The Moscow Kremlin Museums have a rich collection of Russian engraved glass and crystal of the 17th-early 20th centuries and interesting examples of domestic porcelain of the 18th-19th centuries.
Glass production was one of the first branches of the Russian art industry that emerged at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. The leading role in the formation of the national school belonged to the Izmailovsky State Plant in Moscow. The Kremlin museums have unique products of this plant. This is a huge goblet made of light glass with engraved images of Peter I, surrounded by medallions with allegories from the popular Russian book “Symbols and Emblems”.
In the second decade of the 18th century, the center of glassmaking moved to St. Petersburg and concentrated on the Yamburg and Zhabinsky factories. Russians became the leading masters here for the first time. The products of the Yamburg plant are represented in the collection by goblets associated with the era of Peter the Great.
In the 30s of the XVIII century, the third center of glass production was formed - the St. Petersburg plant, which existed until 1774. His products testify to the flourishing of the national school of engraved glass, associated with the activities of the two largest masters - V. Pivovarov and D. Voilokov. Their work is large goblets with portraits of Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II. The carvers of the plant in the 40s-70s of the 18th century engraved coats of arms and monograms, architectural landscapes, and complex allegorical compositions on glass. They enhanced the decorativeness of engravings with blackening, gilding, and colored enamels.
In the collection, next to the magnificent works of the St. Petersburg factory, there are more modest products of private enterprises.
The Kremlin Museums have samples of products from the Imperial Glass Factory, founded in 1774, the fourth center of glass production. These are vases made of red glass, the so-called golden ruby, with a slight gold ornament, and of violet glass, which has a rare shade of rich black in massive thick-walled vessels.
At the beginning of the 19th century, lead crystal appeared and various mechanical methods for its processing appeared. The masters of the era of late classicism had a keenly developed sense of the ensemble. So great importance was given to the creation of glass and crystal sets, united by a common idea. The Imperial and Bakhmetevsky (near Penza) plants worked on their production.
To mid-nineteenth century revived colored glass. First, in the form of a ruby red on a colorless layer. Then products of saturated colors appeared - dense green, dark blue, and in late XIX century so-called marble glass.
Until the end of the 18th century, the shape and ornamentation of the products corresponded to the Baroque style. Elements of the rocaille Ornament were only partly introduced. The style of classicism, established at the end of the 18th century, received special expressiveness in colored glass.
The 70s-90s of the 19th century were characterized by an appeal to the forms and ornamentation of folk glass in connection with the popularity of the pseudo-Russian style.
The activities of the glass manufacturers Maltsevs, who became monopolists in crystal production, reached an extraordinary scale. Crystal of the late 19th - early 20th century is distinguished by the high quality of the material and the virtuoso work of diamond cutters. Very often, crystal products were set in silver, which emphasized the preciousness of the material.
The Kremlin museums display a small but interesting collection of Russian porcelain from the Imperial Factory and private enterprises.
The pride of the museum are products associated with the first period of the Imperial Factory (1747-1765). They are decorated with stucco floral decorations and paintings with oriental floral motifs. The artistic merit of works is the individuality of performance.
The products of the Imperial Factory of the 19th century are represented by individual items in Greek style, “Kremlin” service in the pseudo-Russian style and vases painted by the artist Stoletov. These vases are rare for Russian porcelain examples of miniature copies of easel paintings.
The first private porcelain enterprise, founded in the 18th century, was the f. Gardner (Verbilki village near Moscow). An interesting phenomenon in porcelain art was the creation of famous order services at this factory. Unlike the Imperial Factory, Gardner developed folk theme; folk scenes were depicted in the painting, folk types were created in plastic.
Following Gardner, democratic tendencies in Russian porcelain of the 19th century were developed by A. Popov's factories and Gzhel porcelain enterprises. From a luxury item, porcelain has become a widespread material. Porcelain painting subjects were very diverse. The craftsmen of these factories repeated illustrations of fashion magazines in painting, reproduced genre scenes, but most often covered products with floral ornaments, which was characteristic feature Russian porcelain.
At the end of the 19th century, many factories went bankrupt, the production of porcelain was monopolized by the partnership of M. S. Kuznetsov, whose porcelain became really industrial-mass in those days.
But in the works of the Imperial Factory and the factory of the Kornilov brothers in St. Petersburg, porcelain again acquired the sound of a precious material. Their products reflected the high technical achievements of porcelain art.
This selection includes the best samples of glass and porcelain items of the 18th - early 20th centuries, stored in the funds of the Armory.
The turn of the 19th - 20th centuries passes in Europe under the sign of a new style, which in different countries received different names: art nouveau - in France, art nouveau - in Germany, secession - in Austria, liberty - in Italy, modern - in Russia. Everywhere the works of this style were distinguished by an innovative approach to form, interest in wildlife, and an appeal to new production technologies. Such a material as glass, with its transparency and fluid plasticity, with its inexhaustible palette of shades and textures, turned out to be surprisingly in tune with the Art Nouveau style and became one of the symbols of the new style. One of the main aesthetic ideas Art Nouveau - to make high art more accessible, that is, to find an alternative to the mass mechanized production of household items. This artistic program has received different incarnations in different countries.
Antique glass by René Lalique
occupies a special place in modern art. Rene Lalique(1860 - 1945). This artist became famous primarily as a jeweler, but glass played an important role in his work. He used it in his unrivaled jewelry, often ditching gemstones in favor of glass. In addition, René Lalique made lighting fixtures, vases, sculptures, perfume bottles and even car decorations. His works made of colorless and colored glass, frosted and transparent, sometimes using colored enamels, were distinguished by both monumentality and lightness, smoothness and originality of forms, and were no less popular than his jewelry.
Vase with the image of ivy. Rene Lalique. 1912
Source: http://www.kreml.ru/exhibitions/moscow-kremlin-exhibitions/iskusstvo-rene-lalika/
Glass Art Nouveau Emil Galle
The key figure for glassmaking in the Art Nouveau era was Emile Galle(1846 - 1904). His work refracted the traditions of European and Oriental art, giving rise to a completely new unique style that combined deep symbolism, close attention to nature, an endless variety of techniques, amazing freedom and sophistication of form. Emile Galle was born in Nancy, small town in Lorraine, in the family of an entrepreneur who was engaged in trade and production of glass and faience. Emile Galle's career began with a family business. Later he collaborated with the factory "Burgun, Schwerer andToᵒ» in Meisenthal. Already in 1867, Galle created an art studio, and in 1894 he headed his own glass production in Nancy. If in early period Since Galle’s creative work was mainly creating sketches of dishes made of transparent colorless glass with engraving or painting, then in his own atelier he begins a series of technological experiments. As a result, many new techniques were invented and patented, ancient technologies were revived, and an unprecedentedly diverse palette of colored glass shades was created. In 1882, Emile Gallé starts the production of laminated glass, which has become one of the symbols of Art Nouveau. Engraving was the most important element of the decoration of multi-layer products, which could be carried out mechanically (engraving with a wheel) or chemically (etching). Glass became the pinnacle of Halle's creativity "cameo" (cameo glass) - laminated glass, on which the image was applied using sequential layer-by-layer etching and carving using various tools. As a rule, flowers and plants (orchids, lilies, chrysanthemums, thistles, ferns) were depicted on vases using this technique, but there are also images of insects, marine life and other images borrowed from nature. The decorative decoration of such works has always had a symbolic and philosophical connotation. Halle even creates a new genre that combines glass and poetry: the so-called "talking glass" ”, where lines from poems by Baudelaire, Maeterlinck, Hugo were woven into the ornamentation of the vase.
