(Milwaukee, WI)  The Haggerty Museum of Art will present the exhibition: At the Tsar's Table: Russian Imperial Porcelain from the Raymond F. Piper Collection from June 1 - August 19, 2001.  At the Tsar's Table opens at the Haggerty Museum on Friday, June 1.  The opening will feature the lecture, "Understanding Russian Imperial Porcelain," by Dr. Wendy Salmond, author of Arts and Crafts in Late Imperial Russia, and Russian Icons at Hillwood, at 6:00 p.m. in Cudahy Hall 001 on the Marquette University campus.  A reception will follow at the Haggerty Museum from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.  This exhibition continues a focus on decorative arts as featured previously in the Haggerty Museum of Art 1998 exhibition, A Passion for Porcelain: Three Centuries of Meissen Floral Painting, and the 1994 exhibition, Kings and Queens and Soup Tureens: Selections from the Campbell Museum Collection.

"This exhibition brings to the Milwaukee public an exceptional international treasure that has been assembled by Wisconsin collector Raymond F. Piper.  The Haggerty Museum continues its tradition of featuring the decorative arts in this project," says director Curtis L. Carter.

At the Tsar's Table, curated by Dr. Annemarie Sawkins, traces the development of Russian Imperial porcelain from the reign of Empress Elizabeth I (1741 - 1761), daughter of Peter the Great, to the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, which ended in 1917.  The exhibition features Russian Imperial porcelain from the Raymond F. Piper collection, manufactured at the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg, Russia and the Gardner Factory in the village of Verbilki.  The exhibition includes plates from Her Majesty's (Empress Elizabeth's) own or Sobstvennyi service (1750s), and also from the Arabesque (ca.1784), Kremlin (1837 - 1855), and the Raphael (1895) services.  Several tea sets, including the one made for Empress Maria Aleksandrovna (ca. 1860) and the service with the Eagle of the Old Form will be on display. The later features a white oblong teapot with an Imperial black eagle and the Old Moscow coat of arms.

Also included are porcelain Easter eggs from the Imperial Porcelain Factory.  The Piper collection includes the rare Easter eggs originally commissioned by Emperor Alexander III (1881 - 1894), including a white porcelain egg with the Imperial double-headed eagle (ca.1883), and a Red Cross Easter egg from the reign of Nicholas II (1894 - 1917) with the Imperial cipher in Cyrillic of Empress Alexandra Fedorovna (ca.1914 - 1917).

Other pieces in the exhibition include a Cyrillic inscripted Raphael service wooden storage case (1903), a menu from the 1883 Coronation Banquet of Emperor Alexander III, and a ceremonial napkin for Emperor Nicholas II (1911).  Portraits of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Fedorovna (1914) in formal dress wearing the medal of the Order of St. Andrew symbols, and photographs of the Russian Imperial family aboard the Royal Yacht Standart (ca.1913 - 1914) will also be on display.

Porcelain was first brought to Europe by Marco Polo from China, and the secret of its manufacturing remained unknown to Russians until 1740 when a young metallurgist was sent to Germany to study.  With this new knowledge, the first Russian porcelain factory was opened in 1744 under the patronage of Empress Elizabeth, and still exists today.  The primary business of the emerging porcelain industry was to supply the royal courts with hard-paste porcelain table services, decorative pieces for elaborate state banquets, and pieces for their private use.  Russian banquets often lasted up to nine hours and required vast amounts of tableware.  Porcelain's translucent beauty and durability was valued as a decorative accent for the banquets.  The difficulty and expense of manufacturing porcelain demonstrated the Russian empire's sophistication, and porcelain was often presented as gifts to state and foreign visitors.

Raymond F. Piper began collecting Russian porcelain in 1975 and is credited with forming one of the strongest private collections of Russian Imperial porcelain in the United States.  The collection consists of over 400 works.  Piper was inspired to collect porcelain after visiting the Hillwood Museum and Gardens in Washington, D.C.  The Hillwood Museum, founded by Marjorie Merriweather Post, holds one of the most comprehensive institutional collections of Russian Imperial porcelain.

The exhibition catalogue includes essays by Russian porcelain scholars from the Hillwood Museum in Washington, D.C. and Lawrence University.  Essayist Anne Odom, deputy director for collections and chief curator at the Hillwood Museum and Gardens, is author of the book Russian Imperial Porcelain at Hillwood(1999).  Her essay, entitled, "The Politics of Porcelain," focuses on the subtle propaganda that banquet services could provide. The essay by Dr. Karen Kettering, associate curator of Russian art at Hillwood Museum and Gardens, portrays the rules and rituals of Russian private banqueting, including country and cottage service.  An essay by Elizabeth Krizenesky, instructor of Russian at Lawrence University, examines the art of Russian state banqueting.

Guest speaker Dr. Wendy Salmond is associate professor of art at Chapman University in Orange, CA.  She is an expert on Russian and Soviet art, architecture, and decorative arts.

This exhibition is presented in conjunction with At the Grand Duke's Table: Russian Imperial Porcelain from the Raymond F. Piper Collection, August 10 - October 28 at the Captain Frederick Pabst Mansion.

Exhibition Programs
On the Table: Origami Workshop For All Ages
(June 23, 10 a.m. - 12 noon)
An Origami workshop taught by Marquette students Amy Lippert and David Kang focusing on various table and dining pieces related to the exhibition.

Paint Your Own Porcelain: Plate Painting For All Ages
(August 18, 10 a.m - 12 noon)
A plate painting workshop taught in conjunction with "Time to Kiln."  The plateware pattens you can make will be based on patterns from works of Russian Imperial porcelain.

For more information or to register for the workshops, contact Lynne Shumow at 288-5915.