Gzhel is a traditional painting on ceramics, which has become famous due to its rich cobalt hues, bright majolica and amazing harmony of patterns and ornaments.
The painting got its name thanks to the picturesque area near Moscow, also known as the Gzhel Bush. For more than 700 years, Gzhel masters have been creating real works of art - dishes, figurines, interior items, painted with bright ornaments depicting flowers, animals or landscapes. All work is done only by hand, which gives it value. Machine Gzhel painting does not exist, each product is original, displaying a particle of the soul invested by the author.
The history of the fishery
The first official mention of the region was found in Kalita's spiritual charter dated 1328, however, it is proved that Gzhel settlements existed and were actively engaged in various crafts as early as the 11th century, although pottery in official list duties before the sovereign's court was not included. The region became the main supplier of Gzhel clay and finished products for “pharmaceutical needs” only in the 17th century under Tsar Alexei.
The main difference between Gzhel painting is its originality and individual style. At the beginning, these were stucco toys and household items with beautiful and bright majolica, but gradually the art and craftsmanship developed and became more perfect. There were decorative dishes and sets of dishes, high kumgans with a disc-shaped body. Small plastic art in the form of kitchen utensils and toys has also become widespread, captivating with its uncomplicated drawings and pictures, landscapes, and floral ornaments.
Since the 19th century, the production of semi-faience has been launched on the territory of Gzhel, which has become a transitional period from traditional majolica to fine faience and porcelain. The characteristic underglaze painting of rich blue hues, monochrome drawings, polychrome overglaze drawing, an abundance of gold and a unique cobalt background covering were used as decoration. Particularly famous were products manufactured at the factories of the Terekhovs, Barmins, as well as the Kuznetsov Brothers, Kiselevs, Zhadins, Tulins.
Gzhel painting colors
A feature of Gzhel painting is exclusively handmade, artists put a particle of themselves and their vision of nature and environment into each ornament. The main colors are:
- white, used for bone china;
- colored majolica;
- shades of cobalt and bright blue, ranging from sky blue to rich, dark blue;
- dull cobalt.
The process of manifestation of a characteristic saturated color is very interesting - during operation it is black and white, and blue and cobalt shades appear only when the finished product is fired at high temperatures.
Primary colors
The traditional color for Gzhel painting is a bright blue, cobalt shade on a snow-white background. Painting is carried out using a special composition based on cobalt oxide. The finished product is dipped in white glaze, then fired at 1400 degrees. As a result, the glaze becomes transparent, and the ornament acquires a bright blue color, the product itself becomes solid and has a glossy sheen. A thin gold or platinum decoration can be applied over the fired glaze, after which the product is fired again.
The following groups of colors of the Gzhel painting are distinguished:
- Overglaze color painting, complemented by gold and platinum decor, cobalt color. It is used for elegant sets of dishes, souvenirs, jugs or teapots. For work, bright colors are used, overglaze painting, also known as majolica. The process is laborious and complex, requiring real skill from the artist.
- Deaf background cobalt captivates with an unusual combination of sophistication and solemn luxury. The background base is a dark blue glaze, overglaze white paint is used for painting, creating a mirror image of traditional Gzhel. Flowers and animals turn from blue to white, and the ornament itself resembles fabulous Frost patterns that create a depth effect.
- Bone white porcelain is snow-white products without decor or with fine platinum or gold painting. It is allowed to apply small-sized drawings and inscriptions using colored paints or all shades of blue.
Elements and patterns of Gzhel painting
The theme of the painting reflects the master's perception of the world around him, this is the result of the development of centuries-old folk art, absorbing traditions and culture. Artists in their creations combine elements of icon painting, everyday scenes, observations of nature. Most often there are natural motifs, architecture: plants, birds or animals, images of peasant houses, churches or city streets.
The modern theme of the drawing is divided into 4 types:
- plot drawing, including seasons, landscapes;
- ornamental - traditional for Gzhel mesh-combs, antennae, pearls, droplets, checkers and layering;
- plant drawings - cereals, berries, flowers, buds, grass, branches;
- animals (most often these are birds).