Vase with the image of a magnolia flower. Halle manufactory 1900 Laminated glass, etched. GMZ Pavlovsk
Etching was also used to treat the entire surface of the glass. Exposure to various concentrations of acid in a solution could replace mechanical polishing, give a matting effect, or "frosty glass" (glass as if covered with a layer of frost). Acid etching made it possible to achieve greater smoothness of lines and softer outlines compared to mechanical engraving. Etching also made it possible to create circulation products, and in the 1890s Halle began mass production of laminated glass at his own enterprise. Halle's serial glass was named galle standard . Halle's unique invention was the technique glass marquetry (fr.marqueterie de verre- set of glass on glass), by analogy with the technique that has long been used to decorate furniture. Pieces of glass of various colors were placed on the walls of the vessel in hot form. Another technique patented by Halle is patination technique when the dust is different chemical composition applied to the glass surface between layers, thus achieving unusual color effects and refined gradations.
Vase with the image of cyclamen. Halle manufactory. Late 1890s Laminated glass, etching, marquetry on glass technique. State Museum of Ceramics and Kuskovo Estate.
Source:Galle lines. European and Russian colored end laminated glassXIX- startXXcentury in the collections of Russian museums. Moscow 2013.
The main feature of Emile Galle's antique glass is the highest quality and virtuosity of execution, each of his works is an unsurpassed masterpiece. There are also a number of details that help determine whether antique glass Halle authentic. Such details include a polished bottom, on which all the numerous layers of colored glass are visible. Undoubtedly, important role when attributing, the signature (signature) of Emile Galle also plays. He signed his works in the technique of engraving or etching, but the signature changed both during the life of the artist and after his death (serial production of Galle vases continued its work until the 1930s). Currently, the rights to the Galle brand are owned by the Coman design plant located in Romania. Their products are different high quality and artistic value, but are hardly of interest to the collector of antique glass. In the labeling of these products, next to the name "Galle" there is the word "tip".
Vase with anemones. Emile Gallé, 1900 Laminated glass, marquetry on glass technique, engraved. State Hermitage.
Source: Halle Lines. European and Russian colored laminated glass of the late 19th - early 20th centuries in the collections of Russian museums. Moscow 2013.
Followers, Seekers, Experimenters
The unique work of Emile Galle gave rise to many followers, forming the Nancy school, which became the leader for the entire modern era. The first followers of Halle were the masters of the factory in Meisenthal, with whom the artist collaborated for a long time - Desiree Christian and Eugene Kremer. An important place in the art of that period was occupied by firm "Legra and Kᵒ". hallmark Legr glass was widely used, along with engraving and etching, painting with enamels and gold, as well as the extraordinary brightness and variety of shades of glass masses. Undoubtedly, one of the recognized leaders of artistic glassmaking of that time was firm of the Dom brothers (Auguste Dom and Antonin Dom). Among artistic techniques used in their works, the following techniques are especially worth noting: technique colored crumbs , in which glass chips of various colors were applied to the product in hot form; Technics pat de ver (fr.pâte-de-verre - glass paste), in which details were created for decorating multilayer vases, as well as a widely used technique martel (fr.martele - forged), that is, an imitation of a forged texture on glass.
Vase with anemones. Manufactory of the Dom brothers, 1910 Laminated glass, etching. GMZ Pavlovsk.
Source: Halle Lines. European and Russian colored laminated glass of the late 19th - early 20th centuries in the collections of Russian museums. Moscow 2013
The influence of Emile Galle and the Nancy school was so great that it was not limited to France. Examples might be vintage glass by Ludwig Moser & Sons in the Czech Republic, and firm "Costa" in Sweden, in which the features of Halle's creativity and the ideas of modernity were refracted in a peculiar way. Russian glass factories were no exception, and they also responded to new trends in European art.
Russian glass Modern
At the end of the 19th century Imperial Glass Factory (ISZ) experienced not better times, and was merged with the Imperial Porcelain Factory to reduce costs. Nevertheless, ISZ still remained one of the largest glass productions in Russia and produced the highest class products. Shortly after the famous world exhibition 1889 in Paris, where Émile Galle first demonstrated his laminated glass vases, ISZ also begins to create similar works.
Vase. Imperial Porcelain and Glass factories. 1897 Colored glass, crackle technique.
Source:T. A. Malinina. Imperial glass factory.XVIII- StartXXcentury. St. Petersburg: 2009.
In addition, at the turn of the century, ISZ produced thick-walled colored glass vases decorated using techniques such as millefiori (ital.millefiori- a thousand flowers) in which many glass tubes of various colors were cut across and fused into the thickness of the vessel in the form of thin plates, crackle (fr.craqueler- covered with cracks- glass with cracks on the surface, as well as glass with the inclusion of metallic spangles in the mass.
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Vase with the image of a snake in the thickets of clover. Imperial Porcelain and Glass factories. According to the drawing by K. Krasovsky. 1897 Two-layer glass, carving, engraving.
Russian art glass
The history of Russian art glass on begins in the era of Kievan Rus, when in many ancient Russian cities appeared the first master skies, making smalts for mosaics and simple women's jewelry - beads, bracelets,rings. This tradition was interrupted duringMongol-Tatar invasion. And therefore in XVII century, when there was a need for glass, withhad to turn to the experience of European masters ditch.
An important role in the process of formation of the Russian artistic glassmaking fell to the lot ofMailovsky factory, founded in 1668. Ryahouse with foreigners, Russians also worked at the plant masters who creatively mastered the advanced experience of European glassmaking. Got here development of the two main schools of the Baroque era. od on of them originates from the Venetian masters,working in the technique of free blowing (gut Noah), the other continues the tradition of Bohemian glass-carvers. The gut technique was quite early mastered by Russian masters, many of whomsubsequently founded their own acceptance. Engraving remains for some time was the privilege of foreign craftsmen and only in XVIII century was developed at the leading glass factories of the country.
The rarest are "funny cubes"Izmailovsky plant, made by Andrey Lerin. His methods were widely used innative masters throughout XVIII century, especially in the manufacture of various vessels in the form of horses, bears, birds.
During the XVII - XVIII centuries in Russia86 glass factories were founded, some of them exist to this day (Gusevsky, Dyatkovsky). Most factories based in XVII - XVIII centuries, made window glass andfree-form products of simple shapes from bottled earth flaked glass - shtofs, bottles, jugs. mnosome of them have become works of folk art pieces, after they were painted with enamel in special workshop. Here and biblical jets (Joseph the Beautiful, Adam and Eve), and stories cal (Gangut battle), and the theme of the holiday, and lush floral ornaments in conjunction with animal pictures.
Russian art glass 17th - 19th centuries
In the first half XVIII century in RussiaThere were three main glass engraving centers. Petersburg was the leader. Pe collectionTerburg engraved glass beginsfrom modest, still student work began XVIII century and ends with virtuoso workmi Petersburg engravers of the end XVIII century. All works are made in the style of Russian variant and baroque. Cubes with the image of the Russian double-headedeagle, monograms and portraits of monarchs. in sulfurone century there is also a significant the number of cubes with images of parades, hunting whose and pastoral scenes against the backdrop of architectural landscape.
Provincial engraving centersput in the collection of works of mastersMaltsov and Nemchinov factories. Especially aboutthe Maltsov family was flourishing, the head of Vasily Maltsov in 1730 became the ownercement of a small plant in the Mozhaisk district. K contsu century in the hands of this family has already been15 glass factories are concentrated. Maltsov engraved glass was designed for mediumlayers of the Russian people - merchants, officials.Therefore, in its ornamentation, baroque principlesand the problems turned out to be refracted throughlens of popular perception. Very common ondedicatory inscriptions in Maltsov glass. The masters also turned to the "gallant" plot, but in theirinterpretation, he received a popular coloring.
Similar in its artisticcontrol was the glass of the Nemchinov factories,who in the third quarter XVIII century belonged to several factories in the Smolensk province.It is noteworthy that all Nemchinov engraverswere exclusively serfs, and glassmade to order only.
