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43 Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1824–76). Marjorie Post acquired ninety-four pieces of the service from heirs of the grand duchess in 1952 (fig. 2). Another large historic set at Hillwood came from Post’s daughter, Eleanor Close Barzin, an avid collector as well. It is considered the last ceremonial service produced by Russia’s Imperial Porcelain Factory for use at Tsarskoie Selo, the imperial residence in the St. Petersburg suburbs. As described in the orders from 1903 commissioning the service, it “should be designed in Rastrelli’s style, with painted decor simple and at the same time sumptuous.” The service, the manufacture of which began in 1904, ultimately included 1,690 items, 74 of them now held by Hillwood (fig. 3). In addition to holding historic French and Russian services, Hillwood also houses a number of sets produced in Europe at the request of Marjorie Post, whose table settings were renowned for the use of historic porcelain alongside colorful modern tableware. One of them, the Turkey Service, designed in Italy to appeal to an American clientele, revisits the famed tradition of maiolica (fig. 4). RUSSIAN DECORATIVE ARTS During the 1920s, Marjorie Post acquired her first works of art with Russian royal and aristocratic connections. However, Post’s future vision for Hillwood, developed in the late 1930s during her “pilgrimage to imperial Russia” 2 as Ambassadress. With a 1914 edition of the Baedekers guide to Russia in hand, Post explored the remains of a lost empire. More exhaustive than her French collection, Post’s Fig. 5: Basket. Moscow, 1886. Silver. Collectors Circle Purchase, 2010 (2010.2). Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. Fig. 6: Vodka set depicting monuments of Moscow. Moscow, late 1800s. Silver gilt, niello. Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973 (13.75.1–8). Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.