THE PIETRE DURE POSSIBLY RUSSIAN, PETERHOF IMPERIAL LAPIDARY WORKS, MID-19TH CENTURY

The depth and arrangement of the flowers on the present lot resemble raised hardstone works often associated with the Imperial Peterhof Lapidary Workshop rather than the prolific Florentine stone-cutting studios of the 19th century. The present cabinet, presumed to be one of a pair, relates closely to a pair of hardstone-mounted cabinets illustrated in Edward Petrovich Gau's mid-19th century watercolor of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna's Grand Drawing Room at the Winter Palace.