The Flowering of Russian Porcelain under Catherine the Great (1762-1796). Early Neo-Classicism

The "Golden Age of Catherine", despite its contradictions, has clearly left its mark on Russian history, foreign policy, trade, industry, sciences and culture. It was also the period of the greatest flowering of Russian decorative porcelain.

Barely one week after the coup d'etat of Yekaterina Alexeyevna (the wife of Peter III) the porcelain factory swore its oath of loyalty to the new empress, hoping for her continued patronage. From the beginning of her reign, Catherine took the porcelain factory under her wing. Preparing for her coronation ceremonies in Moscow, she ordered the imperial cabinet to select the best products from the porcelain factory and to bring them to the old capital to exhibit and sell them, thus opening up new fields of activity and new markets for the factory. A year later, the empress visited the factory in person and selected and bought 29 snuffboxes. As a consequence of this visit, one of the men involved in the coup, Lieutenant Alexander Stchepotyev, of the regiment of horse guards, was appointed head of the porcelain factory in August 1763 "in order to ensure an improved manufacture of porcelain".

Under Stchepotyev, an enlightened man who possessed artistic taste and chemical knowledge and was even familiar with the porcelain trade, the factory was reorganized, given a budget and a new name. From 1765 onwards it was called the Imperial Porcelain Factory and the Cabinet allowed it an annual subsidy of 15,000 rubles for the development of production so that in future the whole of Russia might be supplied with porcelain.

The real flourishing of the Imperial Porcelain Factory, however, was due mainly to the efforts of the Attorney General, Prince Alexander Vyasemski, who was appointed by the empress in 1773 and who administered the works until 1792. Vyasemski constructed new buildings, rationalized the running of the business, improved the accounting system and increased the responsibilities of individual employees for the work entrusted to them, hired new staff and attracted European masters for the factory.

In 1787, the porcelain factory consisted of five sections, exclusive of the administration. The first was the machine shop, where the raw materials were prepared. The second section, the modelling shop, housed flat ware turners, wood carvers and sculptors. The third section contained the kiln, where the first firing took place, and where also the capsules in which the pieces were fired were made. Then followed the painting shop and the laboratory where the colors were prepared and where there were also the muffle kilns for the firing of wares already decorated.

The "Catherinian porcelain" continued to differ in its composition from European porcelain because it was made from indigenous raw materials and was thus rather closer to the Chinese.

Towards the mid-1790s the works already had 200 employees. Output had risen enormously: 38,000 pieces and 657 forms and models were produced annually. High quality was attained through perfected technology and better expertise on the part of employees who had superseded the self-taught people of Elizabeth's period. Whereas during the reign of Elizabeth it had been necessary to advertise to obtain orders, under Catherine II warehouses and shops were established for the sale of the increased production of porcelain.

The French sculptor Jean-Dominique Rachette, who was brought to Russia in 1779 as a master modeller for the Imperial Porcelain Factory and remained responsible for the forms produced until 1804, was to have a lasting influence on Russian porcelain. He was elected a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts. For his achievements in the development of Russian decorative porcelain he was given the rank of state councillor and the order of St. Anne, 2nd class. From 1783 the miniature painter Alexei Sakharov was in charge of all porcelain decoration and was later also awarded membership of the Academy and the rank of state councillor.

The Viennese master Joseph Regensburg, who had worked in the factory from 1765, improved the basic paste and the glaze, and was later followed by the master, Gavrila Sergeyev, while the chemist Anton Stan, who achieved transparent and lustrous porcelain colors, was followed by master Ulyan Ivanov. Pupils of the Academy of Art and graduates of the technical school worked as modellers, porcelain painters and wood carvers: Fyodor Krestishin, Ivan Semyonov, Gavril Nikiforov, Nasar Koslov, Afanasiy Krylov, Andrei Sobolev, Alexei Artemyev, Ya-kov Vasilyev, Stepan Ivanov, Semyon Sobratchev. At that time it was not usual to mark items of porcelain with painters' signs. They represented in their entirety the unified style and individuality of Russian porcelain.

In the second half of the 18th century the arts in Russia, including the decorative arts, followed the mainstream of west European trends, where extravagant Rococo was superseded by the "noble simplicity and gravitas" of Neo-Classicism. The indigenous flavor of Russian porcelain was ensured principally by the native masters working at the Petersburg factory and enjoying the support of the Russian empress.

The shy, reserved German Princess Sophia Frederika Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst, whom Empress Elizabeth had brought to her court, developed into the energetic, domineering, clever and wily Russian Empress Catherine II. As incumbent of the Russian throne, she did everything to be considered more Russian than the Russians themselves. She studied the country's history, geography, customs and usages, the language and Russia's popular poetry. The products of the Imperial Porcelain Factory did not remain unaffected by these attempts at Russification.

