The vase was made according to the design of Alexander Stepanovich Kaminsky. Kuznetsov Factory.

Lot № 15993 16 Feb 2026

1 192 000₽

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Specifications

Section: Porcelain
Manufacturer: Kuznetsova M.S. society
Kind: Vases

Description

An important polychrome clay vase in the Neo-Russian art style, decorated with two griffins—the emblem of the Romanovs—forming the side handles, adorned with relief multicolored friezes featuring stylized seed pods inlaid with ivy leaf motifs, framed by pearl friezes. The upper rim is decorated with eight-pointed stars. The griffins are embellished with imitation feathers, adorned with spirals, and their tails are decorated with geometric patterns in shades of yellow and green-turquoise. The entire piece rests on a four-lobed base made of brown clay. Manufacturer: KUZNETSOV, Dulevo (Moscow region), circa 1890. The manufacturer's mark is found under the base in Cyrillic and numbers. Height 32.5 cm, diameter 17.5 cm. History This vase was made after a design by Alexander Stepanovich KAMINSKY (1829–1897), a Moscow architect and artist, professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, and brother-in-law of P.M. Tretyakov. Kaminsky was engaged in designing decorative objects in the "Russian" style, as he himself called it. This vase with griffins is one of his projects, developed around 1880. The first vase of this design was made by Semyon Ivanovich MASLENNIKOV, a talented engineer, ceramist, and owner of a clay factory in the Tver region since 1879. In 1882, at the All-Russian Exhibition of Art and Industry in Moscow, experts recognized Maslennikov's clayware as "a rich part of Russian art and national industry." Most likely, the griffin vase, which existed at that time as a unique piece, was presented there. Kaminsky’s model was adopted several years later by the famous porcelain factory of M.S. Kuznetsov, where Maslennikov joined in 1889 after selling his factory in Tver. He brought with him samples and sketches of his previous clay products, including the vase with griffins. A copy of the latter, made by Kuznetsov, adorned the fireplace of the famous Russian dining room in M.S. Kuznetsov’s house in Moscow, at 1 Meshchanskaya Street. In the early 1890s, the factory released a small series of this vase for public sale. Contemporaries testified: "The originality and beauty of the items in the Russian style based on Kaminsky’s sketches are so high that there is nothing like them in all of Russia (...) Kuznetsov managed to match the clayware of Mr. Maslennikov..." Related works - An identical vase is preserved in the collection of the State Historical Museum in Moscow (No. 112833). - A vase of a similar style was presented at the Russian Art auction at Sotheby’s on November 30, 2016, lot 126A (sold for £34,449). (Restoration on the base, the lower jaw, and the crest of the chimeras).

The vase was made according to the design of Alexander Stepanovich Kaminsky. Kuznetsov Factory.

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