Malachite Urn 1836
Malachite, gilt metal, marble | 180.0 x 140.0 cm (whole object, diameter) | RCIN 43957
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A Malachite Medici-shaped urn with a gadrooned base, gilt-metal coiled branch carrying handles, a gilt-metal acanthus leaf band on the circular overhanging base, a splayed foot with a gilt-metal egg-and-dart band on a square plinth. The whole mounted on a square stepped grey Putilov stone base.
The vase made at the renowned Peterhof Imperial Lapidary Workshops in Russia, which specialised in lavish, large-scale pieces for the imperial palaces.Provenance
Made in 1836 and known to have been in The Hermitage in 1837.
Presented to Queen Victoria in 1839 by Tsar Nicholas I after the visit of his eldest son, the future Alexander II. Despite doubts as to the Grand Duke's security, his visit had passed off without incident and the Tsar expressed his pleasure, via the British Ambassador, Lord Clanricard, regarding the reception given to his son by Queen Victoria. Later in the year, during an audience with the Tsar, the ambassador was informed of the Tsar's intention to present the Queen with a malachite vase from the Hermitage. It was despatched on the steamer SS Sirius which sailed from Kronstadt on 16 August 1839. Queen Victoria's first Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, reported that the vase was considered to be the 'finest in the world'.
The vase was one of the few works in the Grand Reception Room at Windsor Castle to survive the fire of 1992. After the fire was extinguished, the veneer sprang from the surface as the object was moved. Considerable conservation work was required to restore the vase to its former magnificence. -
Creator(s)
(nationality)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Malachite, gilt metal, marble
Measurements
180.0 x 140.0 cm (whole object, diameter)
30.0 x 85.0 x 85.0 cm (at base of object)
