French Plate for Imperial Russian Family

This is a really nice and interesting plate made in the Paris region of France and decorated at the workshop of Boyer Rue De La Paix in the mid 19th century around the late 1850s. This would place them in the time of Tsar Alexander II which fits the armorial used here. Jean-Pierre Feuillet started the studio and was very successful. He enjoyed patronage from the Prince de Condé among many others. In about 1834 Boyer joined him and eventually took over. The plate is superbly hand painted with two different apricot designs in the center. One having two whole fruit on a piece of branch with its leaves still attached and the other a flowering branch with a broken open apricot fruit next to it revealing the pit inside. The edge of the well has a fancy gold trim to it and the rim has this royal blue ground color to it with three panels of polychrome flowers on white ground with raised gilding on the blue ground. Off course the most exciting part of the plate is the red and gold Impreial Russian eagle cypher from the reign of Alexander II. Each eagle is wearing a small crown with a larger central crown above it, a scepter in one claw and the orb in the other with the central shield of the coat of arms of Moscow ( St. George slaying the dragon ). There are some French plates made for he Russian imperial family, usually for their summer residence in the south of France. Quite rare but you do see some from time to time though I ahve not come across any that are as nice as this example in a long time! A stunning looking piece! The plate is in great condition with some minor wear to the raised gilding along the rim of the plate. It displays perfectly and looks amazing plus not something you will find again anytime soon if ever. The piece is marked with the gold Boyer Rue de la paix mark as shown as well as Abricots for the title of the scene. The plate is 10 inches in diameter and 0.875 inches tall so a nice size for displaying. Please email me for more information or other pictures.