Pre-revolutionary Russian porcelain in the museum
ARTinvestment.RU   02 июля 2008

Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg show two major porcelain factories of pre-revolutionary Russia - Bateninskogo and Kornilovskogo

St. Michael's, it is engineering, castle in the Russian museum devoted neparadnye chamber of the exhibition - not a large-scale paintings of famous artists, and miniatures, or photograph, or like today, porcelain. But the first deployment of the exhibition at the Castle is justified by the space, and the interiors of every step of charming rhymes with drawn their exhibits: painted ceilings lock exactly coincide with painted designs bateninskih cups and vazochek. The castle - Porcelain. And although Russian museum's collection of china is rich and diverse, as the exhibition catalog produced heavy album, in fact the exposure of the product of only two private plants, but most important - and Bateninskogo Kornilovskogo.

Russian museum does not aim to give an exhibition of porcelain some relevance. Sustained in the old tradition of the museum, the exhibition presents bateninskie sets and vases kornilovskie as product designs and crafts masters valuable in themselves - they must scan admire and respect. However, razglyadyvaya and admire, we can not understand that we - not just a cup and saucer, and a living history of mass taste and the radical changes in it, that began then, in the XIX century porcelain, and brought as a result of gilded vases amfornyh to the current plastic cups with the logo of Coca-Cola. None of the masterpieces of high art did not reflect his age and his history as something to get ate, what they drank and the more decorated the house.

Bateninsky and Kornilovsky plants - with their plates ate and drank from their cups of Russians from the era of Dostoyevsky to the revolution - not competitors. Once over Batenin came Kornilova brothers. Bateninsky plant was based on the Vyborg side in St. Petersburg in 1811 and existed until 1838-th. During this time the plant has become very popular among Russian manufacturers of porcelain in 1829 at the first public exhibition of Russian Manufactories othvatit gold medal, overtaking even the Imperial Porcelain Factory, and 1838-m burned to ashes.

Founded in the three years before the fire at Bateninskom plant Kornilova in Polustrovo succeeded factory-pogoreltsa: I bought all that remained of the factory - from the forms for the manufacture of porcelain dishes and sample images. Those without seats bateninskie workers also moved to Kornilova. Kornilovskaya factory due to the experience bateninskih masters, technological excellence and ability to keep his nose to the wind quickly got the lead and lasted until 1917, when ceased to exist, for reasons related to porcelain no.

Despite this seemingly smooth continuity bateninsky style differs dramatically from kornilovskogo. And to blame - not the different owners, not their stylistic preferences, and not the price of paint. In bateninskih vazochkah and kornilovskih skeet us look at the era. Bateninsky with his amfornymi porcelain vases, gilded and pastoral images - the flesh of the flesh of the beginning of the XIX century, the era of Pushkin and Lermontov, the Empire style and admiration gallant century. Here is entirely graceful silhouettes, a lot of gold (bateninskie vases and cups vyzolocheny the outside and inside, then when, in a more democratic era, the plant will Kornilova borrow this trick, he will have to use any chemical tricks that do not spend this gold in such quantities nightmare) , between fintiflyushek and gold stripes - flowers, garlands, genre scenes. The latter met with surprising care - is the curator of the exhibition to hang out among the dishes bateninskoy lithography Petersburg landscapes Charles Beggrova, almost a facsimile reproduced on porcelain. All clear on the buyer of these cups and plates: it is official or a landowner, connoisseur of high art and lover of fine tea in his mansion, or at least to a large St. Petersburg apartment.

It is not a china kornilovsky. A couple of years, he imitated the plant predecessor, but then, times have changed. With the abolition of serfdom in scene has a new purchase - raznochinets, merchant, proud square. In kornilovskom porcelain lower front services and more democratic piece goods. It is more fussy and straightforward. From amfornyh vases factory quickly moved to mass production, and this is not the only dishes, but also numerous statues (as well as bottles in the form of statues), capable of subduing any fan of kitsch. Various pieces of Blacks, pastushek, oriental dancing girls is not much different from the Chinese garbage that filled our clothing market - all of these cats, mice, beauties in bikini made of plastic or ceramic. Is that the current girls unclothed little more open kornilovskih as well - one person. The beginning of the twentieth century brought fashion to the Slavs - and please, the plant makes the salt in the form of ancient buckets, plates with scenes from the life of the boyars and Streltsov and dishes with issued slavonic vyazyu simple adage and toasts. Foot in 1912 «In memory of Borodin» a portrait of Nicholas II in the halo of George strips off completely for a gift and present kings - perhaps a portrait rewrite.

Source: www.kommersant.ru