Execution technique
The main rule of the Gzhel painting technique is only manual execution of the drawing. The painters use white, blue and blue colors in their work. Blue color is used in more than 20 shades, five-flower is used for majolica - white background, yellow (antimony salts), green (copper salts), blue (cobalt salts), cherry (manganese moths) colors.
The artist's set of tools is very simple: a glass palette for mixing shades, brushes of various types, spatulas, cobalt oxide mixture jars. The classic cobalt pattern is applied using the underglaze technique, that is, after application, the ornament is covered with white glaze and fired. To apply ornaments, a special alphabet of strokes is used, which each master can have its own characteristics. At the heart of most patterns is a droplet brushstroke, which depicts leaves, stems, flowers. A smear with shadows is a reverse stroke in one direction with a transition from a dark shade to a light one.
The most popular patterns are the Gzhel rose with sweeping, large strokes and a bird.
Gzhel with traditional blue painting is a single whole of form and product and decor. The drawing emphasizes the shape, gives volume and harmony, enlivens cold porcelain. But it is plasticity that dictates what the ornament and its shade will be, what exactly will be expressed by the artist in the finished product.
GZHEL is the name of a picturesque region near Moscow, which is 60 kilometers from Moscow. The word "Gzhel" is incredibly popular today. It is associated with beauty and harmony, a fairy tale and a true story. Porcelain with elegant blue painting and multicolored majolica are now known not only in Russia, but also abroad. Gzhel products attract everyone who loves beauty, rich imagination and harmony, high professionalism of their creators. Gzhel is the cradle and main center of Russian ceramics. Here her best features were formed and manifested top achievements folk art.
How old is this Russian folk craft? Archaeological research on the territory of Gzhel confirms the existence of pottery here since the beginning of the 14th century. For the first time, the settlement of Gzhel was mentioned in documents dated 1320. It was then that, among other settlements, it was written off by the Grand Duke Ivan Danilovich Kalita to his eldest son. Since that time, Gzhel has been constantly featured in spiritual letters. And it is not surprising - the Gzhel land has long been rich in forests, rivers, high-quality clays, "which I have never seen with whiter excellence." Since then, in its more than six centuries of history, Gzhel has experienced different periods.
For centuries, Gzhel peasants have been making wholesale household items, tiles, tiles. From the second half of the 18th century, it became famous for the production of majolica dishes. These were products made of colored clay with bright multi-color painting on white enamel. In the 19th century, Gzhel masters invented a new material for themselves and new technology: they produced semi-faience, then faience and, finally, porcelain. Of particular interest were items painted in one color - blue underglaze paint applied with a brush, with graphic rendering of details. Porcelain and faience were produced by numerous small factories and large enterprises. The end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries became a period of deep crisis. It seemed that Gzhel art was lost forever. The post-war period is associated with the beginning of the revival of the craft and the search for its own figurative language. It took years of painstaking and tireless work, training of new masters. As a result, it has led to success.
In 1972, the Gzhel Association was created on the basis of six small industries located in several villages. Creative teams developed new designs. Completely new forms of products were created. The painting has become richer and fulfills the artistic demands of the present day. Today, the Gzhel Association is a modern enterprise, which includes 6 production facilities with a staff of 1,500 highly qualified workers. Gzhel is vases, figurines, toys, interior items: fireplaces, chandeliers and other porcelain products. Gzhel products are in steady demand on the Russian and international markets. Gzhel is a composition of folk art and art. In the production of porcelain, Gzhel follows the old Russian traditions in the art of the people. Masters of Gzhel paint each item only by hand. Gzhel employs highly qualified and gifted artists, sculptors and masters of technology. In Gzhel there is a round cycle of education. Education begins with kindergarten, high school and ends with the Gzhel Art College and postgraduate courses in Moscow. Gzhel has her own style - blue and blue patterns and flowers, decorations on a white background. The painting is made with cobalt, which, during the technological process, acquires the blue color characteristic of Gzhel.
