Gzhel: Fine Porcelain from Russia

Gzhel is a place sixty kilometres from Moscow, famed as a place of natural beauty and as a seat of renowned pottery manufactures of six centuries’ standing. Known throughout the world, the word gzhel has ample undertones of beauty, harmony and a reality intermingled with magic. The festive blue-patterned porcelain and multi-colored delftware of Gzhel is loved by connoisseurs in all countries due to its makers’ exquisite taste, daring imagination and excellent craftsmanship.

The cradle and main contemporary center of Russian artistic pottery, Gzhel gave its mother country the best achievements of this craft. Archaeological excavations prove that folk pottery thrived here even in the 14th century. Artistic craftsmen could not find a better place than this, with its luscious woods, crystal clear rivers and superb clay. " Nowhere did I see a clay whiter than this," exclaimed a medieval chronicler.

Gzhel had its ups and downs throughout its long life. For several centuries it remained a modest seat of peasant craftsmen who made stove and roof tiles and cheap household crockery. The latter half of the eighteenth century made it famous for majolica’s of colored clay with polychrome paintings against white glaze. The 19th century came with new locally invented know-how as the craft evolved from semi-faience to faience and later porcelain. Of special interest were items painted in deep-blue under a transparent glaze, all details etched with a refined precision. Many factories, big and small, engaged in the trade. The end of the century and the start of the 20th brought a desperate crisis. The craft seemed doomed.

The time after the Second World War brought the spectacular revival as artists ventured on a quest for new imagery. Years of painstaking work, during which a generation of innovators was trained, brought Gzhel to a new deserved success.

Now Gzhel is at another peak of renown. Designers and potters lovingly preserve traditional shapes and decor, notable for their folk features. All patterns are hand-made, as before, so every item is a work of art on its own. Still, contemporary samples are easy to tell from nineteenth century antecedents, with a modern treatment of profoundly studied folk motifs, and latter day techniques.

Unprecedented genre paintings appear on china. The assortment grew with new shapes and patterns. Now Gzhel produces tea, coffee and dinner services;, samovars, vases, candlesticks, clocks, lamps, statuettes and many other items in an annual total exceeding 2500 varieties.

Many potters, sculptors and painters descend from generations of local craftsmen. A galaxy of new masters appeared within this decade. Vessels and figurines bearing their names are gems of the most ambitious collections. The youngest masters lovingly preserve old traditions, and enrich this precious heritage with their own finds.

Gzhel is a main center of esthetic education, which encourages children’s innate gifts. Starting at playschool, their work goes on to school and college. Local children honorably participated in exhibitions in Germany, Britain, the United States, Italy and other countries.

In 1994, Gzhel became an honored member of the International Guild of Handicrafts. A glorious future lies ahead of this evergreen art as the world gets tired of mass production and thirsts for hand made things of beauty. They will be in ever greater demand as technical civilization makes further progress. . . .