Imperial Porcelain

For more than 260 years the history of Imperial Porcelain Manufacture was closely related to the history of Russia. All factory products are truly unique and are exhibited in many museums and private collections, featuring as "hot bid" items in the most prestigious auctions of the world.

Imperial Porcelain Manufacture is a unique factory in Russia producing premium class product, having a personal style and ready to compete with the oldest European manufactures.

Porcelain production

The production of porcelain is a lengthy and complicated process involving more then 80 steps to fabricate just one teacup. The factory maintains the same basic method of production that was developed by D.I. Vinogradov in the eighteenth century.

Porcelain mass is made from the precise mixtures of kaolin (white clay), quartz, feldspar and other alumosilicates and includes up to 40 different additives.

Raw Materials:

white clay quartz, feldspar, pegmatite clay; quartz sand; plaster alumina; tubular bones.

Hollow products are made by manual or machine molding; liquid porcelain (shliker) is poured into the plaster moulds consisting of two and more parts. Plaster absorbs moisture and the porcelain sets inside the molder, the excess of liquid porcelain is disposed of. The fragile product is extracted from the molder to be further “developed” and dried.

The durability of porcelain is achieved through “baking” at 900C for 24 hours and after which the porcelain is “glazed” and “baked” again at 1380–1430°Ð¡ for more then two days. During this process porcelain shrinks by one sevens of its original size, a discrepancy that needs to be taken into account when casting a mold.

Unusual figurines are made from “soft” porcelain, which is “baked” at 1280C. The basic ingredients of are the same as in the normal porcelain with the exception of a higher concentration of feldspar.

35 years ago the factory have developed unique technology for production of thin-walled bone porcelain of highest whiteness and transparency. Calcium phosphates (bovine bone ash, hence the name “bone porcelain) were the main addition to the “recipe”. The factory specialist who developed this technology were awarded a Government medal of excellence in the field of science and technology.

All porcelain products are decorated with hand drawings and imprinted images. Images that go under the glaze are painted on “wet” porcelain, before baking, and last much longer then those that go over the glaze, however the colors that can be applied that way are limited. The most popular color is dark-blue cobalt. A wide spectrum of colors can be applied over the glaze, which are “set” under much lower temperatures.

Very often, when the product is decorated, a DEKOL is used; a transferable ornament printed in ceramic dye on a special paper covered with a special varnish. During the final “back” of an already decorated product, ceramic dyes fuse with the glaze and the porcelain becomes permanently imprinted with the ornament.

The Imperial Porcelain Factory is most famous for it’s handmade artwork and design. An entire line of products is decorated with pure gold and engraved drawings. Porcelain adorned with rich cobalt, bright warm colors and gold have become an established signature theme of the factory.

Modern technological advances are now employed and developed at the factory. An entire molding shop with all the latest equipment is soon to come online. 3D modeling and design technologies have been successfully adapted to the porcelain industry and will soon allow for a wider selection of porcelain products and its different models.

Products

At the present time the factory is producing more then 4000 products of different form and decor. Which includes tea, coffee, and dinning sets, separate tableware pieces, souvenirs, sculptures, decorative dishes and many more. All of which are made from hard, soft and bone porcelain. Products are decorated with hand drawn and mechanized painting in rare colors and precious metals. It is also possible to order an exact replica of any item in the museum collection or a set with your company logo as well as you initials with any ornament you choose.

For almost a decade now the factories signature porcelain set decorated with the “Cobalt net” design by S.E. Iakovleva and A.A. Iazkevich, who received a gold medal at the World Porcelain Exhibition in Brussels. There is a high demand of products inspired by the works of painters like A.V. Vorobievskiu, I.I. Risznicha, member of Art Academy N.P. Slavina, I.S. Olevskai, H.L. Petrovskai, T.B. Afanasieva, G.D. Shyliak, C.A. Sokolov, M.A. Sorokin, U.A. Ggirov.

The products are fashioned for a variety of occasions and purposes, including home dinner sets and souvenirs, sets for president’s banquets and gift sets to leader of foreign countries, as well as prize set for various competitions and festivals. For example, when the city of St-Petersburg was celebrating its 300s year, all table at the grade banquets we set with porcelain from the IPF.

About 15% of all porcelain made at the factory is exported to USA, Germany, France, England, Sweden, Norway, Japan and others. There highest demand for our product is from the USA, Germany and Great Britain. We are in the process of expanding our market share in Canada, Italy and Japan.

