When Catherine the Great dined in her castle, it was often on pickled cucumbers and soft-boiled beef along with a whipped fruit puree and meringue dessert from ornate pottery.
One 952-service was designed by the English pottery company, Wedgwood, and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation recently acquired a creamware plate for its ceramics collection from the set commissioned by Russia’s longest-reigning empress.
In doing so, the foundation becomes one of the few American institutions to own a surviving piece from the distinguished dinner service. The plate, along with a fine print that depicts the motif on the plate, will be part of the British Masterworks exhibition at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, one of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.
The foundation’s ceramics collection encompasses more than 10,000 objects from the 17th century through the 1830s.
Angelika Kuettner, Colonial Williamsburg’s curator of ceramics and glass, is hopeful installation will be complete by the end of February, in time for the annual antiques forum. The event is one of the largest decorative arts conferences in the world, scheduled for Feb. 21-25.
Catherine the Great’s plate will be in a case alongside a Portland Vase, also made by Wedgwood.
“This was more than a mere dinner service,” Kuettner said. “The service is emblematic of one of the most ambitious endeavors by a British ceramics manufacturer in the history of British pottery period.”
Only five other pieces from the dinner service designed for Catherine the Great are in American museums; 17 others are in private collections. None of those pieces was delivered to Russia.
Wedgewood held a few pieces back, the plate in Williamsburg among them. The plate and the print, purchased together from a private antique dealer, depict the view of Dunnington Cliff on the River Trent, a nod to industrial achievement and the importance of water power in the 18th century.
“It’s wonderful that there are so many views of different English country houses on ceramics, but this view lets us talk about the ceramic production and industry in England and how important water power was at the time,” Kuettner said. “Something like that on a plate might not seem like very much today, but in some respects, it’s akin to sharing Silicon Valley today.”
The plate also features a splayed frog within a shield, signifying the name of Catherine the Great’s palace, which was built near a frog marsh outside of St. Petersburg. That gave rise to the name “Frog Service,” each piece individually painted before being fired in a kiln.
The plate was made in 1773 and 1774 and only pieces of the highest standard were exported to Catherine the Great. Before leaving England, the entire service was on view in the Wedgwood showroom in London where people from all walks of life, from Queen Charlotte to passersby on the street, visited for a peek.
Josiah Wedgewood’s reputation as a pioneer in manufacturing and design makes him easily the most famous potter in history in addition to being a leader of Britain’s Industrial Revolution.
Declared “Her Majesty’s Potter” by Queen Charlotte, he introduced new glazes, designs and firing methods. When he died in 1795, he was among the richest men in England with a fortune equivalent to $100 million.
The print engraved by Frenchmen Francois Vivares after work by artist Thomas Smith dates back to 1745.
The conservation team at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation will determine if it will be on view with the plate as displaying it under the light increases the chances for fading. Graphics from the print will be part of the exhibit.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation will display Catherine the Great’s Wedgwood plate at the 77th Annual Antiques Forum. Virtual and in-person attendance options are available, and can be viewed online.
The plate will be on display in the British Masterworks exhibition at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum. Hours and other museum information is available online.
