In 2024, the Imperial Porcelain Factory celebrates its 280th anniversary. Its works have always met the changing fashions and demands of the time. The design of porcelain has gone from the French classics to Art Nouveau to avant-garde “revolutionary” porcelain.
Today, artists are still coming up with new shapes and designs (paying homage to historical drawings). They also recreate porcelain pieces based on sketches from tsarist times, reinterpreting them in a new way. We’ve highlighted the most incredible ones.
1. ‘Cobalt net’
One of the first large-scale projects of the factory was the ‘Her Majesty’s Own Service’, made in 1752-1764 for Elizabeth Petrovna. The items were painted with gold and pink openwork netting, in the weaves of which tiny pink flowers were drawn.
The Hermitage Museum
In 1944, for the 200th anniversary of the factory, artist Anna Yatskevich created a new design, which is believed to have been inspired specifically by this exactly historic service. The cobalt net in the paintings was “tied” with gold bows.
Imperial Porcelain Manufactory
This is still one of the most popular and recognizable designs of the Imperial Porcelain factory. Today, they also produce modern designs inspired by the “cobalt net” - red ‘Scarlet’, pink ‘Blues’, sky-blue ‘Azure’ and others.
Imperial Porcelain Manufactory
2. ‘Belveder’
In 1824, the Imperial Porcelain Factory made the ‘Babigon’ set for the Great Peterhof Palace. All items were decorated with a plant ornament in the shape of a ribbon of golden leaves on a gray background.
State Historical Museum
The modern replica was created in 1996 and bears the name ‘Belveder’ in honor of the palace of the same name in Peterhof, where the historical set was transferred to in the mid-19th century.
Imperial Porcelain Manufactory
3. ‘Golden’
In 1828, the factory produced a ‘Golden’ set for Empress Maria Feodorovna. The items were painted in blue and green colors with floral ornaments and decorated with gold and filigree engravings with a semi-precious agate. The wife of Paul I used it as a ceremonial set in the Gatchina Palace.
The Hermitage Museum
Based on museum samples, the modern factory's artists recreated the ‘Golden’ set as a tribute to the heyday of the factory in the first third of the 19th century, when it produced large ceremonial sets for the royal palaces.
Imperial Porcelain Manufactory
4. ‘Cottage’
In the late 1820s, the factory created a set for the ‘Cottage’ palace in the ‘Alexandria’ park in Peterhof. Elegant cups and sugar bowls stood on the table of Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Nicholas I, who was very fond of drinking coffee on the numerous verandas and balconies of the residence.
The Hermitage Museum
The modern ‘Cottage’ collection recreates exactly this historical design. The items are decorated with the coat of arms of Alexandria: a golden sword passed through a wreath of white roses on a background of a blue knight's shield.
Imperial Porcelain Manufactory
5. ‘Gothic’
In addition to the basic set for the ‘Cottage’ palace, from the 1830s, a whole series of plates were made with a pattern in the form of Gothic stained glass roses. This was a reference to the neo-Gothic style, which was fashionable and favored by Nicholas I, in which the palace itself was built.
The Hermitage Museum
The modern premium Gothic collection repeats the Gothic patterns of its historical predecessor on cups, glasses and other tea set items.
Imperial Porcelain Manufactory
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