A War Soup Tureen

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

This piece of silverware in the shape of a warship could well scare an enemy of Russia. It is indeed an extravagant soup tureen, 59 cm long, 29 cm high, weighing 9673 grams (let's be accurate).

It is shaped like a boat with fourteen guns mounted on four dolphin feet, and bears the initial of Catherine the Great. Commissioned by the Empress, it was manufactured in St. Petersburg in 1766 by the silversmith Zacharias Deichmann. This model is known in two copies of this size, and two other smaller.

From the outset, it was designed for the Navy and made service (the right word for both navy and silverware) to the Russian fleet of the Black Sea. It was a habit at the court of Catherine to deliver silverware as a reward to her supporters. Later, officers of the Royal Navy had purchased it by subscription and preserved it for a hundred years in a private club.

It is now on sale at Christie's in London on November 24, sale 7630, Lot 57. Its estimate of 400 K£ may be reached.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Unsold. Too "big", for all the meanings of this word.