La soupière effilée est ornée sur le bord d'une bande de feuillage rampant, peuplée de personnages et dotée de deux anses décorées de branches de laurier, le support assorti est orné d'une autre bordure de feuillage rampant et de feuilles rigides, le couvercle assorti est orné d'une bande de volutes vitruviennes et d'un fleuron en forme d'aigle tenant un arc et des flèches, sur un fond texturé avec des glands et des feuilles de chêne, doté d'une doublure en métal doré assortie, poinçonné partout
H. 16³⁄₈ in. (41.8 cm.); L. 19⁵⁄₈ in. (49.8 cm.) de largeur hors poignées
345 oz. (9,802 gr.) approx., sans doublure

Property of a Lady; Sotheby's, London, 13 July 1967, lot 151.

V. Brett, The Sotheby's Directory of Silver 1600-1940, New York, 1986, pp. 398-399, no. 1904.

A LARGE AND IMPORTANT RUSSIAN SILVER SOUP TUREEN, STAND AND COVER
BY HERMANN FRIEDRICH POMO, ST PETERSBURG, 1811

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Lot Essay

This impressive soup tureen is a rare example of early 19th-century St Petersburg silver, notable for both its large scale and fine craftsmanship. The tureen is reminiscent of the celebrated Saltykoff Service executed in 1782-1784 by the French silversmith Antoine Boullier (see Baron de Foelkersam, Inventaire de l’Argenterie conservé dans les gardemeublesdes Palais Impériaux, St. Petersburg, 1907, vol. I, pl. 42). The present tureen was likely produced as part of the dowry of Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna (1795-1865) in the Neo-Classical taste favoured at the Imperial court at the time.

Hermann Friedrich Pomo (also known as Pameau) was a prominent silversmith of the early 19^thcentury. Born in St Petersburg and trained by his Austrian-born father, Herman Friedrich Pomo, he attained the rank of master in 1797 and remained active until at least 1825. Although relatively few works by him survive, it is known that he fulfilled several prestigious commissions for the Russian Imperial Court, now preserved in the Kremlin Armoury, the Hermitage Museum, and other major collections. These include heralds’ staffs for the Russian Orders of Alexander Nevsky, St Anne, and St Catherine; a desk set presented by St Petersburg merchants to Emperor Alexander I on the occasion of his coronation in 1801; and a silver dowry service made in 1809 for Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna.

Following further Imperial commissions, Pomo was entrusted with the execution of a monumental table service for the dowry of Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna, the youngest daughter of Emperor Paul I and sister of Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I. The present soup tureen is believed to have formed part of this grand service. Between 1811 and 1813, the service comprised four silver tureens accompanied by an extensive array of serving pieces, dinner and breakfast services, and dozens of candlesticks, complemented by a substantial porcelain service from the Imperial Porcelain Factory.

Anna Pavlovna’s lavish marriage to William of Orange, the Dutch Crown Prince, took place on 21 February 1816. In 1840, the couple ascended the throne of the Netherlands.