The Imperial Porcelain Manufactory (IPM) was founded in 1744 in St. Petersburg. Today in its assortment there are about 4000 thousand items of hard and thin-walled bone china: services and souvenirs, vases, genre and animal sculpture, decorative interior items, as well as museum replicas. On the left is a modern brand of the plant, in a special article historical IPM brands have been collected, since its foundation.
Since the plant has always developed under the patronage of the imperial persons or the state, its history has been divided into several main periods related to the years of the rule of the first persons of Russia.
1744 – 1761The Empress Elizabeth. The birth of Russian porcelain.Founded in 1744 by the decree of the daughter of Peter the Great, Elizabeth, the factory, originally called the Nevskaya Portselinovuyu Manufactory, became the third in Europe after Meissen (1710) and Sevr (1740). Russian chemist D.I. Vinogradov made up his own porcelain mass, not inferior in quality to Sevru, and in whiteness – close to Chinese. In the early years, small things were made, like snuffboxes and boxes, which the Empress with pleasure gave away to the approximate and foreign diplomats. The first “Own” service of Elizabeth was created in 1756, when Vinogradov finally managed to build a large baking oven. Then they began to make figures of people and animals. At that time porcelain remained a rare enough luxury and demonstrated the prestige and high position of its owners. |
|
1762 – 1801Catherine II and Paul I. Early classicism.It was with the accession of Catherine II that the manufactory was reorganized and received its present name – “Imperial Porcelain Factory”. She was tasked with saturating the whole of Russia with porcelain. As a modelmaster, the French sculptor J.D. Rashet, with him at the factory affirmed the influence of French classicism. As a result, the end of the eighteenth century was the heyday of Russian porcelain, and the Imperial Plant was one of the leading in Europe. The most glorified of his luxurious ensemble ensembles commissioned by Catherine II – “Arabesque”, “Yakhtinsky”, “Kabinetsky”, which included desktop sculptural decorations, glorifying the deeds of the Empress. Allegorical painting on vases, plates and seams also glorified the virtues of Catherine. She was approved by a series of sculptures of the “Nationalities of Russia” (about a hundred figures), later supplemented with urban St. Petersburg types. The reign of Pala I can not be called an independent period in the history of Russian porcelain because of its short duration, however, at that time the main plots of the plates and vases were personal impressions of Paul, drawn from the journey through Europe, in particular – through Italy.
|
1801 – 1825Alexander I. High classicism, embodied in porcelain.Under the reign of Alexander I, a large reorganization of the plant began, which was conducted under the guidance of Professor of Technology at the University of Geneva F.Gattenberger. To manage the sculptural chamber was appointed by the professor of the Academy of Arts S. Pimenov, one of the outstanding masters of his time. For approval at the Empire style factory, the best painters from the Sevres Porcelain Manufactory were invited, however, Russian Empire china was significantly different from Sevres. |
|
1825 – 1894Nicholas I, Alexander II, Alexander III. Rise and decline.During this period, sets were made for almost all the imperial residences of St. Petersburg. They differed in different styles. the “Russian” trend was further developed. According to the projects of a connoisseur of Russian antiquities F. Solntsev, a service was set up for the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow. Nikolaev porcelain was distinguished by virtuosic painting. On the vases were reproduced canvases of old masters – Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Correggio, Murillo, etc., mainly from the Hermitage collection. The copies were struck by the precision and subtlety of the lines, the clarity and brilliance of the colors, and fully corresponded to the original. The development also received portrait, icon and miniature painting on vases and seams. The championship of the plant in porcelain painting was confirmed by diplomas of world exhibitions in London, Paris and Vienna. |
|
1894 – 1916Nicholas II. Porcelain and Russian modern.In the reign of Nicholas II, thanks to exemplary technical equipment, the imperial porcelain manufactory is focused on further artistic development, as well as on the improvement of artistic technologies. Art competitions, trips of Russian artists and sculptors to Europe are arranged to get acquainted with the works of leading masters. At the same time, there is an appeal to the forms of Russian folk art. In the creation of vases, renunciation of the former eclectic forms in favor of the simplicity of natural natural occurs. |
|
1917 – our daysRevolutionary vanguard, socialist realism and a new Russia in the art of porcelain.In 1918, now the State Porcelain Factory was placed under the jurisdiction of the People’s Commissariat of Education, which set the task of producing “agitation porcelain revolutionary in content, perfect in form, impeccable in technical execution.” Art policy became part of monumental propaganda with clearly delineated ideological and artistic principles of porcelain art. |
|
Products of the Imperial porcelain manufactory…
All the items presented in the photographs in this article are in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.