In the last third XVIII century Russian glassdivision is developing at a particularly rapid pace.The number of factories is growing, their sizes are increasing. Glassmaking becomes a prestigious occupation, andRussian nobility starts glass on their estatesenterprises. Among the owners of factoriesstny princes Potemkin and Golitsyn, Count Orlov.
Leading role in the production of artvein glass preserves the state-owned factory, whichry from 1792 became known as the Imperial factory. Its products were orientedmainly for the decoration of the court wouldthat. Not inferior to him in terms of product quality based ny in 1764, the Nikolsko-Petrovsky plant for squire Bakhmetiev.
The appearance of art glass last tre ty XVIII century is determined by the style of classicism. At this time, the asrange of products that have become less universal greasy. Table setting became more complicated, and onthe meaning of each item became more limited. The first wine sets appear, withstanding out of decanters and glasses. Made from glassoil dishes, tureens, pots, spice bowls,perfume bottles, snuff boxes, etc. Increasing the role of glass in the interior. Inner chambers yard tsov are decorated with vases, candelabra, chandeliermi, stenniks, mirrors, and are also madefurniture inserts.
Significant changes are also taking place in nike glass manufacturing. In addition to the previously knownbottle green and colorless glass according tois also colored (red, green, blue, purple, milky). Even though the Russianscraftsmen learned how to cook colored glass back in early XVIII century, its widespread use falls on the last third 18th century and largely stimulated by the developments of M. Lomono owl.
Glass decorating techniques are also changing.Engraving gives way to painting with gold, silverbromine, enamels. Popular in the 70s and 80s XVIII century there was colorless glass with fine paintingsue white enamel with purple.
It still bears a compromise in many respects.rakter, as its rocaille plot (bosquet groups) is combined with a strict classical form and interpretation of ornaments.
Forgotten techniques are being revived, such asfiligree (Venetian thread). It is used to decorate the legs of glasses and glasses, and sometimes covers the entire body of carafes. Colorlessglass with gold and silver painting editionetsya mainly Imperial and Bakhmetevsky plants. Their products are differentfriend only by the fact that in Bakhmetiev glass there are more often gilding is combined with silvering andtransparent enamels.
Products of the Imperial factory were more consistent in stylistic terms, they are more restrained in form and ornamentation.This difference is especially noticeable in colored glass,whose palette at the Imperial Factory was much richer, as well as ornamentation.Here, in addition to monograms, wreaths, garlands, oftenyou can see mythological compositions and landscapes.
Stained glass has been widely used indesign of lighting fixtures - chandeliers,sconces, candelabra, where it was combined with gilded bronze. A large role in the interior is played by host of mirrors and reflectors, on the surfaces ofwhich were often engraved with allegorical figuresry or characters of the Italian comedy.
Russian glass XIX century is extremely differenttea variety of forms and decorativetricks. At this time, the requirements for the quality of the material and is constantly being improved its production technology. production stack la becomes more and more industrial characterter. The number of factories is increasing significantly. If at the beginning XIX century in Russia there were 114 factoriesDov, then in 1889 there were already 258 of them, but only 57of them produced "glassware".
First third of XIX century is rightfully considered menem of the heyday of Russian art glassdelia. For the first time they began to be involved in leadership and work professional artists. On theImperial glass factory A. Voronikhin, Thomas de Thomon, C. Rossi, I. Ivanov are developing whether sketches of ceremonial services, vases, tabledecorations that were grandiosetheir size and the courage of the technicalopinion. Many of them were intended forsolutions of royal residences. All artisticworks of the first third 19th century mainly from new, just mastereddark colorless lead crystal with diamond noah edge. Strict forms of products, coldflickering facets of geometric nature naimore clearly expressed aesthetic principles empire. Very often monti crystal products were cast into gilded bronze, which was also favorite material of this stylistic direction.
Central role in the design of artvein glass of the first third 19th century occupies heroic theme of the war of 1812. Especially brightit is expressed in the first crystal products withmilk medallions, which were placedportraits of war heroes - Kutuzova, Platova, Vit genstein. The performers of these portraits werepainters of the Imperial Porcelain FactoryP. Rokshtul and the master of the Bakhmetevsky factory A.Vershinin. Heroic theme got sosame reflection in engraved glass. This ismainly small items: glasses, glasses, plates, which reproduced kacartoons by I. Terebnev, I. Ivanov, and severallater, in the 1830s, the bas-reliefs of F. Tolstoy.
Stained glass was rarely used in the Empire era. Interest in him again arose only in the second quarter XIX century. At the first All-Russian exhibition in 1829, it was noted that "colored steel things that are out of use,and now again in great fashion, it seemed as ifadorned with sapphires, emeralds, topazes,rubies the purest water especially adorableopal and rezeopaline products". On the samethe exhibition showed vases of the "new imageretenii", made of two-layer glass(colorless and golden ruby), mounted in gilded bronze.
Empire style works of the Imperialthe water was exuberant. Charakthorny were sets, large vases, candelabry, mounted in gilded bronze and additionallined with gilded porcelain. Spreadingreceived also vases with drawings in the "Neo-Greek style".
At the Bakhmetevsky and Orlovsky factories,more modest products were made, often usedused a combination of color and colorlessglass, diamond edge and gilding with silvering. In painting plant motifs interspersed from architectural views all kinds of haraktera. Chinese plots are popular at this timeyou, who then remained faithful to the original sourceku, then combined with purely classic motives.
By the middle of the XIX century glass production takes on an industrial character. Meanthe technical capabilities of glassDelia, the palette of colored glass has expanded. AT1840s production of dark cherries begins new " copper ruby"and uranium glass of two types - "green" and "yellow". Opaque "silenced" glasses are spreading everywhere, reminiscent of turquoise, jasper, lapis lazuli, etc.
At the Dyatkovo plant in 1849,vases and decanters "mosaic work". Further the technique of coloring is developing. Only use both two and three layers of glass.
Among the stylistic diversity of the 40-50s XIX centuries, the most stable werewhether neo-gothic and rococo, which are especiallywhich appeared in the products of the Imperial Factory Yes.
Provincial glassmaking is practicallydid not know a clear stylistic orientation.Here the masters went more from the material, technology,functionality and therefore their work was moremore complete and clear.
At this time, there is a return to free living forms, to colored ornaments, scattersledge on the surface of objects, most oftenmade of colored glass. It's interesting thatdirectly gothic and rocaille mochiyou were rarely used in Russian glassand interpreted very broadly.
In Russia, the second half 19th century situation in artistic glassmaking was complicated by the fact thatthat such leading factories as Imperial andBakhmetevsky, based on non-commercialbasis, become unprofitable, their production is shrinking. Leadership goes to privateenterprises for which the requirements of the marketwere decisive.
Since the 1870s, there has been a significant increasethe volume of production of crystal with a rich diamond facet is increasing. Increasing interest in engravingbathroom glass. leadership in its production and quality belonged to the Dyatkovo plant.
At this time, interest intraditional folk art, imitation of which resulted in the so-called "Russianstyle. "He also touched on glass, which is oftenbegan to decorate with polychrome enamel,drawing motifs from embroidery, carving or painting on tree. On the edge XIX - XX centuries formednew stylistic direction, which receivedthe name in Russia is "modern". However, in Russianglass, he did not receive any independent development. On Imperial and Gusevfactories produced unique productsDenia, made in the manner of the famous French artist Emile Galle.
Soviet glass, as an independent artistic phenomenon, made itself known only in the 1940s. years XX century. Before that, at domestic factories produced only products repeating woodration samples or everyday utensils. Forward to glass, as to modern artistic V. Mukhina turned to this material, on whose initiative in 1940 it was created in Leningrad experimental art laba workshop designed to provide the glass industry with new modern samples. The slogan of this time was a new imagery, in which was based primarily on the functionthe nature of forms, manufacturability,sense of material, limited decor. ThisSoviet glass remains faithful to the principles and until now.
