A Russian cut glass Imperial Banqueting Service glass, Imperial Glassworks, St. Petersburg, circa 1860. The lead glass wheel cut & polished, the fluted bowl with half columns, each column being further cut with a polished circle forming a band about the center, the front set with an enameled stamped gold insert on which has been painted the ermine mantle of the Imperial coats-of-arms & with the gold initial A, the stem faceted & with a simple knop, the spreading foot with pie crust border & with a star underneath. Height 4 3/8 in. (11.2 cm)

The single initial A is typically assumed to be that of Alexander II although the first pieces of this type were made in 1824. The style of cutting & shape differs considerably; this glass, for example, has an additional row of polished circles further bending light & reflections, & a knop on the stem. On the Imperial Banqueting services, see Tamara Malinina, Imperatorski stekliannyi zavod: XVIII-nachalo XX veka, St. Petersburg, 2009, pp. 264, 266, 283 & Karen Kettering, Russian Glass at Hillwood, Washington, DC, pp. 39-41.