British Art Treasures from Russian Imperial Collections in the Hermitage (The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art)

More than two hundred years ago, Russian Empress Catherine the Great and some of her courtiers developed a taste for British art and collected some spectacular items including paintings, drawings, sculpture, silver, and Wedgwood ceramics. This sumptuously illustrated book tells the story of the acquisition of these treasures and of the cultural relations between Britain and Russia in the eighteenth century.

Distinguished critic John Russell provides the introduction for this book, and eminent British and Russian scholars offer chapters on such topics as British gardeners and the vogue of the English Garden, the Houghton sale, British architects in Russia, and English porcelain and the Russian court. The book includes color illustrations of 164 items from the Hermitage collections of British art, including such highlights as full-length portraits by Van Dyck painted in England, assorted pieces of the celebrated Green Frog dinner service commissioned from Josiah Wedgwood for the Chesmensky Palace, Charles Kandler s huge Rococo silver "Jerningham" wine cooler, other silver items by Augustine Courtauld and Paul de Lamerie, and some furniture and important architectural drawings by Charles Cameron. The collection also includes sculpture, jewelry, watches, clocks, medals, cameos, and gems.