A Russian cut glass Imperial Banqueting Service glass, Imperial Glassworks, St. Petersburg, circa 1860. The lead glass wheel cut and polished, the fluted bowl with half columns, each column being further cut with a polished circle forming a band about the center, the front set with an enameled stamped gold insert on which has been painted the ermine mantle of the Imperial coats-of-arms and with the gold initial A, the stem faceted and with a simple knop, the spreading foot with pie crust border and with a star underneath. Height 4 3/8 in. (11.2 cm)The single initial A is typically assumed to be that of Alexander II although the first pieces of this type were made in 1824. The style of cutting and shape differs considerably; this glass, for example, has an additional row of polished circles further bending light and reflections, and a knop on the stem. On the Imperial Banqueting services, see Tamara Malinina, Imperatorski stekliannyi zavod: XVIII-nachalo XX veka, St. Petersburg, 2009, pp. 264, 266, 283 and Karen Kettering, Russian Glass at Hillwood, Washington, DC, pp. 39-41.