Plate “Transportation of the Thunder Stone in the Presence of Catherine the Second”

Wedgwood factory, Etruria, Staffordshire, England. Late 1770s-early 1780s

Underglaze transfer printing and lustre on earthenware

Diameter: 19.2 cm. Impressed Wedgwood mark

Donated by Maria Zabelina in 1909

The transfer-printed design was inspired by the engraving “View of the Thunder Stone during Its Transportation in the Presence of Catherine the Second on the 20th Day of January 1770” by Jakob van der Schley, after a drawing by Yury Felten (1770). Found one mile outside St. Petersburg, the massive Thunder Stone was used to form the pedestal for the famous Bronze Horseman statue of Peter the Great by the sculptor Etienne Falconet (1716-1791). Moving the 2,400-ton stone to the centre of the city was a truly herculean task. During transportation, 46 stonemasons laboured to shape the huge rock into a suitable pedestal. On 26 September 1770, the mighty Thunder Stone finally rolled into St. Petersburg’s Senate Square to cheers from a massive crowd