A Berlin oval dessert dish from the service made for Grand Duke Paul, circa 1778
Of lobed oval shape moulded with a gilt-edged pierced rim of overlapping pointed arches, painted with the Russian Imperial double-headed eagle bearing armorial shields, 33cm across sceptre mark in underglaze-blue, impressed 22 and tripple dash on the inside of the footrim,

Footnotes

This dish forms part of the service commissioned in June 1778 by Frederick the Great for Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, later Tsar Paul I (1796-1801). Paul Petrovich was the son of Catherine the Great, whose grandfather was Prince Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, and Peter III, whose father was Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. Following the death of his first wife in 1773, Grand Duke Paul Petrovich married Sophie-Dorothea von Württemberg in 1776, at which time she changed her name to Maria Feodorovna. The celebration of their engagement in Berlin was an important occasion that led to heightened productivity at the Berlin factory, which was visited by the Royal guests (E. Köllmann, Berliner Porzellan (1966), p.129). On that occasion, Frederick presented the Grand Duke with a large Berlin table service commemorating the victories of the Russian-Turkish war.
For a discussion of the armorial service, see Von Sanssouci nach Europa, exhibition catalogue (1994), pp. 127ff. A charger from this service was sold in these Rooms, 9 December 2009, lot 168. Another pierced oval dessert dish from the collection of E.A. Titgemeyer was sold in these rooms, 7 December 2011, lot 241, a matching dessert plate with the same provenance lot 242.