Unique vase "Cosmos"

Unique vase created by the legendary V. A. Filatov

The "Cosmos" vase (1956) was created by V. A. Filatov and was given to the First Cosmonaut - Y. A. Gagarin, during the presentation of the state award to him, a pilot-astronaut of the USSR, in honor of the first human flight into space on April 12, 1961.

This is an original piece, preserved by the family of Y. A. Gagarin. It has historical and cultural value.

Only one authentic copy was made and later (in 1963) another copy was made for the Crystal Museum in Gusev (Identification number B-30000/2989, Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve).

VLADIMIR ALEKSANDROVICH FILATOV - a member of the Artists' Union of the USSR (1963), honored artist of the RSFSR, winner of the State Prize named after I.E. Repin.

V. A. Filatov worked on pieces using diamond cutting technique. The decorative basis of the artwork is a magnified diamond cut with a strict rhythmic pattern, organically merged with large ceremonial forms. Filatov developed a tendency in his works to create exquisite engraved crystal pieces, made in unique editions: dishes "Sea" (1960) and "Lace" (1967); vases "Cypress" (1961), "February" (1971), "Olympia", "Summer"; vase and dish "Golden Nuggets" (1967); bowls "Spring" (1967), "Russia" (1969); decorative sets "May Lace" (1971), "Requiem", and others.

Vladimir Aleksandrovich also created a series of pieces in the gut technique: decorative set "We are Mesherians" (1968), vase "Southern" and others. Since 1966, V. A. Filatov has participated in many domestic and international art and art-industrial exhibitions, including EXPO-67 in Montreal and EXPO-70 in Osaka. Awarded the bronze medal of VDNKh in 1961.

The "Cosmos" vase is remarkable in many ways. Its form has no analogy. It is even difficult to call it a vase. The artist intentionally makes it look unstable, fragmented. It seems like a shard of a vase. This in itself evokes a sense of unusualness. And is the flight of a human into space a common phenomenon? However, the author does not stop there. He carefully thought out the form and made it expressive. The sharp rays radiating from the center symbolize the aspiration upwards. And what a sharp surge is expressed in the central ray, sharply rising up! The complex color, golden-fiery in thin layers and honey-tea in dense ones, also conveys a sense of movement, swift impulse.