A Russian porcelain oyster dish from the Raphael service by the Imperial Porcelain Factory, St Petersburg, circa 1900, of circular outline with rounded tab handle, the centre finely painted en grisaille with a circular panel of a putto on an iron red ground, surrounded by nine radiating panels filled with foliage and masks, the handle with two lions en grisaille on an iron red ground, with gilded rim and foot, gilt Slavonic Imperial cypher of Nicholas II and dated '1900' to base, length approx 14.4cm. Note: Emperor Alexander III specially commissioned the Raphael service for use in the Great Catherine Palace of Tsarskoe Selo. Its inspiration came from the 400th anniversary of the birth of the Renaissance master Raphael Sanzio Da Urbino (1483-1520) and a major exhibition in St. Petersburg in 1883. The Raphael service is regarded as the most important service produced at the Imperial Porcelain Factory during the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. The service was completed in 1903 after twenty years work and included only fifty place settings.