During the mid-1770s the three volume work by the Academician Johann Georgi "Description of all the peoples native to the Russian Empire...", with added colored drawings and engravings, appeared in St. Petersburg. With the agreement of the empress and under the direction of Rachette, the porcelain factory produced a series of figures "The Peoples of Russia" based on these illustrations. This series was later extended to include St. Petersburg intellectuals, tradesmen and street vendors. It was the first time that national motifs were reflected in porcelain. With this collection of ethnographic interest began one of the notable traditions of Russian ceramic art.

In contrast to the capricious, entertaining figures of the Elizabeth period the porcelain of the Catherine era, especially its magnificent pieces, appears to be a glorification of despotic rule, of "enlightened absolutism". For the first time important historical events of the period were depicted, with the empress' personality well to the fore. A great variety of items show the portrait of Catherine II, her imperial monogram, sculpted allegories of the "Russian Minerva", the "Great Semiramis of the North", the lawgiver, protectress and benefactress of the Russian Empire. Realism and artistically and technically perfect execution characterised the biscuit-glazed bust of Catherine II, fashioned by Rachette after the marble sculpture by the famous sculptor Fedor Shubin, who came from the tradition of Pomorian bone carvers.

The greatest fame which accrued to the Imperial Porcelain Factory came through the gala table services commissioned by Catherine II, which reflect the magnificence of the Petersburg palaces. Designed by famous architects, they have an air of sublimity and perfection, the nobility of the modellers' exquisite taste and the superb craftsmanship of the artisans.

The first of these, the "Arabesque Service", derived its name from the arabesques in the style of the classical frescoes discovered during excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The most important part of the service is a centre piece of many items, a "surtout de table", with the majestic figure of the empress on a plinth surrounded by allegorical groups depicting "Justice" and "Philanthropy". There are also sculptures of the "Crimea, or Tauris, under Catherine's sceptre" and "Georgia under Russia's Protection" followed by allegories of military power on land and sea. The tailpieces are symbols of "Generosity" and "Regency". The service had 60 covers and consisted of 973 pieces. The idea for it came from Prince Vyasemski. Gavriil Dershavin and the architect Nikolai Lvov were among those who provided sketches for the allegorical sculptures. The execution of this grandiose project fell to modelmaster Rachette. Gavriil Dershavin left an enthusiastic description of the service and in his verses he alluded several times to the allegories sculpted by Rachette.

Related to the Arabesque Service is another palace service - "Yachtinski" - with painted decoration in praise of Russia's sea power and the flourishing of her trade.

In 1795 the Imperial Porcelain Factory executed a commission on behalf of the imperial cabinet - a service of 800 parts, which was given the name "Kabinetski" and has come to be regarded as the best example of Catherinian porcelain decor. The "Kabinetski" service is valuable also because its medallions depict architectural monuments of classical Italy, some of which no longer exist; the engravings, which served as models, have not survived.

The shapes of the "Kabinetski" service, although with a different decor, are repeated in the 650-part "Yusupovski" service, commissioned by the porcelain factory's administrator, Prince Nikolai Yusupov.

Of particular interest is the toilet set "Orlovski", with a GGO monogram on every item, among which are both toilet implements and breakfast cutlery - all forming part of the morning ritual of an aristocratic dignitary, such as was widely used in the middle of the 18th century. The set was made to the design of Nasar Koslov and combines stylistic elements of Baroque, Rococo and early Neo-Classicism. The individual pieces were mounted in gold and silver by the well-known jeweler Johann Adorno. It was a present from Catherine II to her favorite, Count Grigori Orlov.

Proof of the immense skill of the masters working at the porcelain factory at the time are the copies they made of some of the Meissen "Hunting Service". The pieces, made, as replacements for broken items, are so perfect that one can only tell them apart by the composition of the paste and the gentle hues of the colors.

The original elevation of the palace of Pavlovsk, as designed by Charles Cameron, before it was modified by Vincenco Brenna, has been preserved for posterity on a porcelain table top. This porcelain top, beautifully painted in water colors by Semyon Stchedrin, and fixed onto a small table of a rare wood, with ormulu and porcelain decorations, is in its perfection an extremely rare piece of applied art. It is probable that the architect Lvov designed the table, while Rachette was responsible for the caryatids. This tabletop was given by Catherine II as a present to her son Paul and his wife.

Commissioned by the court, the factory produced a large variety of vases. As a rule they were of medium size, half egg-shaped or in the form of a cylinder that is straight in the middle; on feet and with lids, often pierced (pot pourri vases), decorated with bas reliefs, sculpted garlands and individual figures. The painted decorations concentrated on four main themes: purely decorative arabesques, grotesques or flowers; genre scenes; allegorical representations; and portraiture. The emphasis always lay on the material's main characteristic: the whiteness of the paste and the warm hue of the shining glaze.

In 1780 the factory received an order in Catherine II's own hand to produce a "tea and coffee service with flowers on a gold ground. Similarly pots for chimneypiece with flowers... Case for table clock, flowers on gold. All to be made as colorful as possible but in good taste". The items produced were all gilded, with polychrome bunches of flowers. The empress' personal whim, however, was not repeated: multicolored decoration and gilding was not to the taste of the master decorators. Soon the fashion was for costly looking pieces with cobalt glaze and gilt decorations.