It is no exaggeration to say that Ivan Khlebnikov’s factory began receiving commissions from grand dukes and even the emperor within the first few years of its existence. In 1872, he was given permission to use the title of Official Supplier to the court of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich and, in 1877, to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. In 1881, Khlebnikov received the title of Supplier of His Majesty’s Court, as a result of which the number of orders he received grew exponentially. In those years, people wrote that Khlebnikov’s firm made “extravagant articles that decorate our palaces practically every week.” He went on to become a supplier to the Danish, Dutch and Serbian kings, and to the Montenegrin prince.
The items made by Khlebnikov’s firm stood apart due to their “easily identifiable shade of nationality.” The focus on Russian antiquity influenced, among other things, the design of this representative cruchon set.
The exaggerated bratina, which serves as the center of the composition, is decorated with photograph-like black-and-white inserts of painted enamel with vistas of Moscow. It is crowned with an ancient Russian ligature which reads, “From this bratina, large as the Solovetskoe Sea, people drink to the health of youth.” The charki, or drinking vessels, are decorated with other drinking-related sayings: “Drink and be healthy” and “Let’s have a small one, but often.”