This plate is an example of an Imperial Porcelain Factory plate painted with a Revolutionary design. The painted design is by the artist Alexandra Shchekotikhina-Pototskaya, who joined the State Porcelain Factory’s Art Department in 1918. Her work is characterised by bold use of bright colours and typically includes subjects drawn from folklore and traditional rural life. This examples depicts a commissar of the Cheka, the early Soviet secret police, as he crosses Uritsky Square in St. Petersburg (Petrograd).
Founded in the 18th century, the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St Petersburg produced luxury objects for the Imperial Russian court. After the Revolution, the new regime took over the factory which held a large stock of blank porcelain items awaiting future orders and decoration. Blank items were then painted with Revolutionary slogans and sold as a means of promoting Revolutionary ideals and raising funds for the new government. The Imperial marks were initially covered with paint but from 1921 they were left untouched and appear alongside the new mark of the State Porcelain Factory.