Heraldry on Russian Porcelain.
From the Christmas Gift series
23 December 2008 - 29 March 2009

The tradition of annual Christmas gifts to the public is continued by a new exhibition of porcelain from the Christmas Gift series Russian Porcelain and the Heraldry from the collection of the State Hermitage that has been opened in the Arab hall.

The display presents some 250 exhibits, viz. various vases, plates, cups, offering platters, and china sets. The exposition includes items produced at the Imperial Porcelain Factory and at private Russian manufactories during the 18th - beginning of the 20th centuries. The latter primarily include the factories of Gardner (1754/66 - 1891), Batenin (1814 - 1838), Yusupov (1818 - 1831), Popov (1811 - 1875), brothers Kornilov (1835 - 1917), and Kuznetsov’s Partnership (1892 - 1917).

The exhibits on display are arranged into the following sections: the main part comprises items with state and territorial coats of arms, as well as family crests; a special section is dedicated to items with the highest awards of the Russian Empire depicted on them. The last section includes the material used for reproducing heraldic symbols on porcelain (graphic sketches, lithographs, books, etc.).

Russian territorial heraldry started developing rapidly during the reign of Peter I. At that time coats of arms of cities were closely connected with the army, as they were intended for regimental colours. A separate section of the exhibition represents Russian family heraldry. The history of family crests descended from generation to generation dates back to the European knighthood of mid-12th century. The crests of the Russian nobility contain coats of arms of the cities and territories that belonged to their ancestors, apanage princes. The first examples of using family crests on Russian porcelain are snuffboxes. The bottom of these “tobacco boxes” was always decorated with an imitation of an embossed or plain wax seal that usually represented the personal crest on the box owner.

A special section of the exhibition has been allocated to Russian porcelain ware with highest state awards depicted on it. The key items of this section are the so called Insignia Sets, viz. St. George Set (1777 - 1778), St. Andrew Set (1778 - 1780), St. Alexander Set (1778 - 1780), and St. Vladimir Set (1783 – 1785). The Insignia Sets were meant for annual ceremonial receptions at the Winter Palace honouring decoration holders of respective orders. The festive occasion coincided with the saint’s day or with the date when the statute of a certain Russian order had been adopted.

The State Hermitage collection of Russian porcelain includes a wide range of articles with heraldic symbols being the primary decoration element. These artefacts are very instrumental in tracing the complex evolution of Russian heraldry, mostly state coats of arms and family crests.

Coats of arms as state symbols and distinctive emblems of individual persons initially fulfilled the function of marking one’s property and assets, so they were usually placed on gates of castles and palaces, on carriages, costumes, books, etc. It was quite natural and logical to use coats of arms as part of porcelain decorative design, since these valuable articles furnished the residences of kings and emperors, as well as the houses of nobility. The tradition borrowed from the European culture was developed further in Russia in 1744 when a state manufactory for producing porcelain was founded. Set ensembles, vases, tea sets and other articles were manufactured to somebody’s order, and “white gold” became not only objects of luxury belonging to their distinguished owners, but also a vivid “illustration” of their ceremonial life.

In Russia a two-headed eagle as a state symbol became widely used at the turn of the 16th century. It was caused by the country’s rapid advancement onto the world political scene. Throughout the 16th-17th centuries this symbol underwent several changes: from a “spread eagle with lowered wings and a crown atop each of the two heads” to a figure with raised wings under three crowns and royal regalia in its paws (a sceptre and an orb). Its images glorifying the supereminence of emperors can be met in all types of secular art: architecture, paining, sculpture and applied arts, but porcelain art always played a special role in the artistic culture of the 18th-19th centuries.

The decoration of contemporary articles displayed at the exhibition is an example of how the artistic practices of depicting our country’s coat of arms on porcelain are being continued, which, in turn, is directly connected with the revival of heraldic traditions in Russia.

A scientific illustrated catalogue (State Hermitage Publishing House. 2008) has been prepared for the exhibition. At the moment this catalogue is the first overview of artistic heraldry in the Russian porcelain art. The exhibition curators and catalogue authors are Ekaterina Khmelnitskaya and Irina Bagdasarova, researchers of the Russian Culture Department and custodians of the Russian porcelain and ceramics collection.

Covered pitcher for kvas with the coat arms of Princes Vyazemsky
1780’s
Larger view

Soup plate from the service of Prince A. I. Baryatinsky with the marshal’s batons and Russian state decorations
1860’s
Larger view

Military plate with the standard platoon of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment
1911
Larger view