From 1712, when the armory in the town of Tula, south of Moscow, was founded by Peter the Great, its masters regularly enjoyed royal patronage. The armory flourished under Empress Catherine the Great (r. 1762–96), supplying not only weaponry but also a variety of precious cut-steel objects. With its diamondlike sparkle, Tula furniture is the ultimate embodiment of eighteenth-century Russian decorative arts. In 1785, the empress sent two of her most experienced steelworkers from Tula, Alexey Surnin and Andrey Leontyev, on a study trip to England in order to hone their skills.

The Museum's table belongs to a small group of furniture embellished with silver inlay, ornamental etching, and gilded applications that summarize nearly all the techniques practiced by the Tula craftsmen. Presumably the only example of this type currently known outside Russia, this table is visually the most accomplished of all. Objects of such commanding quality left Russia mostly as diplomatic gifts or as part of an imperial dowry. However, recent research reveals that this extraordinary parade table (meant for display, not daily use) was made for the Russian imperial family about 1780–85. Some years later it was recorded in the bedroom of Empress Maria Feodorovna (1759–1828) in the palace of Pavlovsk near Saint Petersburg. In 1801, the empress gave it as a personal keepsake to her former brother-in-law Duke Peter of Oldenburg (1755–1829) on the occasion of a sad anniversary: the duke had married her late sister Princess Fredericke of Württemberg (1765–1785) twenty years earlier.

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