HOW GZHEL PRODUCTS ARE MADE,
Experienced master modellers grind plaster models of future products on special machines. The machine is a potter's wheel with two racks and a wooden rail for resting hands. With the help of stick-cutters, the surface of a gypsum blank is processed, from which a working mold is made for casting products. Porcelain products are made by casting in plaster molds. The slip (liquid porcelain mass) is poured into molds by the caster. Porous gypsum absorbs moisture, the slip gradually hardens and takes shape. Products that have been fired, the painter paints with cobalt oxide. Traditional hand-painted floral and geometric designs applied with quick, luscious brush strokes. Hand painting allows you to create many variations of the same decorative motif.
He loves real art, and Gzhel is real folk art. The beauty of the blue-white winter color is reminiscent of the Russian winter landscape.
Gzhel is an old Russian village on the banks of the Gzhelka River, in the Ramensky district, 60 km from Moscow. The village got its name from a word originating from the lexicon of ancient potters - "zhgel", or "burn", "burn". In the district, near the village, there are the richest deposits of clay, so potters have long lived here, who knew how to understand and feel clay, could determine the thickness of the walls of the product with their fingers by touch.
Around Gzhel there are other villages whose inhabitants are engaged in pottery - Troshk?vo, Glebovo, Rech?tsy, Turygino, Bakhteevo and many others. The area has endowed this nature with a deposit of refractory clays, therefore, since ancient times, all the inhabitants have been engaged in pottery since childhood. Digging clay is not easy, and it is not so close to the surface.
Deposits of clay alternate with a layer of sand, and through each layer - a different kind of clay. The first is simple red clay - “shiryovka”, the second is “furs” (yellow), at the very bottom is clay - “soap”, which is used to make faience and porcelain. last clay- the best, white, but getting to the bottom of it is not so easy.
Making dishes was also not an easy task, and experienced masters were engaged in it, the children helped to pour finished goods glaze, and the girls painted, and then fired. Each village had its own manufacturing technology, and it was carefully kept secret from neighbors, which was passed on to sons by inheritance.
Pottery masters made dishes: milk jugs, bowls, kvass, jugs, pots and pots; and they didn’t forget about the fun for the children - they made whistles and various figures. By decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, all Gzhel was assigned to the Pharmaceutical Order in order to manufacture dishes. Therefore, the Gzhel peasants were never serfs.
In the 18th century, a friend of the great M. V. Lomonosov, a chemist Dmitry Vinogradov, nevertheless unraveled the Chinese secret of porcelain. In Russia, the first porcelain cup appeared in 1749. It was Vinogradov who organized the first porcelain manufactory (later - the Imperial Porcelain Factory - IPM). Even today, in porcelain production, some subtleties noticed by Vinogradov are taken into account.
From the end of the 18th century, porcelain tableware was considered not only the pinnacle of taste, but also testified to the wealth and status of the owner. Although in the period of XVIII - XIX, some gentlemen from society did not understand the nobility and elegance of porcelain dishes, considering it too simple, therefore they preferred silver and gold. And the common people used to have wooden, ceramic or metal utensils.
It was from Gzhel clay that Russian porcelain was first made. Since then, artels for the production of porcelain began to emerge, which grew into small factories. In 1871 such production organizations it was already about 100. Gzhel peasants lived quite well, earning their own labor, because the Imperial Court itself ordered Gzhel porcelain. And local breeders were awarded silver medals. Gzhel services sometimes reached up to 150 people ...
It's time for dispossession. After the October Revolution, in 1918-1919, all factories in the Gzhel region were nationalized. Some of them, the largest and well-equipped, have become state-owned. And to put it simply, faience factories built by the ancestors of the Barmin brothers, the Akulin brothers, the Dunashov brothers and many, many others have been selected. These were pottery dynasties, and their factories were acquired through many years of hard work.
Soon the Gzhel masters realized that if no one would help them, then the pots would have to be brought from other places. It's good that there are such people. In 1933, those who cared dearly came to the village of Turygino, where the Dunashov brothers had a factory. ancient craft- art scientist Alexander Saltykov and artist Natalya Bessarabova. It is about them that should be mentioned, although there were many of them. They revived Gzhel craftsmanship and developed their own style - blue patterns on a white background, because Gzhel used to be multi-colored.
