Part of the original service from Catherine the Great. Being a porcelain service to the Danish king pieces outside the Royal household are few and exceptional. Some were among other given by the Danish king Frederik VII to admirers of the service; the present item is one of these later partly inherited partly sold and dispersed, and now back in the trade. The rendering of the decoration on these early pieces is more faithful to the original Flora Danica copper engravings than later pieces. And on the back of the porcelain is noted not only the Latin name of the plant, as is custom on later pieces, but also the plate number and volume as a reference to the Flora Danica publication.