KIT OF CERAMIC TABLEWARE, DULEVO, 1952-1962.

Two large soup tureens with lids and stands, two additional lids, a salad bowl, twelve dinner plates, eleven soup bowls, twelve fruit plates, twelve side plates, two sauce boats, two sugar bowls (one with a lid), two sauce boats with lids, and a pair of spice molds, each decorated with a hammer and sickle surrounded by a sheaf of corn, with a gold manufacturer's mark. Quantity: 69.
Representation of the USSR Ambassador in Helsinki, circa 1952.

Note: This dinner service was produced at a crucial juncture in the post-war development of Russian-Finnish diplomatic and economic relations. The countries were ideologically diverse, yet Finland's consistently friendly foreign policy facilitated the signing of the Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance between Finland and the USSR in 1948.
This agreement was renewed in 1955, 1970, and 1983. Trade between the two countries was and remains extremely important, especially after the cessation of reparations payments in 1950. However, diplomatic relations were not without complications. Following the 1958 elections, a Finnish government was formed under Social Democrat Karl August Fagerholm, which included members considered anti-Soviet. In response, the Soviet Union recalled its ambassador and, presumably, this Soviet dinner service, until the Finnish government was reconstituted and relations stabilized.