Shipova M., Shlykova T., Stepanova O., Drobakha E. Reports of Employees of the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory on Foreign Business Trips as a Source of Information about the Technology of Porcelain Production of the Late 19th — Early 20th Century*
Maria Shipova
State Hermitage; Surface Phenomena Researches Group
Saint Petersburg, Moscow; Russian Federation
ORCID: 0009-0009-9780-9992
E-mail: kamyshinka@gmail.com
Tatiana Shlykova
Saint Petersburg State Institute of Culture; Surface Phenomena Researches Group
Saint Petersburg, Moscow; Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-1183-9480
E-mail: yasno-solnce@mail.ru
Oksana Stepanova
The State Museum “Pavlovsk”; Surface Phenomena Researches Group
Saint Petersburg, Moscow; Russian Federation,
ORCID: 0009-0006-4816-2510
E-mail: StepanovaO.29@yandex.ru
Ekaterina Drobakha
Surface Phenomena Researches Group
Moscow, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0003-0931-9870
E-mail: drobaha_ekaterina@mail.ru
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ABSTRACT. The article is devoted to the study of porcelain production technology in Europe in the 1880s — 1910s. In the 1880s, it became necessary to modernize the St. Petersburg Imperial Porcelain Manufactory. In 1880, porcelain factories in France, Germany and Austria-Hungary were visited by A. P. Ivanov and A. K. Khovansky, in 1884, by D. N. Guryev, Y. O. Byk and K. F. Klever, in 1904, by P. S. Filosofov, in 1913, by T. A. Poorten and
N. N. Kachalov. Based on the results of the business trips, detailed reports were compiled, which are the main sources for this article. All aspects of ceramic production technology are reflected in the reports: raw materials, processing of materials, features of the composition of porcelain masses, methods of molding products; the firing equipment and its performance, methods of glazing products and nuances of their painting at different enterprises are described. The manufactory’s management drew conclusions about the technical and technological lag of the domestic porcelain industry from the leading Western industries and took measures to remedy the situation. The employees’ reports on foreign business trips make it possible to compare the peculiarities of the porcelain production at the leading European manufactories, which expands the opportunities of researchers and restorers in attributing products, detecting fakes and performing porcelain restoration.
KEYWORDS: Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, European porcelain, Berlin Royal Porcelain Manufactory, Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, Sevres Porcelain Manufactory, porcelain production technology, porcelain mass formulation, historical and archival research, attribution, restoration
FOR CITATION: Shipova M., Shlykova T., Stepanova O., Drobakha E. Reports of Employees of the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory on Foreign Business Trips as a Source of Information about the Technology of Porcelain Production of the Late 19th — Early 20th Century. Kunstkamera. 2025. 2 (28): 48–60. (In Russian). DOI: 10.31250/26188619-2025-2(28)-48-60
* The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 21-19-00412.
DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2025-2(28)-48-60
UDC 666.5(470.23-25)”1880/1913”
REFERENCES
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- Tarkhanova A. V. [Porcelain of the art Nouveau era in the collection of the Elaginoostrovsky Palace Museum. New aesthetics, technologies and materials]. Modern v Rossii nakanune peremen. Sbornik nauchnykh statey 23 Tsarskosel’skoy konferentsii [Modernity in Russia. On the eve of change: proceedings of the 23rd Tsarskoye Selo Scientific Conference]. St. Petersburg: Serebryanyy vek Publ., 2017, pp. 655–667. (In Russian).