Plate
MOSCOW, 1903
Workshop of K. Shol'ts
Wood
Diameter: 56 Centimeters
The workshop of K. Shol'ts often undertook commissions from social organizations
and distinguished citizens for carved articles to be presented to members of the
imperial family. A number of such commissions were undertaken in 1903, when the
ancient capital ceremoniously received the imperial family for the festival of
Easter. March 30, Palm Sunday, which had long been celebrated in the Kremlin, saw
a magnificent procession of the imperial family into the Dormition Cathedral. The procession began in the Great
Kremlin Palace, where the imperial family lived during their stays in Moscow. The
state rooms of the palace were filled with representatives of the nobility and
important dignitaries.
In the St. George Hall, the first to welcome the royal guests with the ancient Russian custom of bread and salt was the
governor of the city, Prince V.M. Golitsyn. Thereafter, the procession moved to
St. Vladimir Hall where gifts were presented from various guilds. Among these was
the Moscow Guild of Merchants, which played an important role in the life of the
city and was celebrating its 40th anniversary that year.
A representative of the guild presented the sovereign with bread and salt on this
wonderful wooden dish, which is still kept in the Armory. The dish's carved
decoration tells its history: The bowl is decorated with the monogram of Nicholas II
and the inscription, "From the Moscow Guild
of Merchants." Along the rim are medallions with the state emblem of Russia and
the date. On the underside of the dish, the inscription reads, "K. Shol'ts.
Moscow."
Text taken from catalog description by Elena A.
Morshakova
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