress Catherine II, the handle with decoration of two scenes of hunting painted in gilded reserves on a bottom of semi green, the steel blade. Manufacture of Meissen, circa 1766-1768. After a model of Michel Victor Acier (1736-1799). L. 22,5 cm. History In 1766, Catherine the Great ordered a large service from the Meissen manufactory for her hunting lodge at Tsarskoe Selo. Her two great passions for hunting and horseback riding are reflected in this dinner service, completed in 1768 and comprising about 1000 pieces. The empress was so pleased with the service that she ordered more pieces from the imperial factory until the reign of Alexander II. Literature Ulrich Pietsch, Meissen for the Tzars, Dresden, 2004, p.95.