The dishes were painted with yellow, red and green paints. And then Gzhel was not a luxury item. Gzhel dishes - jugs for milk, fermenters, bowls, mugs were intended for ordinary people, and even for taverns. Today is blue, bright blue, cornflower blue, the color of the sky, etc. - corporate colors of Gzhel painting. But for themselves, Gzhel masters occasionally make colorful dishes.
Painter's tool - brushes, palette, spatula for mixing paints and a jar of cobalt oxide. Cobalt is a special color for ceramics, which is initially almost black, like soot, and becomes bright blue only after firing. Gzhel masters have over 20 shades of blue, which is obtained after firing. Now you can imagine what wonderful artists and craftsmen make the beautiful Gzhel.
What are the stories on Gzhel? This is, first of all, nature and the seasons, especially the Russian winter. There may also be scenes from city and village life, characters from Russian fairy tales, blue birds, blue flowers, etc.
Unfortunately, among the blue and white range, fakes of Gzhel are very often found. The handmade stamp on yellowish items decorated with blue motifs is not Gzhel.
How to find or distinguish the real Gzhel? It is not simple. You need to look for products of real masters who fascinate at first sight. Take a look at the drawing - on the product of a real master everything is done with love, without haste, there are no random smeared stitches on it.
On real Gzhel products, all the smallest details are thought out, polished, the products are easy to use (if the holes in the dishes are such that it is difficult to use them, or the teapot and cup are unstable, and the lids are not tightly pressed, this is not the same Gzhel). If you need porcelain Gzhel, then its first property is that it is very light, if you don’t feel it, it is faience. Porcelain (from Turkish farfur) is a thin ceramic product, unlike faience, it is more durable and impervious to water. These are white, sonorous, translucent in the thinnest layer of the calyx.
Porcelain components are kaolin, plastic clay, quartz and feldspar. In what proportion? - And this is a secret! Faience (from the French faence) - products made from it can also be made of thin ceramics, but dense and porous, they make a hollow sound when struck. Earthenware easily absorbs moisture, so all earthenware products are covered with a continuous layer of glaze. Faience cracks and breaks more easily. If the icing is cracked on the faience cup, it can already be thrown away. The components of faience are the same as those of porcelain, but in different proportions.
And the most distinctive feature of the real Gzhel, even if you do not look closely at all the smallest details, is the price. The real Gzhel of the author's work is highly artistic, unique, which cannot be cheap, another thing is factory in-line work which makes a profit. Therefore, you have to choose - either cheap or expensive with real artistic traditions.
However, most of us also need inexpensive products, but they must also have a Gzhel brand. On the bottom of the product there should be a Gzhel stamp (stamp). At the state plant "Association Gzhel" - a two-headed eagle with the inscription "Gzhel". If the work is the author's, then it has the author's mark and the name of the master artist.
If you are “fired up” to buy Gzhel dishes, think about how it will fit into your interior, you may have to change something, because Gzhel loves a blue and white frame, that is, the interior should accompany Gzhel, but it’s so beautiful.
By the way, embroidery in the style of Gzhel paintings will help create a unique atmosphere in your home.
Gzhel embroidery
In embroidery patterns reminiscent of Gzhel, plant motifs are most often used. Patterns may consist of small or large motifs, which include flowers, leaves, berries, occasionally there may be individual drawings depicting people and animals surrounded by plants.
Various stitches and stitches are used in embroidery, mainly stalk stitch, “forward needle”, stitch “by the needle”, tambour, “cross”, Vladimir stitches, which in themselves are quite diverse, and the Mstyora stitch technique is very often used - stitch with flooring, "loose".
Embroidery in one motif can be built both in one type of seam or stitch, or in combination with each other.
Gzhel does not like colors in the interior - it contains shades of blue and white, and in one embroidery, shades of blue also do not have much variety, a maximum of three blues are allowed - for example, cobalt, cornflower blue and pale blue. Sometimes white color replaces just a white canvas on which the product is embroidered, that is, white threads are not present in the embroidery itself. Gzhel is most often embroidered with floss threads, depending on the type of product and the technique of execution, the threads are taken in several additions.
