Dessert vase from the Bakhmetevs set
Dessert vase from the Bakhmetevs set
Russia, Saint-Petersburg
The 1840-1890s
Imperial Glass Factory (Nikolsko-Pestrovsky Bakhmetev plant?)
Transparent colourless crystal; carving, polishing, faceting, glassblowing
Height 22 cm; bowl diameter 28.7 cm
Dessert vase is comprised of two parts - hemispherical bowl and cone-shaped hollow base - is made of colourless transparent crystal. The surface of the vase is decorated with the Bakhmetevs’ facet, comprised of oval smoothly polished low vertical reliefs ("bamboo") with oval "lenses" and "stars", with the top and bottom framed by the moulding comprised of truncated pyramidal elements (’stone” or “strawberry diamonds”). Cone-shaped base is cut with "strawberry diamonds", "steps" and decorated with the composition in the form of cut leaves, processed by diagonal faceting. Desert vase was a part of the ceremonial Imperial Bakhmetevs set that since 1856 was used on the occasion the Russian Emperors coronation.
“In 1807, the dinner set for 70 covers (settings) was created for His Imperial Majesty dining room at the Nikolsko-Pestrovsky Bakhmetev plant". The set was highly appreciated by the Court, and Alexander I awarded its maker, master-artisan Alexander Vershinin, with gold watch.
The Bakhmetevs set was universal, since it matched any porcelain set. In the 1850-1890, the Bakhmetevs set for 700 persons was re-manufactured at the Imperial Glass Factory in cooperation with the private Bakhmetevs plant. The set was used as the main ceremonial one on the occasions of the Russian Emperors’ coronations in Moscow in the second half of the 19th century. It is difficult to determine which items of this service were created at the Nikolsko-Pestrovsky plant and which - at the Imperial Glass factory, since the items from both plants were stored in the warehouse of the Imperial Glass factory, and then were taken to the Winter Palace, Tsarskoye Selo, Yelaginoostrovsky (Yelagin), Peterhof and Kremlin Palaces.
Quoted from: Items from the family sets made of glass in the 19th - early 20th centuries (until 1917) in the collection of the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve. Catalog. Vladimir, 2011, p.6.
Инв.6928.1-2/ДПИ