Gift to the museum from Victoria Chernenko - porcelain animalistic sculptures

The associate professor of the Department of Museology of Faculty of History of Art RSUH, the head of scientific and exposition department of the Vernadsky State Geological Museum, the candidate of geological and mineralogical sciences, the full member of the Academy of Mining Sciences Victoria Viktorovna Chernenko has donated to the museum porcelain animalistic sculptures produced by the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory and Porcelain Manufactory "Unterweissbah".

The porcelain manufactory "Unterweissbach" was founded in 1880 in Germany in the city of Unterweissbach (Thuringia). From 1936 to 1953 the factory had been passed from one owner to another until it was nationalized. The antique porcelain produced at the factory has become widely known in many European countries within a few years. Unterweissbach porcelain figurines were especially popular: the craftsmen mainly created figures of animals and birds.

The sculpture "Dove" belongs to the authorship of Eduard Krimmer (1900-1974) - the outstanding artist of universal talent. He was one of the first artists of applied arts to receive the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1967) and to become the laureate of the State Prize named after I.E. Repin. From 1948 to 1951 Krimmer worked as an artist at the Leningrad Art Glass Factory. From 1949 to 1974 he worked as a sculptor at the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory and has developed new forms. On his own forms he created thematic and ornamental paintings.

Nikolai Muratov (1908-1992) was a sculptor, a graphic artist, an illustrator. In 1934 he graduated from the Leningrad Art School. Since 1938 he was the member of the Leningrad Union of Artists. His teachers were the best artists of the Leningrad school: N.E. Radlov, N.A. Tyrsa, Y.A. Vasnetsov, E.I. Charushin. In 1949, Muratov began to collaborate with the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory, where he created a series of small animalistic sculptures. 

Unknown author. Scottish Terrier. Porcelain manufactory "Unterweissbach". 1960s. Porcelain, painting

E.M. Krimmer. Dove. Lomonosov Porcelain Factory. 1966. Porcelain, underglaze painting

N.E. Muratov. Squirrel. (1954). Puppy. (1954). Bunny. (1949). Lomonosov Porcelain Factory. Porcelain, underglaze painting