Formation and representation of the collection of porcelain wares of Khaita Porcelain Plant in exhibition activities of Sukachev Irkutsk Regional Art Museum

Sukachev Irkutsk Regional Art Museum started the formation of the Siberian porcelain collection in the first decades of XX century. The production of porcelain wares in Siberia began in 1869 when Perevalov Brothers' Merchant House founded the Porcelain Factory in Uzkiy Lug settlement of Irkutsk Governorate. After firing process the finest wares came out snow-white, with transparent ceramic body, and their outstanding quality was more than once acknowledged by various certificates and medals received at Russian and foreign shows. In 1920, the factory was nationalized and named The First State Factory 'Sibfarfor'. During the Great Patriotic War, the plant was renamed into Khaita Abrasive Plant. Since 1954, the plant was bringing glory to Siberian porcelain, producing it for the vast territory of Siberia and the Far East, until in the beginning of 2000s the manufacture ceased. Figuratively, we can divide the formation of Khaita porcelain collection in the Irkutsk museum into three stages. The first one covers the period of 1920-50s. At that time, the main acquisitions were the wares produced in XIX century. The largest were the transfers made in 1939 (252 items of decorative art from the plant 'Sibfarfor') and in 1949 (182 items from Khaita Abrasive Plant), which significantly enriched the collection of Irkutsk Regional Art Museum. Having become the part of the exhibition, the creations of Siberian artisans were regularly displayed on various shows since 1951. The opening of the Art laboratory at the plant in 1960 started the second stage of the formation of the porcelain collection covering the period from 1960s to 2000s. During that time, the porcelain craftsmen began to take part in different shows. The best items were selected by the museum for purchase, thus shaping the collection of works of such Khaita designers as D.A. Vorontsova, R.G. Alioshina, S.A. Fedyayev, V.P. Slastnoy, V.O. Chertkov, S.D. and V.V. Lozinskiy, L. Gening, O. Vakhrusheva, O. Kopenkina. The third stage of acquisition and presentation of Siberian porcelain collection started in 2004 when the Plant Museum (founded in 1880 by I.D. Perevalov) transferred to the Sukachev Museum almost 4500 works of applied art, made in XIX-XX centuries. The transfer included items from the assortment room, product samples brought by the plant owners from the Russian and foreign porcelain manufactures, as well as good of the Khaita plant itself. After 2004 the museum research workers started to study the history of Khaita porcelain plant. Currently, the results of this study are the following. In 2010 we won the scholarship for creation 'Museum of Siberian Porcelain' exhibition; we organized more than 15 exhibition projects presenting the works of Siberian artisans; the catalogue of items produced by the Perevalov's Plant in XIX century is at the prepress stage; and finally there is the on-going project on the restoration of porcelain iconostasis.

Keywords

Authors

References