A Minton Catherine the Great Service pattern bottle cooler by Henri Boullemier, circa 1900 Based on the original Sèvres service made for Catherine the Great, of U-shape with scrolled handles picked out in gold, richly decorated with brown and white cameo panels of neoclassical figures and portraits, one panel signed 'H Boullemier', reserved on a bleu celeste ground decorated with scrollwork in raised paste and chased gold, within gilt and floral bands, the lower part gilt with stiff leaves also on the same rich turquoise ground, 19cm high, printed globe mark in gold Footnotes: Copies of the famous dinner service made for Catherine the Great were made at Minton as additions and replacements for the Russian Imperial court to use alongside the original Sèvres and Imperial Russian porcelain pieces. The Minton bottle coolers differ from the seaux à bouteilles in the original service in that they have elaborate caryatid handles rather than the simpler scrolled versions seen on the present lot. Henri P Boullemier was one of the two sons of Antonin and took over from his brother Lucien Emile as the principal painter at Minton before the First World War. A similar signed bottle cooler from the Minton Museum is illustrated by Joan Jones, Minton (1993), p.70 and was sold by Bonhams on 5 October 2004, lot 328. Another apparently unsigned example from the Pompey Collection was sold by Christie's New York on 23 May 2002, lot 127. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing