The Kolyvan Lapidary Works produced items made from the various minerals found in the Altai Mountains. Many of them have become world famous. The ensemble of a bowl and two standard lamps made of violet Korgon porphyry that adorn the Small Skylight Room of the New Hermitage (Room of Spanish Painting) ranks among the masterpieces of lapidary art in the museum.
The round bowl with magnificent carved lobed ornament is resting on three figures of winged chimeras made of porphyry and gilded bronze. Despite the fact that bronze plays an important part in the composition, the craftsman worked the stone superbly, giving it marvellous form and polish to complement its colour. The porphyry bowl with the winged chimeras is the work of the outstanding Altai craftsman Philip Strizhkov (1769-1811), who effectively ran the Kolyvan Lapidary Works until his death.
Either side of the bowl are standard lamps that compete with it for magnificent beauty. These standard lamps were designed in the form of columns by Andrei Voronikhin who played a tremendous role in the development of the lapidary art. In this work the architect employed a favourite device - the main vertical is interrupted by a rusticated octagon embellished with the heads of bacchantes alternating with burning torches. Above them is a wreath of acanthus and palm leaves fashioned in gilded bronze. The column is crowned by an ovoid bowl almost concealed by numerous protrusions in the form of plant shoots.