Therefore, if you are far from pottery, you should not be upset, embroidered products in the Gzhel style will help you. And not only embroidery, but also bead weaving.
For those who love the blue color, Gzhel jewelry is one of the best. There may be a combination of beads or beads of blue color and white mother-of-pearl of different sizes, and white pearls in combination with blue are just a fairy tale!
Here she is Gzhel - and in pottery, and in embroidery, and in blue and white beads.
This craft got its name from the name of the village of Gzhel in the Moscow region, where it actually originated.
In the Gzhel region, starting from the 17th century, clay was widely mined. Local clay was highly valued and considered one of the best. In 1663, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich issued a decree on the extraction of clay in the Gzhel volost for the manufacture of medical vessels.
The history of fishing in Gzhel begins in the 18th century. The range of products of Gzhel masters was very large: dishes, bricks, tiles and even children's toys. Gzhel supplied Moscow with all this. Craftsmen made hundreds of thousands of clay toys a year alone. The demand for products was great.
Each master owned his own style of painting, and the product displayed his idea of the world around him. The fishery was also greatly influenced by the tastes of buyers. In the middle of the 18th century, pottery in Russia began to develop rapidly, but no one was able to compete with the Gzhel masters.
The Gzhel craft reached its highest historical flourishing at the end of the 18th century. At this time, craftsmen who made jugs, kumgans and kvass reached a special skill. The master had to have great patience and high painting skills, as it was done on an unfired product, which was covered with white enamel. In addition to dishes and clay toys, small majolica plastics were made in Gzhel. Most often these were scenes from everyday life - soldiers, peasant women, ladies and men going about their business. Everything was done in a simple and intelligible, but very expressive form.
For several decades, Gzhel craftsmen also made painted stove and fireplace tiles. The history of fishing in Gzhel can be traced by surviving samples. Products of Gzhel masters are presented in the largest museums in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Kitchen utensils - jugs, mugs, kvass, large plates, were painted by craftsmen with flowers, birds, trees and architectural structures. The drawings show an excellent understanding of their decorative purpose. Blue, green, yellow colors in brown contours were used for painting. Dishes made and painted by Gzhel craftsmen were necessarily supplemented with figures of animals or people. Jugs, kumgans, teapots became part of the plot composition. The handle of such a jar could be made in the form of a branch, and the spout in the form of a bird's head. There was no point in looking for similarities between each element of such a composition and reality, since the master embodied his vision of the world in them.
In 1802, light clay was found near the village of Minino, after which the production of semi-faience began in this region. They made jugs and kvass from it. However, these products looked rough and were short-lived due to the fragility of the material. From the second half of the twenties of the 19th century, blue colors began to prevail in Gzhel painting.
At the beginning of the 19th century, white clay suitable for making porcelain was found in the Bronnitsky district, after which the first porcelain factory was built in the village of Volodino. The founder of this factory, Pavel Kulikov, learned the secrets of porcelain production at the factory in the village of Perovo. According to evidence, in order to keep the technology of porcelain secret, Kulikov was engaged in the production himself, with the help of two potters and one worker. From this small enterprise, porcelain production in Gzhel began to develop.
In 1812, twenty-five factories for the production of porcelain tableware were already in operation. The factories of Laptev and Ivanov in the village of Kuzyaevo are especially popular. Many masters left their brand or signature on the products, so the names of the masters Kokun, Srosley, Gusyatnikov have come down to us. From porcelain, factories produced toys in the form of birds and animals, as well as figurines with scenes of Russian life. Products were covered with white glaze, on which a pattern was applied. Painters used blue, yellow, purple and brown paint, and the drawings were in folk style. Flowers, leaves, grass are the main motifs of Gzhel painting.
Over time, the demand for porcelain increased, which contributed to the growth of production. Meanwhile, the production of traditional Gzhel majolica was declining. Gradually, porcelain and faience became the basis of the Gzhel craft. The time of Gzhel's economic prosperity is coming, handicraft workshops become small factories.
