Pleasure in Porcelain: White Sculptures from the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory (Mid-Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century)

The display is devoted to the evolution of sculpture created in unpainted glazed porcelain and biscuit at the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory between the mid-1800s and the early 1900s.

In different historical periods these works of art have been appreciated variously, although they also shared paths of development with the customary porcelain creations finished with polychrome painting. The exhibition project is intended to demonstrate the groundlessness of the established stereotype that only rejects with manufacturing defects were as a rule left white, blank or undecorated. Not only do the majority of the works presented not display any significant imperfections, but they even clearly illustrate the mastery of the Russian sculptors in the artistic working and finishing of porcelain plastic art.

The development of the sculptural genre at the Imperial Porcelain Factory was directly connected with two figures key to the enterprise during the period in question – August Karl Spiess (1817–1904) and August Timus (1865–1943), who were each in charge of the sculpture workshop at different times. The exhibition includes works created to these sculptors designs: Boy with a Dog, Grape Harvest, Children at Play, The Lesson, Girl with a Bird’s Nest and sculptural portraits of Russian rulers (models by Spiess), a Medallion for the 300th Anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty with portraits of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich and Emperor Nicholas II, the vase-jug Satyr and Nymph and the Roses dejeuner service (models by Timus). Besides the outstanding creations of the leading lights of white plastic art Spiess and Timus, the display also contains pieces of sculpture by well-known artists who collaborated closely with the Imperial Porcelain Factory – Valentin Serov, Konstantin Somov, Serafim Sudbinin, Adele Werner, Artemy Ober, Amandus Adamson, Ilya Ginzburg and others. It was to a large extent due specifically to the project works of these creators that the white colour came to be perceived in the aesthetics of porcelain as an inseparable part of the artistic image.

The viewer’s eye will be caught by white glazed and biscuit (unglazed) versions of sculptures from the series Peoples of Russia by Pavel Kamensky (1858 – after 1917) and The History of the Russian Guards by Konstantin Rausch von Traubenberg (1871–1935).

From the moment that the “white gold” was invented, porcelain sculpture was invested with a decorative character that determined many of the visual and plastic characteristics of the figurines and their subsequent destiny. The creative output of the artists active in the second half of the 19th century and early 20th changed people’s perception of porcelain sculpture. Technological advances allowed the factory to produce figures that could compete in size with bronze, marble, stone and wood sculptures. Thanks to glazed white and biscuit sculpture, it proved possible to elevate plastic art in porcelain to a new level of acceptance, to accord it a higher status in the historical heritage and gain it a higher position in the “rankings” of the various types and genres of art.

The exhibition has been prepared by the State Hermitage’s Department of the History of Russian Culture (headed by Viacheslav Anatolyevich Feodorov). The author of the concept and curator of the exhibition is Yekaterina Sergeyevna Khmelnitskaya, Doctor of Art Studies, leading researcher in the Department of the History of Russian Culture.

The State Hermitage Publishing House is preparing a scholarly illustrated catalogue in Russian for the exhibition: Naslazhdenie farforom: belaia plastika Imperatorskogo farforogo zavoda serediny XIX – nachala XX veka. The author is also Yekaterina Sergeyevna Khmelnitskaya.

The exhibition “Pleasure in Porcelain: White Sculptures from the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory (Mid-Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century)” can be visited by all holders of entry tickets to the Main Museum Complex.

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More about the exhibition

The State Hermitage exhibition project “Pleasure in Porcelain: White Sculptures from the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory (Mid-Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century)” offers the chance to get acquainted with pieces of unpainted glazed porcelain and biscuit produced at Russia’s main porcelain factory during the reigns of Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II. The exhibits come from the collection of the State Hermitage , supplemented with items from private Russian collections.

The flourishing of the factory’s sculptural department in the middle of the 19th century was to a large extent due to the artistic and administrative endeavours of s figures who served successively as its head – August Karl Spiess (1817–1904) and then August Timus (1865–1943). Their projects and contribution to the development and modernization of the production process led to a recognition of the independent value of the sculptural element and its dominant role in porcelain plastic art between the mid-1800s and the early 1900s.

