A porcelain plate from the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich Service, Imperial Porcelain Factory, period of Nicholas I (1825-1855), 1848-1852. Centered with stylized strapwork gilt rosettes, the borders with gilt, emerald green, brick red, & black strapwork motifsrelieved by two medallions, the first with the black double-headed Imperial eagle with raised wings used on the Grand Ducal naval standards & surmounted by the Grand Ducal crown &, opposite this on the border, the Cyrillic initials VKKN (Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich) surmounted by the Grand Ducal crown, marked on the underside with the blue Imperial cipher factory mark of Nicholas I & with the gilt numbers54., probably a gilder’s mark, near the edge of the foot.Diameter: 9 3/8 in. (23.8 cm).

Fedor Solntsev (1801-1892), designer of the Kremlin Service, used similar elements of strapwork & state symbols in this service ordered on the occasion of the marriage of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich to Alexandra Iosifovna, Princess of Saxe-Altenburg, in 1848.The use of the Grand Ducal naval standard was a reference to Konstantin Nikolaevich’s service in the Russian Imperial Navy.On this service, seeGeraldika na russkom farfore, S-Peterburg: Ermitazh, 2008, pp. 108-111.