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Catherine commissioned the Green Frog Service from Josiah Wedgwood in 1773 through Alexander Baxter, the Russian consul in England. Work on the commission was completed in the summer of 1774. The service was intended for Catherine II's wayside palace at a spot called Kekerekeksinen, which means "frog marsh" in Finnish. Hence the original name, Kekerekeksinen Palace, and the original, amusing emblem - a green frog in a heraldic shield, placed upon each item in the commissioned service. The set was made for 50 persons and included dinner (680 pieces) and dessert (264 pieces) services, totalling 944 items. Each object in the service was, in keeping with the commission, decorated with a view or views of old castles, abbeys, country estates, suburban mansions, urban and rural landscapes, and majestic natural scenes. In all there were 1,222 views, with not a single repetition, forming a unique panorama of Great Britain. Wedgwood's partner, Thomas Bentley, compiled a handwritten catalogue for Catherine II containing the titles of all the views. The numbers given to the views in Bentley's catalogue are written in dark brown ink on the back of each item. The majority of items in the service duplicate the so-called "royal shape" that got its name from the fact that Wedgwood used this design to make a service for King George III. But the models for some items - compotiers, cream bowls and ice-cream dishes - were created specially for the Green Frog Service. This modified version of the "royal shape" was given the name "Catherine shape". The dinner service part of the set was embellished with a border of oak sprigs, while the dessert service had a border of ivy leaves. The items in the service were shaped and fired at the Etruria factory in Staffordshire, then sent to the Chelsea Decorating Studios in what was then a suburb of London to be painted. The service was made in a type of pottery new for its time, standardized by Wedgwood through the improvement of traditional English cream-coloured earthenware. In 1766 Wedgwood had given this material the name "Queen's ware" in honour of Queen Charlotte, whose patronage he enjoyed. When the service was nearing completion, the bulk of it was put on display at Portland House, Greek Street in London, so as to show it to the English public before it was dispatched to Russia. The exhibition, which opened on 1 June 1774, was honoured with a visit from Queen Charlotte. The service reached Russia in September that same year. At the present time the Hermitage collection includes some 770 items from the famous Green Frog Service.
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 Pot-à-crême with a lid View 3-D image |
 Oval basket with a stand View 3-D image |
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Copyright © 2011 State Hermitage Museum |
