MUG WITH PORTRAIT OF EMPRESS ELIZABETH

Creator(s): Imperial Glass Manufactory (Attributed to)

On view in: Russian Porcelain Room

About this object

Affixed to the front of bowl is a white glass medallion with a gilded edge, on which is painted a bust of a woman in sepia tones, facing three-quarters to the right. Empress Elizabeth (Elizaveta), wife of Alexander I, is shown in a low-cut dress, the décolletage framed in lace. Two orders—the Chain (?) of the Order of St. Andrew and the star of an unidentified Order (most probably of St. Catherine)—are visible on her dress. Her diadem-like tiara and the manner in which her hair is loosely done up suggests that the original portrait on which this image was based was done in the earliest years of the nineteenth century, when Neoclassical fashions predominated. The heavy glass of the barrel-shaped mug is cut in three main areas: 1) on either side of the handle are three horizontal bevels; 2) the upper third of the remainder of the mug is cut in a heavy diamond pattern; and, 3) the lower third is cut in three even horizontal facets. The underside is uncut. There is a thick gilt band about the rim. The handle is cut in four facets and the top has been cut and polished. There is a stylized flower and small gilt dots on the handle.

Object name:

MUG WITH PORTRAIT OF EMPRESS ELIZABETH

Made from:

Glass -- gilding -- enamel

Made in:

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Date made:

1814-1830

Size:

8.6 cm (3 3/8 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:

23.240

Class:

GLASS

Signature marks:

Credit line:

Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973