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Restoration work performed by the Museum of
Porcelain In December 2003 the Museum of Porcelain was opened in a festive ceremony. It was created on the basis of the factory collection of the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory, formerly the Imperial Porcelain Factory. Alongside articles produced in-house during the imperial past, the Museum also displays porcelain made in private Russian factories, as well as major Western and Oriental centres of porcelain production. Many of the exhibits date from the Soviet period or are the creations of modern masters. Works made of glass and terracotta round out the collection of porcelain objects. Before restoration work was begun, all the articles in porcelain were divided into three basic groups. The first group consisted of objects requiring cleaning to remove various types of dirt. The second group consisted of objects which had minor loss of decorative elements or were chipped. In the third group were the items which needed restoration of varying degrees of complexity. All work was carried out by the Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Works of Applied Art (A.I. Bantikov, director). All the objects aside from terracotta were washed in a solution of mild soap using bristle brushes and Greek sponges. Items which were heavily soiled were cleaned using soap compresses. In several cases, in order to bleach out rust and other stubborn stains, a 20% solution of hydrogen peroxide was applied. After cleaning all the objects were carefully rinsed with water and dried. Metal fastenings on decorative vases were restored (S.A. Smirnov, restorer). Practically every exhibit needed to have small losses filled in. Previously restored objects were taken apart, cleaned of old restoration materials and glued back together. One example of the complex restoration work that was performed concerns the restoration of a wineglass cooler, which was made to a design by S.R. Romanov, a painter on porcelain, who worked in the Imperial Porcelain Factory from 1890 to 1907 (O.M. Shuvalova, restorer). Many details of the decoration which had come off were glued back on and the lost leg in the form of a lion's paw as well as part of the intricate decorative festoon were recreated on the basis of similar works. When reproducing the lost parts similar elements in the vessel itself were used as models. The restorer N.A. Bolshakova worked on a teapot from a Tete-a-tete service with mythological subjects from the private Batenin Porcelain Factory and brought it back to a condition suitable for exhibition. The teapot was missing a part of the handle which had been shaped like a volute with vignette and there were chips. The handle of a creamer from the same service served as the model for recreating the handle of the teapot. Using an impression mass, two-part moulds were prepared and a plaster and polymer piece was formed. The completed element was put in place and glued down with a 10% solution of PVB (polyvinylbutiral). The reproduction elements and the glue were tinted to match the original. Other works by the sculptor and master modeller of the Imperial Factory J.-D. Rachette preserved in the porcelain collection of the Department of the History of Russian Art served as models for reproducing missing parts of three figures from the series of Peoples of Russia, which were made according to sketches by the same artist. In the same way the lost tops of the lids of the porcelain service decorated with views of English castles (1793-1796) and a flask made to a sketch by S.R. Romanov were also recreated. |
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