History of the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory

The Imperial Porcelain Manufactory was founded by Empress Elizabeth, Peter the Great's dauther, in 1744. Here the gifted Russian scientist Dmitry Vinogradov independently discovered the secret of making porcelain and developed the technology for its manufacture. Three hundred years ago no one in Europe had any idea of the materials and techniques used in making porcelain. The Chinese kept the secrets of porcelain production. Only in the early 18th century in Saxony the alchemist Johan F. Bottger discovered a way to produce "European" hard paste porcelain. These developments did not escape the notice of Peter I. During his frequent visits to European countries, Peter I pursued his interest in the secrets of porcelain manufacture and he attempted to introduce it to Russia with the help of foreigners, but unsuccessfully. Peter I's idea to establish his own porcelain production was brought to life two decades later by his daughter, who was then Empress Elizabeth (1741-1761). The "work of porcelain" was entrusted to Dmitri Vinogradov. Among the best graduates from the Academy of Sciences, he and Mikhail Lomonosov were sent for training abroad. He studied at the oldest European University of Marburg. His subjects were "chemical science, mining, natural history, physics, geometry, mechanics, hydraulics and hydrotechnics". After that, he continued his training in the mining center of Freiberg. The young mining engineer had undertaken independent analyses of raw materials and sought the composition of the porcelain paste. Between 1746 and 1748 all experiments were aimed at achieving pieces that, after firing, would not be reasonably white, thin shelled and lustrous. At the same time, he set out to prepare porcelain pain for decoration. Vinogradov's heritage was the study called "Detailed description of pure porcelain and how the same is made at St.Petersbug". The Monograph as preserved is incomplete but many of the principles contained in it are still valid for porcelain production today. Russia porcelain, created by Vinogradov, was in no way inferior to that of Saxony, and the paste made of native raw material came close to that of China. Apart from the many snuff boxes, tea, coffee and chocolate cups with saucers were produces, as well as boxes, sweetmeat dishes, liqueur "glasses", salt cellars, walking stick tops, handless for knives and forks, punch spoons, buttons for caftans and camisoles, pipes, Easter eggs and many other small items since the kilns built by Vinogradov were not suitable for anything large. From 1756 onwards, when he managed to build a large kiln, plates, dishes, trays, candelabra, wine and glass coders were produced: This is also the period of the first table service, which belonged to Empress Elizabeth personally - "Sobstvennyi" ("Own"). The service is of simple elegance. Only in Russia was china decorated in this manner. During the early 1750s, we also find the first reports about the production of "porcelain dolls" - figures of people and animals. The tastes of society in porcelain in the middle of the 18th century tended towards the affected and elaborate Rococo - visible in its most extreme form in the pieces produced by Meissen's manufactory. Although the Vinogradov porcelain developed in the direction of greater naturalness and simplicity. Only a few pieces of the Vinogradov period have survived and are today of enormous historical value: Under Alexander I reign the factory became large and was reorganized once again. An assistant professor of the Academy of Fine Arts, Stepan Pimenov was brought to the factory in 1809. From the Sevres factory they came the "Artist of the Porcelain Trade" - the gilder Moreau and the porcelain painter Swebach. Porcelain maid in this period fell into the high period of Russian Neo-Classicism - Empire style. Empire style had its own particularities in Russian art. The heroic figures of classical antiquity found their place in a Russian reality shot through with the heroism and love of country of the Great Patriotic War of 1812. Typical of the stylistic idiosyncrasy of porcelain is the "Guryevski" service, ordered for Alexander I, one of the most important sets of the first quarter of the 19th century. It was executed under the aegis of master modeller Stepan Pimenov. This gala palace service is a glorification of the multinational Russian empire. Pimenov achieved an astonishing synthesis of shape, sculptural and pictorial decoration. The decoration was modeled on sketches made after engraving townscapes of Moscow and Petersburg, views of suburbs, the martial scenes and scenes from the life of the capital. The service consisted of 4500 items and the several kilograms of gold were used for decoration. The major portion of the service is part of the collection of the Palace Museum of Pavlovsk. . The greatest mastery was reached in the produced of the vases. Balance of detail, harmony and clarity of line characterise the Voronikhin vases. The greatest mastery was reached in the painted decoration of the vases too, the excellent were maid by Swebach and Moreau. The production of porcelain plaques and large items involved a high degree of technical perfection. A special gilding process was used, and the pieces of that period are remarkable for their gentle polish, sheen and the lasting quality of the gilding, which achieved was never again. Platinum was also used for decoration. In the middle of the 19th century the large service "Gerbovyi" (the heraldic service), "Solotoi" (golden), "Babjegonskyi" were made. In order to enrich these services vases were made with groups in relief, depicting mythological subjects In the unprecedented upsurge of agitatory mass art of the first post-revolutionary period was shown. Porcelain became an instrument in the spread of revolutionary propaganda. The artistic policy of the factory formed part of Lenin's programme of monumental propaganda. Plates, dishes and cups were furnished with the same maxims that could be seen on street posters. The motifs for decoration now were provided by peasants in military boots, Baltic sailors, red army soldiers - heroes of revolution. One plaque, decorated with all the newspapers published in Petrograd is artistically expressive: Despite low production, this porcelain was much appreciated by the wider public, thanks to press notices and to participation in international exhibitions. The creation of post-revolutionary porcelain is mainly connected with the name of Sergei Chekhonin, who was appointed director of the artistic side of production. He had been well-known as a book-designer, as a master of miniature enamel decoration and as the creator of large ceramic wall plaques. He had introduced the subject of new Soviet political organisation of the State on the idea of a Russian empire and the rebellious spirit of the aesthetics of Futurism. His decorations were delicate in their colouring and graphic design. His many interests and his profound knowledge of the culture of the past had prompted him to engage highly trained porcelain master and painters belonging to various trends in art. Vasili Kuznetsov, Natalia Danko and Rudolf Wilde, MikhailAdamovitch, Sinaida Kobyletskay, Maria Lebedeva, Natan Altman and Mstilav Dobushinski, Vladimir Tatlin and Kusma Petrov-Vodkin, Pavel Kuznetsov, Boris Kustodiev and others. In 1918, at the behest of Chekhonin, the painter Alexandra Shchekotikhina-Pototskaya joined the factory, she was a pupil of Nikolai Rerich and Ivan Bilibin. The main theme of her work was Russia. For many years, Stshekotikhina was held to represent a colorful, strong, spontaneous style of painting, which produced in porcelain a fairy-tale, folkloristic, theatrically sentimental picture of Russia. Brought up in a patriarchal orthodox family, she gave a special place to the deeply tragic picture of a past Russia, rigid in its silent expectation. In this, she borrowed from the sculptural elements in old Russian painting. , In the search for forms, the founder of the Suprematist movement, Kazimir Malevich, and his pupils turned to porcelain. For their decoration they used geometric compositions with combinations of patches of colour, dynamic in its proportions and lines. Kadinski made several sketches for porcelain. The Suprematists' forays were to provide valuable ideas for the Leningrad School of Porcelain. For the World Exhibition in Paris of 1925, The State Porcelain Factory selected around 300 pieces. It was a resounding success: It received the Great Gold Medal. Gold and silver medals were also awarded to Shchekotikhina, Kobyletskaya, Wilde, Suyetin, Chekhonin, Matveyev, Danko, Ivanov and Kuznetsov. In 1925, the 200th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Science was celebrated and the factory took the name of the great Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov. .

