Unique vase "Cosmos"

Unique vase by the legendary V. A. Filatov

The vase "Cosmos" (1956) was created by V. A. Filatov and was presented to the First Hero of Space – Yuri A. Gagarin, during the ceremony of awarding him the state honor as a pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, in honor of the first human spaceflight on April 12, 1961.

This is the original, from the collection of the family of Yuri A. Gagarin. Historical and cultural value.

Only one authentic piece was made, and later (in 1963) another copy was produced for the Crystal Museum in the city of Gus-Khrustalny (Identification number V-30000/2989, State Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve).

VLADIMIR ALEKSANDROVICH FILATOV – member of the Union of Artists of the USSR (1963), Honored Artist of the RSFSR, Laureate of the State Prize named after I.E. Repin.

V. A. Filatov worked on items using the diamond facet technique. The figurative basis of the decoration of his works is the enlarged diamond facet with a strictly rhythmic pattern, organically merged with large, solemn forms. Filatov developed in his works a tendency to create exquisite engraved crystal pieces, made as unique items: the dishes "Sea" (1960) and "Lace" (1967); vases "Cypress" (1961), "February" (1971), "Olympia," "Summer"; the vase and dish "Golden Scatterings" (1967); bowls "Spring" (1967), "Russia" (1969); decorative sets "May Lace" (1971), "Requiem," and others.

Vladimir Alexandrovich also created a number of works in the glassblowing technique: the decorative set "We, the Meshchera" (1968), the vase "Southern," and others. Since 1966, V. A. Filatov has participated in many domestic and international art and industrial art exhibitions, including EXPO-67 in Montreal and EXPO-70 in Osaka. He was awarded the bronze medal of VDNH in 1961.

The vase "Cosmos" is remarkable in many respects. Its shape has no analogy. It is even difficult to call it a vase. The artist deliberately makes it appear unstable, fragmentary. Before us is as if a shard from a vase. This in itself already evokes a sense of uniqueness. And is the flight of a human into space an ordinary event? However, the author does not stop there. He carefully thought out the form and made it expressive. Sharp rays radiating from the center symbolize the aspiration upwards. And what a sharp impulse is expressed in the central ray, steeply rising upward! The complex color, golden-fiery in thin layers and honey-tea in denser ones, also conveys a sense of movement, a swift surge.