In the 1950s - early 1960s on glassfactories of the country were created artistic lalaboratory, where professional artists came, through whose efforts the products of eachthe plant has acquired its own artistic specificity.Modern glass has taken one of the leading places in the ensemble of Soviet arts and crafts.art. Its feature is that thebot over mass functional thing painmost artists combine with creative claims in the field of purely decorative. It's nahodit expression in exhibition compositions, where artists with particular clarity declare your art program. It is also noteworthy that Soviet glass artists activelyrespond to all the events of our time and manygo are working on creating thematic, civilworks given in their pathos. AT in their works, glass appears before us as inexpressible scooped up in its possibilities plasticmaterial, by means of which almost any task can be solved. This period is markedactive search for a new, modern stylela, through the gradual overcoming of the old methods, and sometimes through their complete denial. In pro In the works of V. Mukhina and B. Smirnov of the same years, tradition gives way to innovation. Here is another measure of the useful and beautiful. Beauty is seen in simplicity and naturalness of functionalforms, in the limitations of laconic decor.
Second half of the 1960s and first halfThe 1970s was marked by increased interest in decorative form. Large ensembles are created from glass, where the unitary form acts only as one of the components. Originthere is a kind of aestheticization of householdmeta which is now meant to be whaton its basis to create a poetic "abouttimes of life. "Indicative in this regard are the ensembles"Festive table" B. Smirnov and "hospitableny "D. and L. Shushkanov. They are widely usedthe traditions of folk free glass were used, which were actively rethought in the 1970sare created by Soviet artists who createfundamentally new works on this basis.The inspired plasticity of V. Shevchenko is remembered.
Works in crystal are also marked by innovation. The traditional diamond facet in the works of Filatov and M. Grobar acquires a new imagery. It acts not only as an element of decor, but also has a formative function.
The second half of the 1970s characterizesdue to the fact that decorative glass actively invades the public interior, it becomes an emotional the main dominant of the exhibition exposition. ATglass solves problems that were previously considered exclusive privilege of fine art kusstva. The usual hierarchy of mate is brokenrials and technology. In the works of A. Stepanova, B. Muratova, B. Fedorova, N. Tikhomirova crystal acquires the previously alien freedom of plasticity, all the richness of the properties inherent in it is usedvano to create figurative-associativeny images. Thin, hand-blown glass with chandeliers and gold painting, which is successfully created by E. Vikhrova and Y. Manelis, distinguishes itself with intimacy. In molded glass, the floor is highly spiritualny compositions by D. and L. Shushkanov, where virtuoso technique turns glass into a genuine jewel.
Soviet art glass of the lasttime, in all the richness and diversity of the creative individuals that create it, appearsbefore contemporaries as surprisingly intactnew phenomenon. In him careful attitude to the national tradition is combined with a bold innovator property, and poetic mood - with a highcitizenship.
As an independent area of Old Russian applied arts glassmaking begins to take shape in the first half of the 11th century. The monumental mosaics of Kiev churches - the Church of the Tithes and St. Sophia of Kiev, amazed the imagination with their luminosity and bright and pure polychromy.
Tragic for Ancient Russia the Mongol-Tatar invasion in the thirteenth century mercilessly interrupted its development. During this short period of time, ancient Russian glassmaking, according to the fair observation of Yu.L. Shchapova, "repeated the path of glass production in general."
Glass, first of all, is the creation of human genius; its application is unusually wide, the color palette and techniques of its manufacture are infinitely diverse. Ceramics, metal, textiles, known since ancient times, first of all served the urgent needs of man, and only then did their original and introduced qualities become aestheticized. The history of glass developed in a different order. In ancient civilizations, it did not appear as an essential item, but initially declared itself in the system of artistic values, and only in the process of development gradually became a utilitarian, everyday material. This is clearly demonstrated by the history of ancient Russian glassmaking.
The first glass workshops that arose in Kyiv in the 11th century specialized mainly in the production of jewelry - beads, rings, bracelets. Especially popular in the era of Kievan Rus were bracelets made of colored glass, which were made by the workshops of Novgorod, Polotsk, Lyubech, Turov, Smolensk, Ryazan, Kostroma, Pinsk, Izyaslavl until the end of the 13th century, and in a number of cities until the middle of the 14th century. century. The manufacture of dishes with the help of a blown tube, as well as the manufacture of window glass, took place only in Kyiv, where the most qualified craftsmen were concentrated. However, their successes were very modest. Almost three centuries of the Golden Horde yoke caused irreparable damage ancient Russian culture. And if other types of artistic craft gradually continued to develop, then fragile glass was for a long time deleted from the everyday life of the Russians.
The dramatic fate of Russian glass production was no exception. The history of world glassmaking shows that a stable situation in society and a fairly high level of culture are necessary for its full-blooded development. In the era of historical cataclysms and barbarism, glassmaking is one of the most vulnerable areas of the craft, the demand for glass drops sharply, which leads to the decay of established centers. So in many European countries, where in the era of the Roman Empire, workshops for the manufacture of blown glass were formed and successfully functioned for several centuries, this art was forgotten for several centuries. European culture between the 6th and 11th centuries practically did without glass. Even in Italy, glassmaking was revived only in the 13th century, largely thanks to Syrian craftsmen. In the rest of Europe, the revival of glassmaking began in the XIII-XIV centuries, which was associated primarily with the construction of Gothic cathedrals, which required stained glass windows. A similar pattern can be established in the history of our domestic glassmaking.
Due to the differences in historical conditions in which the individual principalities of the defeated Kievan Rus found themselves, the once unified ancient Russian people, which had a common territory, language, spiritual and material culture, became the basis for the formation of three branches of the Eastern Slavs - Great Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. Thus, the origins of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian cultures turn out to be common, and their subsequent development has a certain independence, due to the specific, historically established destinies of each of the peoples.
In the Western Russian lands, which came under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and then the Commonwealth, the formation of the Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples took place. Here glassmaking revived in the 16th century.
The first mention of the presence of glassmakers in Belarus dates back to 1524. Glassmaking here developed from the very beginning within the framework of patrimonial manufactories that belonged to the grand ducal court or large magnates, for example, the Radziwills. Often, Polish craftsmen were invited here to establish glass production, in particular, from Krakow.
In Ukraine, the first information about glass production dates back to 1555. According to the existing tradition, it is believed that Ukrainian glassmaking has developed as a craft since its inception. The initiative to create glass gutniks belonged to the masters-gutniks, who rented land and forests from magnates and monasteries for this purpose, paying for them either in money or in products. As a rule, no more than 8-9 people worked in these gutas, many of them worked for less than a year.
In the 17th century, the territory of Belarus and Ukraine was abundantly covered with a network of glass industries, which provided dishes and window glass not only to the local market, but also exported their products to Moscow Russia. In the 17th century from Livonia and Little Russia annually delivered to Moscow from eighty to ninety thousand window circles.
The history of Russian glassmaking itself begins in the 17th century, when specific conditions arise for this. Muscovite Russia, which withstood the bloody struggle with the Golden Horde and defeated it, immediately had to solve the problems of state building, the unification of the principalities into a centralized state, to fight for the return of the original Russian lands, and at the beginning of the 17th century to survive the Time of Troubles and the Polish-Swedish intervention.
The seventeenth century was a time of accumulation of the forces of the emerging Russian nation, its culture. The intensity of the political and economic life of the state led to the eradication of the national isolation of Russian culture, which until the 17th century developed in conditions of noticeable isolation. Contacts with Belarus and Ukraine played an important role in this process: it was largely thanks to these contacts that Muscovite Rus was introduced to the achievements of European culture. The contribution of Ukrainian and Belarusian craftsmen to the process of formation of the Russian glass industry turned out to be significant. However, the initiative to build the first glass factory on the territory of the Moscow state did not belong to them, but to the Swede Julius Koyet. In this regard, the history of Russian glassmaking is no exception, but rather confirms general rule. Many European centers of glassmaking arose due to impulses from outside.
