Table centrepiece - Magic of the shamaness – Kuznetsk Tatars (part of Alexandra Pavlovna's tableware set)

These statues and statue groups, standing on a rocky base, are modelled on the illustrations to a scholarly book on the lifestyle, religion, customs, homes and dress of the peoples of Russia, by scientist Johann Gottlieb Georgi (1729–1802). The accurate, detailed modelling gives an authentic representation of these native people. By tradition, the statues are said to have been made to remind the Tsar’s daughter Alexandra Pavlovna, who lived far from her homeland, of her native country and its people.

One of the bisque table decorations is the bisque statuette group depicting a female shaman and a Kuznetski Tatar woman holding her child it is assumed that it was based upon the illustration of Johann Gottlieb Georgi’s (ethnographer natural scientist) work detailing the lives, religion, tradition, living environment, clothing and other characteristics of the nations living in Russia.