CERAMIC TABLEWARE SET, DULEVO, 1952-1962

Two large soup tureens, lids and stands, two attachments, a salad bowl, twelve dinner plates, eleven soup bowls, twelve fruit plates, twelve side dishes, two sauce boats, two sugar bowls, one with a lid, two sauce dishes with lids, and a pair of spice containers, each depicting a sickle and hammer surrounded by a sheaf of corn, with the gold marking of the manufactory. Quantity: 69
Embassy of the USSR in Helsinki, circa 1952.

Note: This dinner set was produced at a decisive moment in the postwar development of Russian-Finnish diplomatic and economic relations. The countries were ideologically diverse, and yet Finland’s consistently friendly foreign policy contributed to the signing of the Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance between Finland and the USSR in 1948.
This agreement was extended in 1955, 1970, and 1983. Trade between the two countries was and continues to be extremely important, especially after the cessation of reparations payments in 1950. However, diplomatic relations were not without complications. After the 1958 elections, a Finnish government was formed under the leadership of Social Democrat Karl-August Fagerholm, which included members considered anti-Soviet. In response, the Soviet Union recalled its ambassador and, presumably, this Soviet dinner set until the Finnish government was restored and relations stabilized.