Comprising a teapot, milk jug, two-handled sugar bowl and cover, and six teacups and saucers, decorated with sprays of varicolor flowers and foliage on a white ground with gilt foliate scroll borders, all marked under bases with blue underglaze factory marks
The teapot, 5¹⁄₂ in. (14 cm.) high

By repute, collection of Emperor Nicholas II (1868-1918) and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (1872-1918), Winter Palace, St. Petersburg.
Possibly sold by the Soviet government to Armand Hammer in the late 1920s / early 1930s.
Acquired by Matilda Geddings Gray (1885-1971) from Hammer Galleries, New York, 20 April 1944.
By descent to Matilda Gray Stream (1924-2023) and descendants.

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Lot Essay

Pieces from this tea service, acquired by Matilda Geddings Gray from Hammer Galleries in 1944, have exhibition labels on their bases recording the provenance as the Imperial collection from the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. While no further documentation substantiates this provenance, it is very likely that this service was sold to Armand Hammer by the Soviet government in the late 1920s to early 1930s, during a period when he acquired significant quantities of Russian works of art from Soviet authorities, including objects from the personal collections of the Romanov family.