This was the case with the famous Venetian glass, which, despite the fact that in the era of the Roman Empire in Italy, vast experience in glass making was accumulated, initial stage was strongly influenced by the East. Venetian craftsmen, in turn, contributed to the development of artistic glassmaking in the Netherlands, Spain, France, where the art of glass “in the Venetian spirit” flourished in the 17th century. This revealed one of the features of glass as a field of material culture and applied art - its international character.
Almost the entire history of European glassmaking in the late Middle Ages and the New Age developed in the same direction. At each chronological period, one or another national art school, the principles of which were followed by the masters of other countries. In the XV-XVII centuries, unconditional superiority belonged to thin and fragile Venetian glass; at the end of the XVII century, Bohemian engraved glass took over this baton. From the end of the 18th century, all European glassmaking was influenced by English cut crystal, and in the 1900s the French school took over.
Russian glassmaking also had its own history, which from the moment of its inception was oriented towards European culture, but at the same time became a prominent area of Russian national art.
In the 17th century, the intensive development of crafts led to the emergence of the first manufactories. The growth of commodity production contributed to the revival of trade, linking previously isolated economic regions into a system of a single all-Russian market. The reunification of Russia with Ukraine and Belarus was an event of great political significance. It contributed to the expansion of ties between Muscovite Rus and the countries of Europe.
In the Russian life of the 17th century, the need for a new hygienic and beautiful material was already felt. The first who took up the production of glass in Russia was a cannon-maker, a Swede, Julius Koyet, who arrived in Moscow on March 2, 1630. In 1632, he invited for cooperation an experienced "glass" master Paul Kunkel, who had previously "started" a glass factory in Sweden. He helped to choose a place for the future plant, and in 1634 Koyet received a charter to “establish” a glass factory in the village of Dukhanino, Dmitrovsky district (not far from Moscow). The production developed in difficult financial conditions, changed quite a few owners, and was finally closed in 1760, when the craftsmen "by their own petition" and the decision of the Manufactory College were assigned to Akim Maltsov's Gusevsky plant.
The fate of another private glass factory built by the Swede Ivan (Johann) von Sveden in the Ivanovo volost of the Kashirsky district was unsuccessful. In 1666, he brought from overseas, among other specialists, "crystal and Vinitsa glassware craftsmen." But in 1668, the owner died without completing the construction of the "Vinitsa glassware factory", although in 1697 its buildings still existed.
An outstanding role in the history of Russian artistic glassmaking was played by the plant, founded in 1668 on the initiative of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in the village of Izmailovo near Moscow (now the territory of Moscow). It was here that Russian artistic glass was born, and the school of Russian glassmaking was created. In this complex process, along with Russian and Ukrainian masters, foreign specialists also took part. Many of them have lived in Russia almost all their lives and found a second home here. The plant was built in 1668 by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, was under the control of the Secret Order, then the order of the Great Court, and in 1710 was transferred to the Aptekarsky Order and closed soon after. This enterprise produced “amusing and figured glass about the use of the great sovereign”, “crystal” (i.e., very clear colorless glass) dishes with engraving and gilding, simple products made of colorless and green glass, and after 1710 - apothecary utensils .
Information about another Russian glass factory of the 17th century, located in the village of Voskresensky, Chernogolovskaya volost, is extremely scarce. Neither the dates of its existence nor the nature of production are known. Data about it refer only to 1687, when it was already in operation and its products were sold at the Moscow Gostiny Dvor. Among the products of the plant were glasses, brothers, lamps. Apparently, it was a kind of branch of the Izmailovsky plant, since their products are listed in one inventory of the village of Izmailovo.
Thus, at the end of the 17th century, there were three glass factories near Moscow, which, despite their modest size, could not provide the whole country with glass.
In 1691, the construction of another state-owned glass factory was undertaken. Its device was entrusted to the “trading man of the living hundred” Yakov Romanov, who built the premises for the plant at the Tainitsky Gates in Moscow. But this attempt ended in complete failure, since Romanov was unable to find craftsmen and establish production.
After that, the Moscow administration started the construction of a new mirror factory, Vorobyevsky, inviting "commissar" Brockhausen from Berlin for this purpose. He arrived in Moscow in 1705, along with six French "mirror" masters hired by him, and possibly brought some of the equipment with him. In 1706, the plant was already operating, albeit with interruptions. Visiting craftsmen, apparently, did not immediately adapt to local raw materials. The dimensions of the mirrors, which are quite significant for the 18th century, are unusual: some of them reached four arshins in length and two in width; many were in glass frames. The end of the activity of this plant was very instructive. In 1710, it was leased to Willim Leid under the patronage of A.D. Menshikov. In 1712, Leid received a large order for the execution of “large, medium and smaller hands of bells and 330 carafins” for a total of 126 rubles. However, the order was partially fulfilled, and during the investigation it turned out that the factory's tools were hidden in the German Quarter in the yard of the teacher Andrey Martynov. These tools and the materials remaining at the plant were sent to St. Petersburg on 10 carts, accompanied by dragoons.
From 1706 to 1718, 9 small enterprises were built in the Trubchevsky, Sevsky and Karachevsky counties (now the Bryansk region). Produced here "slo simple with bubbles" and "white and simple slo".
The 18th century is a time of active development of Russian glassmaking. New production centers are being formed, which retained their leading position throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
I. Petersburg
AT early XVIII century, the formation of the St. Petersburg center of glassmaking begins, with which the magnificent flowering of the Russian school of engraved glass is associated.
Yamburg and Zhabinsky plants.
Initially, factories were opened in the city of Yamburg and in the village of Zhabine, Yamburg district. It was possible to find a message that in 1705 master Sheper, together with master Kifater, examined “pleasant places to blow glass near the village of Syabino, 12 versts below Yamburkh”. They recognized the place as very suitable, and the master Kifater composed a project for the plant. For the first time, as operating factories, they were mentioned in 1717 as the property of A.D. Menshikov, who believed that they should be given to “eager people”. Both plants were owned by Menshikov, since among the huge land grants in Ingermanland, he was given the city of Yamburg and its environs. After the disgrace of A.D. Menshikov's enterprises went to the state treasury. The Yamburg plant was larger than the Zhabinsky plant and more perfect in terms of production organization. He produced mirror and window glass, as well as "crystal dishes" with polishing and engraving, which accounted for almost a third of all production. Since 1713, foreign craftsman Johann Mennart was engaged in engraving of dishes, who left his craft in 1723 due to eye disease. He was replaced by Russian engravers - apprentices Dementy Voilokov and Vasily Pivovarov, who eventually became outstanding masters. The Yamburg factories mainly served the palace economy, supplying window panes, mirrors and "crystal" dishes for the royal residences under construction. Some of the products were sold at the factories themselves and in the palace shop. At the end of 1730, the demand for mirrors and glass declined. This is explained by the fact that Emperor Peter II temporarily transferred the royal residence to Moscow (1727-1730). In 1730, the factories were leased to the English merchant Willim Elmsel, who in 1733-1735 transferred equipment and craftsmen to his own factories in St. Petersburg and on the Lava River.
Petersburg glass factory
The history of the St. Petersburg State Factory, which was the leader of Russian glassmaking throughout the 18th century, began somewhat unusually. For the first time about its existence on the Fontanka River, almost in the center of St. Petersburg, they learned in 1738, when its founder V. Elmzel died. It also turned out that the tools and craftsmen of the Yamburg factory were transferred here. Judging by the inventories, it was not a glass factory proper, but rather a workshop where they only cut, polished and engraved glass products, but they also blown glass at the Lavinsky factories. After both plants were transferred to the treasury, Petersburg gradually becomes a plant in the full sense of the word. Dishes were blown on it, mirror glasses were poured and they were immediately polished and engraved. Part of the production was carried out by order of the royal court, the other went on sale. They traded glass in a shop on Nevsky Prospekt, as well as directly at the factory.
