Porcelain, earthenware, ceramics

In March 1766, the official opening of the factory took place by the Scottish merchant Francis (Franz) Gardner, who had settled in Russia. Although the production itself had been organized earlier in 1754 when the land with the village of Verbiltse belonged to Prince Nikolai Urusov. Before opening his factory, Gardner traveled extensively throughout Russia - from Solovki to Siberia, searching for special clay for porcelain. He found the best option in the already familiar Little Russia - in the Chernigov region (the so-called "Glukhovskaya"). Having resolved the issue with the raw materials, Gardner promised to flood the Empire with his own porcelain dishes in order to avoid paying for imports (such as Meissen porcelain). The organization of the factory involved Gardner's eldest son and Professor Franz Gattenberg from the University of Geneva, a foreigner who was soon called to St. Petersburg to manage the Imperial Porcelain Factory. From 1777 to 1783, four sets of orders were made for Empress Catherine II - the George, Andrew, Alexander, and Vladimir sets. They were all intended for receptions in honor of the knights of these orders. The first set was very much liked by Catherine II, and Gardner was granted an audience at the highest level. Immediately after the audience at the "top," the Moscow governor-general granted Gardner the right to put the image of the Moscow coat of arms on his products, and Prince Yusupov, the former manager of the Imperial Porcelain Factory, promised his patronage to the Scottish merchant. Gardner understood the need to develop various directions and, in parallel with exclusive production, began to develop mass production. Porcelain was originally European, as Gardner invited the first masters from the renowned Meissen. One of them was Johann Miller, who had also worked at the Imperial Porcelain Factory under the guidance of Dmitry Vinogradov. Alongside exclusive products intended for imperial palaces and homes of the highest aristocracy, Gardner, who had a natural talent for commerce, established mass production of porcelain.tableware. It was highly valued in Russia, and many people who could not afford imported Saxon porcelain willingly purchased "native" Gardner porcelain. Production had to be expanded: if in 1771 there were 70 people working at the Verbilki plant, then over the course of a decade this number doubled. Moreover, out of one and a half hundred employees, only the manager and artist were foreigners.

When Franz Gardner died, his creation was considered the best private porcelain factory in Russia. The business was continued by his heirs, particularly the factory was passed on to his eldest son Franz Franzovich, who outlived his father for a short time. Then it passed to Gardner's wife, Sarra Aleksandrovna, who was unable to manage the inheritance properly. At the beginning of the 19th century, the factory was taken over by her sons, Alexander Franzovich and Peter Franzovich, who managed to revive production.

In 1833, the factory began producing faience tableware, and in the 1840s - opak (the highest grade of faience). Gardner porcelain became the benchmark for other private Russian factories.

In 1829, on the First Industrial Exhibition, the factory was awarded a gold medal, and in 1855, the emperor expressed special gratitude and the honorary right to place the image of the now state double-headed eagle on the products. In the Russian Empire, this was the equivalent of a quality mark. The right to use the State coat of arms of Russia on products from "Manufacturers Gardner" was confirmed in 1865, 1872, 1882, and 1896. Since 1856, the "Manufacturers Gardner" factory has held the title of "Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty".

In the mid-1850s, the factory was passed on to Vladimir Petrovich and Alexander Petrovich, the grandsons of Franz Gardner. Then, by the end of the 19th century, the owner became the wife of the third brother, Pavel Petrovich, Elizaveta Nikolaevna Gardner, who eventually sold the factory.

However, in the second half of the 19th century, the artistic level of the factory's products declined. There was an excess of standardized painting techniques, the introduction of transfer pictures (decals) with reproductions of salon paintings, and thCommercial success leads to the decline of plastic and decorative culture. Some originality is preserved only in "Eastern" (for Central Asia) and "tavern" dishes with bright festive painting and individual exhibition products, made according to the sketches of artists. Among other possible reasons: the worsening of relations with Britain after the Crimean War (during this period, arrests were imposed on the property of "British subjects") and the inability of the Gardner heirs to "adapt" to the specifics of the domestic business. In the mid-1880s, the factory with 777 workers produced porcelain products worth 208 thousand rubles.