Bowl made of green and pink Ridder (Leninogor) breccia
Kolyvan Lapidary Works
Made by F. Strizhkov
1802
In 1803 Emperor Alexander I was presented with a bowl made of green and white breccia from Ridder (now Leninogor in Kazakhstan) that had been created at the Kolyvan Lapidary Works to the design of the architect Andrei Voronikhin. The work was received appropriately: the Emperor expressed his formal gratitude to the master lapidary Strizhkov and gave him a gold snuff-box. The round shape of the massive bowl is unusual for products of this works in the early 19th century. It makes it possible to admire the enchanting beauty of the stone itself "This green striated variety," the noted mineralogist Alexander Fersman wrote of Ridder breccia, one of the kinds of jasper, "the colour of bright spring foliage or with the bluish hue of seaweed is surrounded and interwoven with pinkish-white patches. The tall, thin stem that broadens smoothly towards its base and square plinth are made of red Altai porphyry and contrast wonderfully with the pastel tones of the bowl. The gilded bronze grapevine around the edge of the bowl gives elegance to the entire work.
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