Imperial Porcelain Museum

In February 2001, The State Hermitage accepted under its patronage a unique historic collection of porcelain from the Imperial Porcelain Factory Museum.

The Factory Museum was established in 1844 by order of Nicolas I, to store, collect, study and reproduce unique porcelain products. The museum accumulated a sizeable collection of masterpieces that reflect an almost 260 year history of the first porcelain factory of Russia. More then 30,000 pieces are on display including porcelain and glass of various Imperial factories, articles of the Soviet era, merchandise of famous European factories as well as samples of Japanese and Chinese porcelain.

The museum is also a library. Established in the second half of nineteenth century the library contains rare and unusual books on porcelain and porcelain art as well as sketches and drawings of world-renowned artists.

In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Alexander III decreed that all porcelain produced for the royal family was to be made in sets of two, one of which was to remain in a museum. The tradition was kept during the soviet era, which ensured constant replenishment of the main collection. The museum had to be evacuated twice in its history: in the autumn of 1917 to Petrozavodsk where it remained until the autumn of 1918 and the again during World War II it was evacuated to Irbit – a small city in Ural.

When the war was over, Moscow decided to move the factory collection to the Museum of Russia but the craftsmen of the factory, supported by many prominent artists of the time were able to convince the administration to keep the museum at the factory. M.H. Syetin and B.I. Myhin were the main benefactors of that decision. It was then established that the unique collection of porcelain was a national treasure and should not exist outside factory walls where it was crafted.

For more then a 150 years the museum served as a school of the highest artistic mastery, an inspiration for several generations of artists and an important link between the past and future of Russian porcelain. The collection was exhibited in many countries including England, Austria, Germany, Japan and others.

In 2003 the Zvetkov family acquired the factory. They decided to renovate the main museum facility and to build a new gallery where modern porcelain will be displayed. On December 22, 2003 the museum was reopened as new division of Hermitage, which meant that for the first time in 100 years every one could see the entire collection of Russian porcelain.

Imperial Porcelain Factory and its museum is a unique place where, for almost 300 years, the history and culture of Russia take shape in the form of porcelain. In 1999 it became privatized and the security of the museum and its collection that remained a government property was brought under question. The governors of St. Petersburg made a decision to transfer all exhibits to the Museum of Russia but the museum was “saved” once more, this time by the Director of Hermitage M.B.Piotrovski. It was decided then by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation that Hermitage will take the museum of Imperial Porcelain Factory under its direct patronage and that the museum itself will remain at the factory.