Squared tazza from the collection of Hessen house. For the history of early Russian malachite

The earliest use of malachite in Russian decorative art can be dated to the last ten years of the 18^th century into the first twenty years of the 19^th century. This span is particularly/extremely interesting for research, firstly, as a time of invention and mastery of new technical methods. Secondly, this period was marked by numerous cross-cultural exchanges. The present article summarizes the research, beginning with an analysis of the rarest signed and dated works of Russian malachite of the 1810s. Square tazzas, popular in late Antiquity, were completely forgotten before the archeological excavations of the mid-18^th century, and regained favor in the art of Neoclassicism and Empire. In Russian decorative arts those vase forms migrated in the early 19^th century via European illustrated books depicting archeological objects or providing sources for artists, in publications by by Caylus (1762) et Beauvallet (1804-1807) in France and by Schinkel (1821-1830) in Germany. The attribution of the magnificent, large square tazza with a high foot from the collection of the House of Hesse Cultural Foundation and exhibited at the Fasanerie Castle in Fulda, is published for the first time in this article. Researching the history of this piece required technical analysis of its production and retracing the history of the tazza's ownership? Studying the signature on the tazza's base allowed it to be linked to information in an article published in 1820. Thankfully, it was then possible to establish the names of the master and vendor: The St Petersburg based Italian artist Supan, his Russian pupil Fedor Mikhailovitch Shoubin, and a French dealer of art and rarities Robert Philipot. The transfer of the tazza (from the Russian workshop, via Copenhagen's palaces to an East German castle) reflects the political and diplomatic activity of Russia and demonstrates the development of the fashion for Russian malachite. The dissemination of interest in Russian malachite in this case is attributed to the Danish Ambassador to the Russian court in 1804-1841, the Landgraf Otto von Blome and to Prince Friedrich Wilhelm von Hessen-Kassel-Rumpenheim, the spouse of Grand Duchess Alexandra Nicolaevna, whose happy marriage was tragically interrupted by the death of the young woman only eight months after the ceremony. Currently, the tazza is preserved in Fasanerie Castle -the summer residence of the prince's second wife, Princess Anna of Prussia.

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