Porcelain Plastic as a Visual Source on the Anthropology of Art (on the Example of the “Peoples of Russia” Series of the F. Gardner Factory of the 1870s–1890s)

Abstract

The article focuses on the second series of porcelain sculptures “Peoples of Russia”, released by the F. Gardner factory near Moscow in the 1870s and 1890s, which relates to one of the main directions of Russian porcelain plastic. Its graphic basis was a fundamental publication prepared by T. Pauli mainly based on materials from the Russian Geographical Society (1862).

The methodological basis of the study was cultural and historical analysis, primary visual research, and the artistic and stylistic method.

The study shows that the Gardner series of porcelain sculptures “Peoples of Russia” is an outstanding phenomenon in Russian cultural history. It has not only artistic, but educational significance, since it played an important role in maintaining the traditional identity of Russia as a multi-people state. The material of this article actualizes the importance of this visual source, which occupies a worthy place in the cultural and historical memory of Russians. The author also indicates the task of searching for the social range of the existence of porcelain plastics from the series “Peoples of Russia”, produced by the former F. Gardner factory during the “Kuznetsov” period of its existence.

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