|
Need
help with HotMedia?
 previous
|
next |
|
|
The Green Service, marked by its sumptuous decoration and careful finishing,
can be regarded as the first large service produced by the Sèvres
factory. Louis XV presented it to King Frederick V of Denmark and Norway
in gratitude for his intention to send thoroughbred stallions for the
royal stud farm.
The faultless green of the background, the warm whiteness of the glaze,
the variety of forms - from large trays to small ice-cream bowls, and
the magnificent coloured decoration all testify to the high skills of
the factory's workers in the early years of its existence.
The means by which a considerable part of the Green Service found its
way to Russia remains a mystery. The first mention of it dates from 1841,
when it was at Gatchina, the imperial summer residence south of St Petersburg.
In the late 19th century the service was brought to the Winter Palace,
and then from 1910 it became one of the key exhibits in the Imperial Hermitage's
Porcelain Gallery.
|