In 1774, the plant itself was transferred to the village of Nazya, Shlisselburg district, and a workshop was left in St. Petersburg for “polishing dishes and cutting coats of arms and monograms on it.” But even in 1780 this decision was not implemented. Thus, the history of the St. Petersburg plant shows that the common practice in Europe of separating the production of tableware and its cold processing, despite its obvious benefits, did not take shape in Russia.
Quite a lot of products of the Petersburg factory have been preserved. Basically, these are carved goblets, glasses, glasses, shtofs, teapots. They clearly testify to the flourishing of the engraving art at that time. The carvers of the plant could engrave on glass not only coats of arms and monograms. They did an excellent job with complex rocaille ornaments, architectural landscapes, portraits and allegorical compositions, gallant and pastoral scenes. Each of the engravers had their favorite themes and characteristic methods of work. From all this, a unique image of the art glass of the St. Petersburg plant is formed. The presence of foreign carvers at the factory was inevitably reflected in the nature of the carved decor, in many respects close to Bohemian, Silesian and partly Saxon. This "clash" of different schools also gave the glass of the St. Petersburg factory its originality.
In 1777, by decree of Catherine II, the state-owned factories in the village of Nazia (former Petersburg) were given “for particular maintenance to the illustrious prince” G.A. Potemkin, who turned out to be a generous and attentive host. The prince transferred the plant to the lands of the monastery of St. Alexander Nevsky in the village of Ozerki, which is four miles from St. Petersburg. After the death of G.A. Potemkin in 1792, the plant was again taken over by the treasury and became known as the Imperial. It has always remained the largest and most equipped glass production in Russia, a true "trendsetter of glass fashion".
Plant M.V. Lomonosov in the village. Ust-Rudice
Among Russian glass manufacturers, the great scientist M.V. Lomonosov occupies an outstanding place, who in 1753 built his own factory in the village of Ust-Ruditsa, Koporsky district, St. Petersburg province. The plant was intended for the production of smalts for the mosaic workshop of the Academy of Sciences, as well as beads and glass beads. In this undertaking, the great representative of the Enlightenment strove not so much to commercial success how much to implement their scientific achievements"for the benefit of the Fatherland". At his plant, M.V. Lomonosov also tried to produce various dishes. After the death of M.V. Lomonosov in 1765, the plant passed to his daughter Elena Mikhailovna Konstantinova, and in 1768 it ceased to exist.
II. Moscow, Oryol and Vladimir provinces
During the 18th century, the construction of private glass factories was actively going on in Russia. In just over a century, more than eighty were built. In the first half of the century, private enterprise developed mainly in the vicinity of Moscow. Here at that time there were at least six glass enterprises.
Maltsov's factories
A large glass enterprise in the vicinity of Moscow was the Pokrovsky factory in the Mozhaisk district on the wastelands of Shiryaeva and Kudinova, founded by a resident of Gzhatskaya Pristan Nazar Druzhinin and "Kaluga townsman" Sergei Aksenov in 1723. In 1724, the founders of this plant took Vasily Maltsov as a companion of the “city of Rylsk living hundred”. From this modest enterprise begins the history of the "crystal kings of Russia" - the Maltsov family, which for almost two centuries was the monopoly of the Russian glass industry. To late XVIII For centuries, the Maltsov "glass empire" consisted of 15 enterprises, of which the largest - Gusevsky and Dyatkovsky, are widely known to this day.
III. Smolensk province
Nemchinov factories.
Merchants briefly became rivals of the Maltsovs in the middle of the 18th century. The Mosalska Nemchinovs. The first information about their activities in the field of glassmaking dates back to 1748, when the brothers Peter and Emelyan Nemchinov built a “crystal and glass” factory in the Drogobuzh district of the Smolensk province.
In the 1750-1760s, the Nemchinov family owned at least 4 glass factories at the junction of the Smolensk and Kaluga provinces. Unfortunately, information about their activities is rather scarce, since information about them is gleaned mainly from court cases in which this unfriendly family is mired. Information about the Nemchinov factories in the Smolensk province is cut off in 1777.
IV Penza province
Bakhmetiev factories
Among the private factories in Russia, the Nikolsko-Pestrovsky plant in the Penza province, better known as Bakhmetevsky, has earned well-deserved fame. It was built by a retired second-major, and later a "salt office prosecutor" Alexei Ivanovich Bakhmetyev in 1764. During the peasant war of 1773-1774, the plant was ruined. In 1779 A.I. Bakhmetyev died, leaving the plant to his wife Agafoklea Ivanovna and son Nikolai Alekseevich. They restored the plant, significantly expanding it, and built two more new ones nearby: Zausovsky and Teplostansky, which produced sheet glass. Nikolsko-Pestrovsky, on the other hand, specialized in the production of art glass. Colorless and colored glass with graceful gold and silver painting was recognized in St. Petersburg at the royal court and court orders began to be addressed to Bakhmetiev.
V. Kaluga Governorate
Orlov's plant
General-in-chief Count Fyodor Grigoryevich Orlov turned out to be a successful businessman. The first mention of his factory dates back to 1793. The plant was first located in the village of Bogorodskoye, Mosalsky district, Kaluga province, and then, obviously, after the fire of 1798, it moved to the village of Milyatino. In addition to simple green glass, wine glasses, glasses, decanters of colorless glass with polishing, engraving and painting were made here. He produced a factory and products from colored glass.
During the period of the second half of the XVII - XVIII centuries. more than 80 glass enterprises were built on the territory of Russia. Some of them worked little, others were destined for a long life and they exist to this day. The vast majority of factories specialized in the production of window glass and "ordinary" tableware. Only a small number of them produced art products from colorless and colored glass, decorated with engraving, polishing and painting.
To end of XVIII century, the geography of Russian glassmaking was finally determined. The outskirts of Moscow were the focus of glass factories only on early stage- in the 17th - early 18th centuries. The main areas of glassmaking are Vladimir, Oryol, St. Petersburg, Penza and Smolensk provinces.
The production of art glass has long been the prerogative of the state. Suffice it to recall the Izmailovsky, Vorobyevsky, Yamburgsky, Petersburg (Imperial) plants. Private enterprises, on the other hand, were initially limited to the manufacture of window glass, containers, and pharmaceutical utensils. But already in the second quarter of the century, an energetic entrepreneur of the merchant rank appeared on the scene, who knew how to organize production and knew the needs of the huge Russian market. In his activities, he focused mainly on the tastes of the middle strata of the townspeople - nobles, officials, merchants, which determined the artistic appearance of the products of merchant factories. The most successful entrepreneurs of the merchant rank in the 18th century were the Maltsovs.
The Russian nobility played a significant role in the development of glassmaking. Among the owners of glass factories are the Golitsyns, Yusupovs, Orlovs. The main spring of their entrepreneurship was not so much commercial profit as the prestige of the occupation, as well as the desire to satisfy the needs of their household in artistic and simple glass. Their factories often worked at a loss, as they sought to produce highly artistic products, the demand for which was not very high.
Over a century and a half, the capacity of Russian glass factories and their technical equipment have increased significantly, various mechanisms have appeared, set in motion by "water machines".
Relatively quickly in Russia, the problem of creating a cadre of domestic specialists was solved. In the 17th century, almost all craftsmen were foreigners or immigrants from Ukraine. But already in the first quarter of the 18th century, Russian masters began to play a more prominent role. Thanks to their efforts, domestic glassmaking by the end of the 18th century became a flourishing industry, and its products became the pride of Russian arts and crafts.
