Porcelain of the Tsars. The Romanov Era in Palace Services

At the centre of the display are replicas of celebrated table services that were used during banquets and receptions at the Winter Palace and other imperial residences. The beautiful objects from the Hermitage’s collection have been precisely reproduced or else interpreted afresh by contemporary sculptors and artists. The masterpieces made by Russian craftspeople from the second half of the 18th century to the early 20th have been professionally replicated with account being taken of all the nuances of the elaborate shapes, moulded and painted decoration of the historical originals.

The items presented in the exhibition “Porcelain of the Tsars” tell about the reigns of practically all the monarchs of Russia’s imperial age – from Peter the Great’s daughter Elizabeth to Nicholas II.

All these works of applied art were originally created at the Imperial Porcelain Factory in Saint Petersburg. From its beginnings in 1744 up until the revolutionary events of 1917, the factory was the official supplier to the Russian imperial court and the place where the exquisite table service ensembles marked with the monograms of the reigning monarch were born. The splendid dining, dessert, tea and coffee sets that it produced stood out for their fine polychrome painting, elegant moulded elements and rich gilding.

The cups, plates, vases and table ornaments are not simply luxury items used in the imperial household. The pieces of porcelain reflected the personal tastes of the rulers who commissioned them, currently popular artistic styles and worldwide tendencies, the level of industrial development, significant historical events and public thinking.

In addition to porcelain, fine art will also act as an important guide in telling the story of Tsarist Russia at the National Museum of Serbia. Replicas and modern media versions of paintings from the Hermitage collection will supplement the display with portraits of monarchs, picturesque depictions of royal residences, palace meals and festivities.

The exhibition curators are Irina Bagdasarova, Candidate of Art Studies, Senior Researcher and Keeper of Imperial Porcelain in the State Hermitage’s Department of the History of Russian Culture, and Tatiana Alexandrovna Tylevich, Candidate of Economic Sciences, General Director of the Imperial Porcelain Factory joint-stock company.