This dessert service for 50 people with items decorated with the Order’s chains, stars and ribbons was manufactured to the order of Empress Catherine the Great for the annual formal receptions of holders of the Order of St Andrew. They were held in the Winter Palace on 30 November each year. During the 19th century gilt bronze candlesticks were added to the service together with items produced at the Imperial Porcelain Factory to replace lost items.
The Imperial Order of St Andrew was the first Russian order to be established (in 1698) and was the Russian Empire’s highest award. The Order was awarded to people who held a senior rank in the nobility or in state service, or a military rank of at least a general. From 1732 its church was the Cathedral of St Andrew in St Petersburg.
