A once-in-a-lifetime-buy – The Imperial “Peterhof” banqueting Service
Up for sale at Auction on September 19th in Copenhagen is a very rare and delicate Imperial banqueting service, “The Banqueting Service for the Grand Peterhof Palace”. A remarkable large Russian porcelain dinner service, including several serving pieces, comprising 57 parts in total. The dinner sercvice was originally ordered by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia (1825–1855), Tsar Alexander III of Russia (1881–1894), and for Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (1894–1917). A remarkable 43 porcelain pieces served the last Romanov Tsar at the Peterhof.
Provenance: The Danish electrician and wholesaler, Ove Viborg-Larsen (1896 – 1963) and his wife, Irina (Irma) Christine Ottilie Viborg-Larsen, née Vladimirovna Furman (1899-1947). Ove Viborg-Larsen was stationed as an electrician for the Great Northern Telegraph Company in the 1920s in Skt. Petersburg, where the couple lived. Ove and Irina Viborg-Larsen visited several of the communist government’s auctions, where items from the palaces of the Imperial Russian family were sold. Here, the couple acquired the Imperial Peterhof dinnerware.