From the Romanov era, period of Tsar Nicholas II, a shell-shaped serving dish with blue border and scroll designs and central Cyrillic cipher or emblem (worn), stamped with blue overglaze factory mark.

By the Kuznetsov Factory, Moscow, circa 1900

9 1/4 x 5 ½ in. (24 x 44 cm.)

Founded in 1810 by Iakov Vasilevich Kuznetsov in the Moscow Provinces, the factory flourished in the 19th century adding several branches in other regions. In 1902 the firm received the title “Purveyor to the Imperial Court” and by the end of the Romanov era, had become the largest of its kind in Russia, even absorbing the Gardner Factory, Russia’s oldest private porcelain factory. Kuznetsov porcelain, which also included faience and ceramics appealed not only to Russians and Europeans but found markets in India and China. Its Riga branch won a gold medal at exhibitions in St. Petersburg, Tashkent, Paris and Chicago, and elsewhere. The factory closed in 1917.