The range of manufactured products is also expanding. Now, along with jugs, kumgans and dishes, they began to produce cups, milk jars, teapots, oilers, inkwells and candlesticks. All products continue to be painted with multi-color drawings. Gzhel masters complement table sets with plot sculptures. Despite competition from large porcelain factories, Gzhel's products were in demand due to the preservation of the folk character of art in it and the touching naivety of the depiction of scenes from the surrounding life.
Starting from the second half of XIX century, Gzhel painting acquires a restrained character, now only cobalt blue is used for it. Blue drawing on a white background, enhanced with golden contours - new stage development of Gzhel art. The end of the 19th century becomes the period of the highest prosperity in the history of the Gzhel craft. At this time, they are improving technological processes manufacture of earthenware and porcelain. Since the middle of the 19th century, the porcelain production of Gzhel has been concentrated in the hands of the Kuznetsov brothers. With coming Soviet power factories were nationalized and production fell into disrepair. The restoration of the Gzhel craft began only in the middle of the 20th century.
In contact with
Since Gzhel is an ancient center for the production of porcelain, earthenware and earthenware, as early as the 19th century there were attempts to link the incomprehensible name of the area with its specialization:
Politikaner, CC BY-SA 3.0They burn dishes, hence the whole production is called zhgel, a word that turned into gzhel due to the property of a commoner to rearrange consonants.
Later, when the trade became especially important and attracted a large part of the local labor force, the name of the industry was also transferred to the area most occupied by it.
Russian Handicrafts Guide, CC BY-SA 3.0 It is clear that this explanation is completely unfounded and represents a typical false etymology.
A bit of history
Gzhel has long been famous for its clay. Extensive mining of various types of clay has been carried out since the middle of the 17th century.
In 1663, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich issued a decree "to send clay suitable for apothecary vessels to the Gzhel volost for apothecary and alchemical vessels."
Messir, CC BY-SA 3.0 At the same time, for the pharmacy order, 15 carts of clay from the Gzhel volost were delivered to Moscow and
“It was ordered to keep that clay for apothecary business: and henceforth the sovereign ordered that the clay from the Gzhel volost be taken and transported to the peasants from the same volosts, how clay would be needed in the Pharmaceutical Order.”
In 1770, the Gzhel volost was entirely assigned to the Pharmaceutical order "for alchemical dishes." The great Russian scientist M. Lomonosov, who appreciated the Gzhel clays, wrote such lofty words about them:
“... There is hardly any land that is the purest and without admixture anywhere in the world, which chemists call a virgin, except between clays used for porcelain, such is our Gzhel one ... which I have never seen in whiteness superior ... "
By 1812, there were 25 factories producing dishes in Gzhel.
Russian Handicrafts Guide, CC BY-SA 3.0 Among them, the most popular were the factories of Ermil Ivanov and Laptev in the village of Kuzyaevo. According to the signatures on the remaining products of famous masters: Nikifor Semyonovich Gusyatnikov, Ivan Nikiforovich Srosley, Ivan Ivanovich Kokun.
Products
In addition to dishes, they made toys in the form of birds and animals and decorative figurines on themes from Russian life. Shiny white horses, riders, birds, dolls, miniature dishes were painted with purple, yellow, blue and brown colors in a peculiar folk style. The paints were applied with a brush. The motifs of this painting were decorative flowers, leaves, herbs.
Russian Handicrafts Guide, CC BY-SA 3.0 After 1802, when light gray clay was found near the village of Minino, the production of semi-faience arose in Gzhel, from which kvass, jugs and kumgans were made in large quantities. Since the second half of the 20s of the XIX century, many products were painted only with blue paint. Semi-faience was characterized by a rough structure and low strength.
Distinguish from fakes
Russian Handicrafts Guide, CC BY-SA 3.0 Work copyright.
Over the years, the brand name has changed its appearance. For export were products with a brand on English language.
Russian Handicrafts Guide, CC BY-SA 3.0 colored gzhel
Few people know that initially it was not blue, but multi-colored Gzhel that was typical.
