Cameo Service: Myths and Reality

The legends which arise over a particular art object are a sign of recognition of its artistic merit and evidence of heightened interest on the part of both contemporaries and the posterity. We are accustomed to the fact that outstanding paintings are frequently accompanied by all kinds of fantastic stories. Such stories are quite uncommon for the “world of porcelain”, the Cameo Service being an exception, since for already over two centuries one legend made about it has replaced another. This kind of myth-making is caused by a variety of reasons, such as politics, financial disagreements, intrigues and, most regretfully, specialists’ blunders.

Items from the Cameo Service . 1777-1778
France, Sèvres Manufactory
Soft-paste porcelain; overglaze painting, gilding

It was the august customer who created this “service mythology”. The set was intended for Prince Grigory Potemkin but as Catherine II admitted, “…to ensure the better quality of the service, I said it was meant for myself”. Hence, up to the present day it is called “The Set of Catherine the Great”.

Probably the most beautiful legend is associated with the colour of the service, according to which Empress Catherine II personally selected azure or turquoise as the background colours. In 1793, 15 years later after this event, the Director of the Sèvres Manufactory, Antoine Renet, prepared a report for the Convention. At that time the manufactory was going through hard times. As a matter of fact, formerly the Sèvres Manufactory had received royal subsidy on a regular basis. Nearly till his dying day Louis XVI never ceased to provide financial support for the manufactory. After the king’s execution the revolutionary government, which believed that less expensive and more affordable crockery should be produced instead of porcelain, regarded the latter as an art alien to French people. To prove his point, the director of the manufactory had to provide convincing arguments, for instance, by emphasizing the high artistic level of the porcelain produced at the manufactory and claiming that none but the Sèvres masters were capable of creating anything like that. “The Russian Empress decorated her private apartments with the best Sèvres porcelain…” reported Renet to the Convention. “…She conceived the idea to challenge the Sèvres Manufactory. Prince I.S. Baryatinsky, the Russian ambassador in Paris, showed the management of the Sèvres Manufactory a turquoise gem stone of exceptional beauty saying that if it were possible to reproduce such an enchanting combination of colours in porcelain items, the Russian Empress would commission a large set’. There is no documented evidence of the described event, but can anyone blame Antoine Renet for his slightly stretching the story of the service creation?

The unique porcelain ensemble surpassed all expectations, but the price was so exorbitant and provoked so much controversy and disputes between the customers and the manufactory administration that in 1906 the French authors of the fundamental work, which traced the history of the Sèvres Manufactory, argued that the payments for the service had continued to be made for 20 year, and the final installment received in the 1790s saved the manufactory from being closed down during the tumultuous years of the revolution. Although in the mid-1990s the chief archivist of the Sèvres Manufactory, Tamara Preaud, rejected this argument, her investigation did not immediately draw researchers’ attention. The very story of the Sèvres Manufactory’s rescue with the help of the Russian Empress’s money appeared so thrilling and compelling that until recently it has found its reflection in different essays devoted to the Cameo Service. In fact, by 1781 all the bills had been settled. It was remarkable that making such speedy payments over a period of two years was not characteristic of such important customers as European monarchs.

Furthermore, a considerable part of the sum of money was paid in advance at the urgent request of the then director of the Sèvres Manufactory, Melchior-François Parent, who claimed that the factory was experiencing financial hardship, because for over a year all the workers had been engaged in the production of the “Russian service”. Thus, one more legend was born.

Obviously, only the best artists, scientists and craftsmen (turners, engravers and molders ) took part in the Cameo Service production. For that purpose 37 out of 69 artists, and 5 out of 13 gilders were selected. Many artists were employed on a temporary basis in order to do the painting of the set. The manufactory bore huge expenses; however, it was the trivial theft that led to financial difficulties. Melchior-François Parent, who by 1778 had headed the Sèvres Manufactory for six years already, was undoubtedly an outstanding artistic director. Nevertheless, this did not stop him from embezzling the manufactory’s funds.

In autumn 1779 the Cameo Service arrived in St. Petersburg. Probably in some writers’ minds Prince Grigory Potemkin’s place of residence in the capital of the Russian Empire was so closely associated with the majestic building by architect I.E. Starov that they immediately accommodated the set in the Tauride Palace, having ignored the obvious fact that the palace was erected ten years after the Cameo Service had been brought to St. Petersburg.

Benjamin Patersen (1750-1815)
View of the Tauride Palace from the Garden. Before 1797
Oil on canvas. 57,5 х 89,5 cm

The service decoration also gave rise to legends. It was said that 360 plates bear over a thousand painted representations imitating bas-reliefs, the subjects of which never replicate themselves. It is true in terms of their number, but as for the assertion that the paintings never repeat themselves, it is yet another myth.

All the plates from the service were divided into three series, each including 120 items. The paintings from each series were devoted to some specific theme: Greek history, Roman history and classical mythology. Every twelve plates from each series depict the same subjects.

Work on the study of the Cameo Service continues. Many things still require careful analysis and clarifications; it cannot be ruled out that the legends relating to the service may increase in number. However, we must admit that the keen interest in this outstanding piece of porcelain art has not decreased since the service was presented for the first time to the general public. This happened during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 at the Historical Exhibition of Art Works organized in St. Petersburg for the benefit of wounded soldiers.

“…A happy thought struck Empress Alexandra Feodorovna to combine a good cause with the world of the beautiful by holding an exhibition for the benefit of those scathed by the war disasters showcasing the fine arts in their most intimate expression in the form of various elegant objects, with which cultivated people surround themselves in their everyday life” wrote Adrian Prakhov, the author of the album devoted to the exhibition and one of the early researchers of the Cameo Service.