The history of the development of the porcelain and faience industry in Russia dates back more than 250 years. During this time, she experienced ups and downs. Lomonosov Porcelain Factory is the oldest enterprise of this industry in the country. It operates today, but under a different name.
What is the history of the Lomonosov porcelain factory? What products does it release today? You will learn about this from our article.
Porcelain of Russia: the history of the industry
Durable, resistant to various influences and externally beautiful material called porcelain has long been used for the production of dishes and interior items. It is based on four natural components: kaolin, quartz, clay and feldspar. The first "formula" of porcelain was derived by the Chinese back in the 7th century. The Europeans recipe for its manufacture became known much later - only at the beginning of the XVIII century.
The first porcelain manufacture in the Russian Empire arose in 1744 in St. Petersburg. This is precisely the Lomonosov porcelain factory. True, today it has a different name - the Imperial.
The porcelain and faience industry of Russia reached an unprecedented development in the era of the USSR. At that time, about 80 enterprises of this industry were operating within our country, which produced mainly mass-produced products. Unfortunately, today only three porcelain factories are fully operational in Russia.
Lomonosov porcelain factory, St. Petersburg: history and hallmarks
The oldest porcelain factory in Russia is located in St. Petersburg. The year of its foundation is the 1744th.
Initially, the enterprise was called the Nevsky Porcelain Manufactory. From the middle of the 18th century until 1917 the factory was called the Imperial factory, and after the revolution it was called the State. In 1925, it received a new name: Leningrad Porcelain Factory named after M.V. Lomonosov. An abridged version of LFZ has survived to the present day. In 2005, the plant again became known as the Imperial.
At the end of the 19th century, a museum was established at the factory. By order of Tsar Alexander III, each order from the imperial family was to be made in duplicate - one of them was left in this museum. Thus, his collections were steadily and regularly replenished with new works. The Soviet power museum at the LFZ preserved. Moreover, during the Second World War, all of his collections were evacuated to the city of Irbit in the Urals.
In Soviet times, the Leningrad Porcelain Factory was refocused on the production of medium-quality mass products. Vast editions at the enterprise made dishes, tea sets and figurines. In the 1920s and 1930s, famous Soviet artists worked at the plant: Ilya Chashnik, Nikolai Suetin, and also Kazimir Malevich.
For a long time, the plant used the stigma in the form of three interwoven letters: LFZ. Since 1991, under the acronym appeared signature: Made in Russia. Currently, the plant uses a new brand, which depicts a double-headed eagle of blue color. Above the eagle is the inscription Imperial Porcelain, and under it is the year the factory was founded (1744) and the name of the city in English (St. Petersburg).
Modern factory products
Today, the Imperial Porcelain Factory produces over 4 thousand items of various products. The range of products is extremely wide. It:
- services (coffee, dining and tea);
- sculptures and figurines (animalistic, genre, propaganda);
- vases;
- plates and sockets;
- teapots and coffee pots;
- Circles
- glasses
- cups and saucers;
- ashtrays and more.
All products are made of solid or bone porcelain, decorated with painting (under- and overglaze). The enterprise has its own website, on which you can learn more about the list of products manufactured by the Lomonosov porcelain factory. The store at the factory (company) is open daily, from 10 to 20:00. Store address: 151 Obukhov Defense Avenue.
Sculpture of the Lomonosov porcelain factory
Porcelain figurines made under the LFZ brand are very popular. And not only modern, but also old, Soviet. The latter are valuable primarily to collectors.
The sculpture, created in the workshops of the Imperial Plant, is distinguished by rich painting, filigree study of all the details, sophistication and individuality of execution. Currently, the company produces both genre and animalistic sculpture. Moreover, the technology of its production has not changed for more than a century: all the figures of the master are performed exclusively by hand.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the plant replicated several works of the famous Estonian sculptor Amandus Adamson in a biscuit (in particular, “The Birth of Venus”, “Demon”, “Cry of the Soul”). An equally famous series of sculptures was created by the enterprise during the years 1907-1917. This is a series called "Peoples of Russia." The author of most of her figures was the sculptor Pavel Kamensky. In 2007, the Imperial Porcelain Factory recreated 36 (out of 74) sculptures from this series.
LFZ: top 5 most expensive figurines
At present, Russians (as well as residents of other post-Soviet countries) have aroused great interest in Soviet porcelain. In particular, to the statuettes. On various sites and forums, collectors can sell or buy figures of the Leningrad plant.
We analyzed several of these specialized Internet resources and identified the five most expensive Soviet-era LFZ statuettes:
- Stepan Razin, 1960s (approximate price - 85,000 rubles).
- “Bully with a balalaika”, 1970s (75,000 rubles).
- “Welder”, 1970s (67,000 rubles).
- “The Boy with the Alphabet”, 1950s (65,000 rubles).
- “Vakula on the line”, 1950s (56,000 rubles).