Al Silonov, GNU 1.2 Such painting was practiced in the XVII-XVIII centuries. Fine drawing is distinguished by its grace. Nowadays, only a few masters master this type of Gzhel painting.
colored gzhel
Gzhel production in our time
After the collapse of the USSR, Gzhel was the only art craft enterprise in the Gzhel region. New times brought new challenges. Gzhel products appeared.
Only in the Gzhel region there were about thirty enterprises producing fakes, and about seventy in Moscow, the Moscow region and other regions of Russia. Only in recent years, several enterprises began to produce truly artistic porcelain products.
But there is still a certain confusion with the choice of products from these and other enterprises, which are still often associated with the Gzhel association itself and its trademark.
The main production centers of Gzhel:
There are several other independent enterprises, in the name of which there is the toponym "Gzhel" - "Sin Gzhel", "GzhelGrad", "Star of Gzhel", "Gzhel-Malachite".
Photo gallery
WHERE COULD I BUY?
You can view, select and purchase the best Gzhel products in the RUSSIAN CRAFTS online store.
Name meaning
The broader meaning of the name "Gzhel", which is correct from a historical and cultural point of view, is a vast area consisting of 27 villages united in the "Gzhel Bush".
It is located about 60 km from Moscow. Now the Gzhel Bush is part of the Ramensky district of the Moscow region. Before the revolution, this area belonged to the Bogorodsky and Bronnitsky counties.
Gzhel toys
Until the middle of the 18th century, Gzhel made the usual pottery for that time, made bricks, pottery pipes, tiles, as well as primitive children's toys, supplying Moscow with them.
It is believed that the number of toys produced at that time should have been in the hundreds of thousands of pieces a year.
The Secret of Porcelain
Around 1800, in the village of Volodino, Bronnitsky district, peasants, the Kulikov brothers, found the composition of a white faience mass. In the same place, around 1800-1804, the first porcelain factory was founded.
Pavel Kulikov, its founder, learned the technique of porcelain making while working at the Otto factory in the village of Perovo. Wanting to keep the secret of making porcelain, Kulikov did everything himself, having only one worker, according to legend, two potters. G. N. Khrapunov and E. G. Gusyatnikov secretly entered Kulikov’s workshop, copied a forge (a kiln for firing products) and took possession of clay samples, after which they opened their own factories.
The Kulikov factory is remarkable in that the porcelain production of Gzhel came from it.
rebirth
Only from the middle of the 20th century in Gzhel began the restoration of the craft, which recently celebrated its 670th anniversary. In the 1930s and 1940s, almost half of all porcelain and faience enterprises in Russia were concentrated here.
In the postwar years, the artist N. I. Bessarabova and the scientist A. B. Saltykov participated in the restoration of the fishery. Bessarabova is considered the founder of the modern Gzhel style.
Notable artists
N. I. Bessarabova taught her students to make “a wide stroke with tonal color transitions from dark blue to light blue, almost white” on products.
Already at that time, one could see an inscription on the products, symbolizing this or that event in the life of the country. For example, "30 years of the Komsomol" or "1948 USSR". Among the students of Bessarabova is the artist T. S. Dunashova, known for her skill in “flower painting”.
The artist N. B. Kvitnitskaya is working on the creation of sculptures of small forms: “Grandmother and granddaughters”, “Poultry”. N. B. Kvitnitskaya. "Grandmother and granddaughter"
Artist L.P. Azarova creates dishes large forms, decorating it with stucco products. For example, on the shoulders of the fermenter there are figures of roosters, ready to throw themselves at each other. The lids of the teapots are decorated with flowers. All her products, despite their beauty, retain their domestic purpose.
Distinguish from fakes
First of all, you need to pay attention to the marking, which is always applied under the enamel, which means that it cannot be erased.
It is indicated on it either the company logo of the manufacturer, or the name of the master, if Work copyright.
And, of course, even an inexperienced eye can notice the difference in the drawing: a real artist always prescribes details, uses a lot of techniques, while a few blue strokes are carelessly applied to fake products.