Artistically decorative articles that differed in their intended purpose, materials and techniques were in great demand among members of the imperial family. The administration of the Imperial Porcelain Factory encouraged the production of such items, which appreciably expanded the range of pieces made of biscuit featuring reliefs of varying degrees of complexity being developed by the craftspeople of the sculptural department. These include biscuit medallions with Portraits of Nicholas I and Alexander II, and a Bas-Relief Portrait of Alexander Suvorov. The middle years of the 19th century saw a vogue for lithophanes. Those decorative objects consisted of a thin, almost transparent, sheet of biscuit porcelain with barely detectable differences in thickness achieved by particular production technology that would spring to life as striking pictures when viewed with light from a particular angle or behind them. The exhibition includes two such items from the stocks of the Hermitage, including a Lithophane depicting Emperor Nicholas I, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich. In the 1850s, biscuit attained a peak of sculptural capacity in floral arrangements. Viewers will be struck by the splendid execution of the Bouquet of Flowers created by the gifted sculptor Piotr Ivanov. That master developed new recipes for the biscuit paste and a technique for modelling blooms of unsurpassed delicacy. He worked freely, without a mould, shaping every millimetre by hand.

One eye-catching feature of the exhibition is the monumental portrait sculpture created by August Karl Spiess. His universally esteemed likenesses of members of the imperial family were copied numerous times both during the sculptor’s lifetime and afterwards. They include Busts of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, a Portrait of Tsesarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich and more. Spiess also shows himself to have been an original innovator in the creation of sculptures depicting children. Visitors can see the groups Children at Play and The Lesson. The images of childhood that this master produced are not merely sketches of charming little scenes and portraits in keeping with the tastes of his exalted client, Empress Maria Alexandrovna. The artist also draws attention to a youngster’s personality. He demonstrates how it is possible to use sculptural means in porcelain art to explore the theme of childhood, which was emerging in European society at that time.

Many works in the exhibition are on show for the first time. These include the sculptures Ivan and Marya and Peasant Boy produced from models by Alexander Yegorovich Timashev (1818–1893). From the moment of its establishment in 1744, the Imperial Porcelain Factory had experience of working with artists invited on a contractual basis, but such a relationship with Timashev, who was Minister of Internal Affairs as well as an amateur sculptor, was an important and meaningful step for the enterprise.

In July 1897, August Timus took over as the factory’s chief sculptor. Timus’s original works were creditable examples of the porcelain of his time, successfully presenting the finest achievements of the Imperial Porcelain Factory. The exhibition includes a Sculptural Portrait of the Minister of the Imperial Court Baron Vladimir Borisovich Fredericks; Medallions with Portraits of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna; a Medallion for the 300th Anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty with portraits of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich and Emperor Nicholas II and more. Among Timus’s most original and creative designs are large vases and vessels, the main decorative element of which is a three-dimensional sculptural composition (e.g., the vase-jug Satyr and Nymph). Their creator saw in them above all the plastic element, the enjoyment of the white porcelain, which perfectly accorded with the aesthetic demands of the time.

As chief sculptor, Timus pushed for the reconstruction and modernization of the factory’s sculptural workshop. In 1903 its structure was indeed improved. Timus also achieved many other positive changes, including  better working conditions for the factory’s technicians, sculptors and craftspeople. In 1904, August Timus managed to introduce a new method of moulding large-sized sculptural objects into the manufacturing process. The dimensions of these products meant they went beyond the bounds of small-scale decorative plastic art, demonstrating the increased technical capabilities of the factory and the professional skills of its workforce.

Sculptors and artists who collaborated with the factory by invitation included Valentin Serov (1865–1911), Konstantin Somov (1867–1944), Serafim Sudbinin (1867–1944), Artemy Ober (1843–1917), Maria Dillon (1858–1932), Adele Werner (1865 – circa 1930) and Amandus Adamson (1855–1929). Thanks to design works, white came to be perceived in the aesthetics of porcelain as its natural colour and not as the absence of decorative paint. The emphasis was placed on striking, non-trivial artistic projects, which paved the way for the further development of porcelain sculpture. With the advancement of technology, the size of porcelain sculpture increased considerably. It acquired greater monumentality, while the artists practically abandoned painted decoration. The sole exception is serial groups. It is telling, though, that even those programmatic series invariably include unpainted compositions and the reason for that lies in a desire to have the opportunity to enjoy the material itself – porcelain.