GLASS IN THE “IZMAILOV MANNER”
Within the walls of the Izmailovsky plant, built "for the everyday life of the great sovereign", the birth of Russian art glass took place. Alexei Mikhailovich, who showed great interest to European culture, in his palace village of Izmailovo started all sorts of new items. The idea of building a glassworks came to him in the 1650s. In 1656, he ordered his agent Gebdon "to take to Moscow from Vinitsa the ashes of the lutchi, in which all kinds of glass vessels were made on a crystal color, as well as the best glass craftsmen." However, only ten years later, in 1668, the construction of this enterprise began. The plant was supposed to produce dishes for the royal court, and therefore its organizers attracted the best foreign craftsmen here. The Germans Ivan Martynov and the Russians Boris Ivanov and Grigory Vasiliev took part in the construction of the plant itself. Then Christian Kunkel, Ivan Yakovlev and Mark Ivanov arrived here. It is difficult for us to judge the specialization of these masters, as well as the correct transcription of their names. It is known, for example, that in 1667 the German Ivan Martynov made vials and sold them at the auction near the Resurrection Monastery in New Jerusalem.
In 1670, these masters were replaced by others, with their appearance the second stage in the development of Izmailovo glass began.
The newly arrived masters were called "Vinitsa", but, obviously, not by nationality, but by the style of work. Jan Artsipuchor, Indrik Lerin, Peter Balthus and Lovis Moyet were apparently from the Baltic region, where glassmaking "in the Venetian spirit" flourished in the 17th century. They firmly linked their fate with the Izmailovsky plant. Peter Balthus, for example, is mentioned in documents from 1688 when he was sent to Holland to buy materials. Indrik Lerin, who arrived, was still in young age, worked at the plant for more than forty years. The constancy of the composition of the masters to a large extent contributed to the fact that the traditions established at the plant turned out to be very stable and for a long time predetermined the style of Russian art glass. The visiting craftsmen brought their recipes for glass melting, as well as methods for processing it, and adapted them to local raw materials and national tastes, and as a result, they created a Russian version of glass "in the Venetian spirit", which was made in European countries. The Venetian school of glassmaking in Europe in the 17th century was replaced by the Bohemian school, represented by engraved glass. Izmailovsky plant also paid tribute to this method of ornamentation.
The products of the institution, as the documents show, were extremely diverse. Production specialized in the manufacture of luxury goods, serving mainly the palace economy and only to a small extent - the domestic market. The list of his products is very extensive, in many respects he repeats the names of traditional ceramic and metal Russian dishes. They made here "sulei with screws", vials of various sizes for the Pharmaceutical Order. For palace use, “jugs large and small, staves, mugs, brothers, cups, goblets with and without roofs, glasses, pans, lamps, candlesticks, inkwells, tubs, apples, canes, glasses large and small, tall flasks, dishes , plates, saucers, buckets, flycatchers. These items were made of green glass (“Cherkasy matter”; the name comes from the Ukrainian city of Cherkasy, from which the main flow of green plain glass imports to Russian lands came), and from colorless (“Caesar matter”; the term denotes high technical and aesthetic qualities this glass). Such a rich assortment was obviously due to the desire to replace glassware with household utensils that were previously made in ceramics and metal.
In addition, in the inventories of the plant, there are also things that are not quite ordinary, such as “a glass of a sazhen”, “glasses are triple, long, amusing goblets with colored burrs, glass bottles and striped piping, glasses are flat, smooth, scaly, twisted, large-scale, checkered bottles , a chandelier of figured work”, “apples with figures”. These are works not so much of a utilitarian as of a decorative nature, which, with their novelty of forms and unusual size, should have aroused surprise and admiration of the king and courtiers, who were eager for all sorts of curiosities.
It is known that in the barn, where the tools and supplies “for the figure business” were stored, there were: “200 vials for glass birds and 7 pipes, with which the figures are made, a pood of glass drawn with gold and enamel and with paints, white, yellow, azure enamel , beads yellow, green 2 pounds. In addition to the case of gear: 2 tin lamps in which oil burns, two scissors, 4 tongs.
From the point of view of glass technology, we are faced with most interesting picture not only the extreme breadth of the assortment, but also the variety of design techniques that the Izmaylovo masters owned. In addition to the actual thorny technique, when the product was entirely made at the glass furnace, the craftsmen of the Izmailovsky plant owned many other techniques.
Most notable:
1) The mention of striped, scaly and large-flake, checkered products of colorless glass, which are opposed to smooth ones. Of course, we are talking about products with a textured surface, made by the so-called quiet-blown method, which was known in ancient times, was used by Venetian craftsmen of the 16th – 17th centuries, and German craftsmen of the 17th century especially fell in love with it. a feature of this method is that the object is blown into a relief shape without rotation.
2) Description of "supplies for figure business", where "a pood of drawn glass" is listed. Most likely, these are pre-fabricated elongated glass tubes (a variant of the so-called “glass rod”), from which figures were then made with the help of a “tin lamp”, that is, here there is a possession of the so-called glass blowing, or lamp technology.
It means that
3) Information about the fact that glass items were decorated with gilding: about purchases of sheet gold, as well as a mention of a “gilded candlestick”. Also indicative is the story preserved in the Palace Discharges about how the retinue of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who visited the plant in 1675, managed to steal “6 cups of gilded glassware and a pood of glass drawn with gold and enamel”. Comparing this information, it can be argued that the Izmaylovo glass was gilded during the blowing process, when a sheet of gold was placed on a hot “bullet”, and then the product continued to be blown, as a result of which the gold sheet was torn, and the product became, as it were, sprinkled with golden specks. This technique was especially widely used by the Venetian masters.
In addition to the "hot" methods of decorating Izmailovo glass, "cold working" techniques were also known.
4) There were engravers at the factory. Already in 1673, the “carving master” Anz (Hans) Friedrich worked here. But he failed to significantly change the nature of the plant's products. So, in the factory's receipt book for 1677, out of 9246 items, only "two carved and fifteen faceted glasses" were listed.
More noticeable was the activity of another master, Matthias Ulman, who arrived at the factory at the end of 1680 and worked in Izmailovo for over twenty years.
5) Dmitry Stepanov, a “gold painter”, also worked at the plant, who painted apothecary dishes, which indicates that, in addition to engraving, Izmaylovo products were decorated with gilding.
Thus, the Izmailovsky plant in the 17th century was a rather complex production, the masters of which mastered almost all the glassmaking techniques known at that time: blown, lamp, gilding, engraving, polishing.
Contemporaries highly valued Izmailovo glass, it was not only a measure of good quality, but had its own style. The epithet "Izmaylovsky" for the Muscovite inhabitants of the end of the 17th century was very expressive and did not require explanation. Izmailovo style was then followed by some glass factories of the 18th century.
When describing the Izmailovsky plant, various products of the “figure business” are especially often mentioned. special attention deserve 7 unusual vessels from the collection of the State Historical Museum, one from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum and one from the MMC Kuskovo. In addition to the Hermitage, this whole group is united by the presence of "surprises", provided by the design features of most items, and good quality thin transparent glass with small striations.
All these items can be divided into two groups.
One of them consists of 5 goblets and kumgan from the State Historical Museum collection. The shapes of the goblets are almost identical - the body rests on a soft baluster-like leg, resembling a thistle flower in outline. At the same time, the body of one of them has a striped texture, while in other cases the lower part of the body is weighed down with an additional set of glass. But the main “highlight” of these goblets is a rod placed inside the body, on which a hollow tube ending in a figurine of an animal is movably mounted. This figurine resembles a deer or a ram, but with a magnificent peacock tail. The head of a similar creature ends with the spout of a kumgan with a scaly glass texture from the same group. It is difficult to use such cups. When you start drinking, drawing in air through the hole in the head of the fabulous beast (the only possible way), the wine flows through a vertical tube from the glass into the body. And if at the same time the volume of the figure is approximately equal to the volume of the glass, and the head of the animal is higher than the body, then the drinker has to lift all the liquid up the tube in one breath, and then, without taking a breath, drink everything. Only people with excellent lungs can afford such exercises.
