zhel, not far from the city of Moscow, has long been famous
for its rich deposits of clays suitable for the making of
pottery, and, hence, for the ceramic industries that grew
up around them. In fact, practically the entire population
of some thirty villages in this neighborhood have long engaged
in the manufacture of pottery, the more so, as considering
the dense sprawling forests around, there has never been
any shortage of firewood. One could say that it was symbolical
for Gzhel to be understood already in the 19th century as
synonymical, to a great degree, with Russian folk ceramics.
True, it was somewhat earlier, in the previous, 18th century,
that Gzhel rose to fame as a large ceramics center that
produced not only earthenware for purely utilitarian purposes,
but also artistic and decorative objects.
The kvass pitcher
Majolika. End of the XVIII century
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This development
coincided with the emergence of majolica. At the time majolica
wares were called in Russia tsenina. The origin
of the word is not known exactly. Majolica wares were termed
in Europe faience. The product was usually made of tinted
clays, had a massive porous shell, and was decorated with
enamel colours in polychromatic, typically peasant-style
designs. True, tsenina was first manufactured in
Moscow at the establishment of the merchant Afanasy Grebenshchikov,
who employed a number of potters from Gzhel. Returning home
and having learned the secrets of majolica manufacture,
they started their own potteries. Though we have no idea
who they were-their names have been lost - they made so
fine a start that within the space of but several years,
Gzhel majolica was already successfully competing with Grebenshchikov's
produce.
Whereas the celebrated Italian Renaissance majolica borrowed
subject material from contemporary painting and served an
exclusively decorative purpose (produced mostly were large
vases, giant dishes and bas-reliefs), Gzhel ware was, on
the contrary, of utilitarian shape and form and was decorated
with the two-dimensional designs that are typically of folk
origin; the large local pools of bright color displayed
a marked affinity with the lubok, the Russian folk picture
or broadside.
S.Isaev "Russian winter". Teapot.
Porcelaine. 1999
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The
range of Gzhel majolica included virtually the entire assortment
of domestic utensils, such as breakfast and soup plates,
dinner-services, mugs, tankards, and pitchers. More often
that was only white-glazed earthenware devoid of decoration;
however it was prized precisely because of its hygienic
whiteness. Yet, there has always been - and will always
be - a popular demand for attractive, colourful, artistic
objects. Every potter worthy of the name sought to create
something individual, having some curious or amusing detail
and a colourful design appealing to the customer.
The subject material does
not possess much in the way of thematic diversity, it was
not borrowed from contemporary painting or literature, but
was the invention of the potter himself, who though often
illiterate, displayed artistic intuition, enabling him to
integrate in his decorative designs his observations of
nature and of rustic and urban life with impressions derived
from buildings and icons seen, and to touch up the result
with his own imagination. The design is a hand-painted drawing,
outlined by some dark pigment on the light-toned glazed
surface and then ornamented with green, yellow, brown and
blue pigments.
S.Isaev "Salmon". Fishdish
Porcelaine. 1997
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There
is nothing particularly outstanding about Gzhel's scenic
surroundings. Except, of course, the stretching fields,
the blue fringe of forest in the distance, and the limpid
bluish haze enveloping the small villages in its neighborhood.
Perhaps it is this shimmering blue that has been transferred
to the snow-white field of Gzhel's porcelain? Perhaps it
is responsible for all the attractive designs we find on
some slender vase, pot-bellied pitcher, or stalwart tankard
generating that delightful feeling of surprise and joy upon
spotting the first few clumps of spring flowers in the patches
left by thawing snow? Truth to tell, skilful modeling and
masterly brushwork have transformed what would appear to
be plain ordinary household utensils into genuine works
of art. Gzhel porcelain enjoys extensive popularity both
in this country and abroad, recognizable at once by its
characteristic blue-and-white color scheme, peculiar designs,
and shapes. The clue to this amazing success derives from
the strikingly expressive uniqueness of Gzhel china, which
provokes a stirring emotion of communion with Mother Nature.
No wonder, as these hand-painted pictures most pleasingly
harmonize with the shape.
V. Nepliuev "The hunt". Kvass pitcher
Porcelaine. 1982
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In
fact, the range of items made is so diverse that one would
be hard put to list everything. The more typical items-top
favorites with Gzhel potters-are teapots, jugs, mugs, butter-dishes,
sugar-bowls, honey-pots, and sweetmeat stands. What astounds
are the many different shapes imparted to one and the same
type of item. Thus, if we take the teapot, we find it shaped
as disk, barrel, sphere, or oblong. Gzhel's designers strive
to create models for the quantity production of relatively
inexpensive wares and unique pieces intended for exhibitions
and museums. But before going any further, one must emphasize
that what is produced in Gzhel today is unlike the wares
that were turned out in the previous centuries. This is
a new art, which at the same time has imbibed the artistic
and technological experience accumulated by more than one
generation of potters. There has been no royal road to this
achievement, as the traditions that had been handed down
from father to son had petered out by the close of the past,
19th century yet, and by the outbreak of the First World
War had been consigned to total oblivion. The chaos that
followed the Civil War after the October 1917 Revolution
only aggraseemed as if the pottery of Gzhel would never
be resurrected
L.Azarova "Hunter". Bottle
Porcelaine. 1975
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But the new
Soviet government did not overlook the folk arts and craftss.
While new economic and social foundations were laid to promote
the folk arts and crafts, every care was taken at the same
time to preserve their traditional principles. By the 1920s
some of Gzhel's potteries were back on their feet again.
Cooperatives were organized, first among which was the Period,
Keramika (Forward, Ceramics) started in 1929. After the
growing pains of organization, the Gzhel industry acquired
a firm economic footing, and was about to tackle the problem
of producing highly artistic pieces when the Great Patriotic
War intervened. Though work was suspended for a couple of
years, by 1943 the potters were at work once more, now turning
out, as Tatyana Yeryomina recalls, "One plain, common
mug. Though it was hard and though we had to cut the firewood
ourselves, keep the kilns burning, and produce quantity
ware, nevertheless we tried to ornament the mugs as best
we could."
Attempts
to revive the old traditions were initiated to wards the
close of the war, with art historians, artists, and production
engineers from the Arts and Crafts Research Institute, as
well as local potters, joining in the effort. The large
Gzhel collection at Moscow's State Museum o History, which
earlier only a few specialists had know about, was brought
to the notice of Gzhel's potters a designers.
N.and V.Bidak "The small herdess"
Butterdish. Porcelaine. 1975
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