Similar vessels are known in the collections of foreign museums (Cologne, The Hague, Prague, Liege, Vienna, London, Corning). For the first time, the idea of such “joke” vessels originated with Venetian craftsmen, and then in the 18th century it spread widely in Germany and the Netherlands among the then popular “a la façone de Venice” glass. In most cases known to us, the pipe was crowned with a figurine of a deer. In the GIM collection, this figurine is more like a ram with curved horns. The interpretation of the animal is very close to that which can be seen in the Russian ceramic hand washers of the 16th-17th centuries. In the museums of Europe, so far only about ten such vessels have been found scattered around different countries, in Moscow there are five of them at once, which indicates the local, and therefore, the Izmailovo origin of this entire collection of crackers.
The figurines are made with the help of a lamp burner, that is, using the technique owned by the masters of the factory.
The goblet with a deer figurine from the GE collection is made of yellowish-green glass and is significantly inferior in plastic to the Izmailovsky ones, most likely it was made at the Yamburg or Zhabinsky factories near St. Petersburg, where glass was also made “in the Izmailovsky manner”.
Another group of “crashers” has a system of siphon tubes inside and spouts in the lower part of the body (4 items are known 2 from the State Historical Museum, 1 from the Kuskovo Mining and Metallurgical Complex and 1 in the Lem-Kul collection, now the Museum of Private Collections of the Pushkin Museum named after A.S. Pushkin). One of them, with a figurine of a bird on crossed tubes, is engraved with the monogram “PP” and the Russian inscription “this pokal at ...”, which leaves no doubt about its domestic origin. A similar device, obviously, had another goblet from the State Historical Museum, decorated more elegantly and magnificently. Under the bowl there is an “apple” hidden under lace moldings, and the lid is crowned with a figurine of a cockerel with a purple comb.
You can’t get drunk from these cups, without knowing the secret, you will certainly spill yourself! The device is complicated - under the upper bowl there is a hollow "apple" - a reservoir isolated from the bowl itself. The tank has two exits: a spout with a hole goes to the side, and a glass tube goes up, which rises above the body, and then goes down and ends with a hole at the very bottom. When wine is poured into a goblet, it fills only the body and part of the tube. Wine cannot get into the lower “apple” tank, since the tube rises above the body. How to drink from such a cup? It is almost impossible to do this in the usual way - glass pipes, a bird sitting on top of them and the drinker's own nose interfere. Two more are soldered to the bend of the main tube at the top, which further complicates the task. It remains to try to drink the contents from the side spout. In this case, the wine rises up the tube, reaches the bend on which the bird sits, then falls by gravity into the tank, and from there into the mouth. The liquid with such a "siphon" device of the vessel will be pumped independently, i.e. the wine will flow until the goblet is empty, and this is completely independent of your desire. Therefore, the entire goblet will have to be emptied without taking a breath. Not everyone will figure out how to stop the flow of wine pouring from the vessel, although you just need to blow hard into the nipple of the glass.
A variation of these “crashers” is a goblet from the Kuskovo Mining and Metallurgical Complex, the tubes of which are woven into a rope and, rising above the bowl, are crowned with a bird figure, while three spouts are located below. The secret of drinking here is the same as described above, but near one of the spouts there is a small, almost imperceptible hole, from which it is also easy to pour over.
The simplest in design in this group is the goblet from the Lemkuley collection. The curved tube inside the bowl does not rise above the top rim, so once you fill the goblet to the top, the liquid will begin to flow out of the lower spouts through the siphon tube, and will continue to flow until the goblet is empty. Apparently, at first the guest was served an incomplete goblet, and if he was dissatisfied and demanded to add wine, then the entire contents of the vessel fell on the clothes of the greedy guest.
All considered "amusing cups" of the Izmailovsky factory represent the Russian version of glass in the "Venetian spirit". Here the main aesthetic value is the rich plasticity of thin transparent glass, its fragility and weightlessness, unreality. This style has become widespread in all European countries, where glassmakers who fled from the famous island of Murano stood at the origins of glassmaking. However, in each country, the glass that imitated the Venetian had its own specifics, due to the characteristics of local raw materials, as well as the tastes of customers. In the case of Izmailovo glass, it should be taken into account that its plastic was created by a German or rather Flemish master, who was formed in his homeland under the influence of the "Vinitsa". The executor of these vessels, of course, could only be the "figurative master" Indrik Lerin, who worked at the plant for forty years. Judging by his salary of one hundred and forty-nine rubles, he was, most likely, if not the main, then the most valued specialist here. Having lived a long life in Moscow, having married a Russian woman, Indrik Lerin, like many other foreigners, deeply perceived the Russian national culture and his works became its integral part.
Izmailovo glass had a great influence on the development of Russian artistic glassmaking. The Izmailovo traditions were followed by the masters of the Yamburg and Zhabinsky factories, where, after the closing of the factory, part of its mestars moved. In particular, the “compilers of matter”, Kirila Kalinin and Yegor Konerev, who supervised the whole thick “Caesar matter”, worked there. Therefore, here they made “glasses in the Izmailovsky manner”, “goblets with puffy buttons”, “umbilical bowls”, “jugs intertwined with vines”.
Another part of the Izmailovo masters dispersed to private glass factories in the Moscow region, and some even founded their own production, such as, for example, Sofron Gavrilov and Demid Loginov, the “village of Izmailovo glass-makers”, who built a factory in 1723 in the village of Yamkino, Bogorodsk district.
Undoubtedly, the Izmailovo traditions proved to be the most tenacious precisely in private enterprises, where gore equipment prevailed and whose products became an integral part of folk culture.
List of used literature
Asharina N.A. Russian glass of the 17th - early 20th centuries. M., 1998
Dolgikh E.V. Russian glass of the 18th century. Meeting State Museum ceramics and "Manor Kuskovo XVIII century.". M., 1985
Kalinin A.T. Russian and foreign vessels with secrets. M., 2004
State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve "Moscow Kremlin". Collection directory. Art glass of the 16th – 18th centuries. M., 2006. Author - I.V. Gorbatov
Decorative and applied art of St. Petersburg for 300 years. SPb., 2004
Russian Glass of the 17th – 20th centuries. Corning, 1990
Some general remarks regarding the creation of replicas from the works of the Iz-mailovsky glass factory.
1. In our opinion, the most interesting for reproduction are the products of Izmailov, made in the “Venetian spirit”, namely, all cracker cups and kumgan from the collection of the State Historical Museum (see illustrations and descriptions below). These products are not only interesting in terms of design, but also have a unique, intriguing aesthetic expressiveness for today's viewer.
Unfortunately, it will hardly be possible to perform them in a combination of glass blowing and glass blowing techniques, but even the reproduction of these objects in glass blowing technology (apparently the most accessible) can give very impressive results.
2. Very attractive from the point of view of reproduction are small cups and cups-korchiki, presented in the collection of GIKMZ "Moscow Kremlin", primarily because of the touching small size; in addition, they are plastic and "man-made".
3. One should not get too carried away with the reproduction of products with engraving, because, firstly, it did not play a decisive role in Izmailovo production, and secondly, it was performed with copper wheels. Modern engraving is done using diamond-coated wheels and diamonds, so it has a completely different texture, radically different from the texture of ancient engravings, and completely incompatible with the aesthetics of thin Izmailovo glass. Engravings should be as minimal and simple as possible.
4. Making colored glass replicas requires additional discussion. We mainly know Izmaylovo products made of colorless glass mass, quite pure and thin, sometimes combined with details made of manganese (violet glass). There is evidence that simple green glassware was made in Izmailovo, but in this case, its shade should be carefully selected so that it is as close as possible to green glassware of the 18th century (samples are widely represented in the collection of the State Historical Museum, and, as far as we know, , are in the collection of the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve).
E.P. Smirnova,
Researcher at the Department of Ceramics and Glass of the State Historical Museum