GARDNER - RUSSIAN PORCELAIN FIGURINE of PLIUSHKIN from SOTHEBY's
A Russian porcelain figurine of Pliushkin from Gogals 'Dead Souls'. Gardner porcelain factory, Verbilki, Moscow, 1870-1890.
Depicted standing upright, dressed in a black trench coat, matching gray scarf and hat, with his hands in his pockets and hunched over, on a circular naturalistic base.
Impressed factory mark and incised 25 under base.
PROVENANCE: Sotheby's, London, 2 December, 2020, lot 272 - please see the screenshots.
The item is acquired at the above by the current owner.
CONDITION: The figurine appears in a very good original condition. Scattered firing imperfections. Inspection under UV shows NO apparent signs of restoration or repairs. The item is described to the best of our knowledge. Please refer to pictures and email with any questions.
DIMENSIONS: 23 cm (9 inches).
ESTIMATE PRICE: $1,000 - $5,000.
CHANCE: You have a GREAT CHANCE to purchase a unique item for your collection - over the years it will only INCREASE in price.
HISTORY of SALES: A few years ago Gardner's Russian porcelain figurines of Pliushkin from Gogals 'Dead Souls' were sold on Live Auctioneer, Sotheby's and Christie's for $3,750, $6,281 and $13,750 - please see the screenshots.
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HISTORY: Gardner Factory Russian Porcelain founded at Verbilki, near Moscow, by the Englishman Francis Gardner in 1766, and known for its hard paste porcelains, the Gardner factory served as important competition for the Imperial Porcelain Factory, spurring artists at both institutions to produce more complicated wares in terms of both form and decoration. One of two porcelain works in Russia during the 18th century, The factory was situated in the Gjelsk region where local clay, which proved suitable for porcelain, could be used. Gardner started with a German manager called Gattenberg, who later joined the Imperial Factory, and he employed a well-known German painter, Kestner. But these and other foreigners taught many Russian craftsmen, principally serfs, who gradually replaced them, as soon as they had mastered the various techniques; so that the number of foreigners employed in key positions steadily diminished in course of time. The factory was operated by the family for three generations until 1891, when it was taken over by Kusnetzoff. The Gardner Factory made lesser quality wares for export and higher quality pieces for the capital trade. In 1777 the Empress Catherine teh Great commissioned the Gardner Factory to produce four dessert services for the receptions held in the Winter Palace. Each service included plates, round and long leaf-shaped dishes, baskets of various sizes for fruit, and a variety of ice cups. Among its other notable works were colored figurines of Russian subjects in unglazed biscuit porcelain. Gardner porcelain had a wide variety of marks in the 140 years of its existence. Different shapes of the Latin letter G, painted underglaze in blue or black, were most frequent in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Occasionally the mark is similar to the Meissen crossed swords with a star. In the first quarter of the nineteenth century the full name of the factory, impressed either in Cyrillic or Latin characters, becomes more frequent. In the second half of the nineteenth century the mark is usually the Moscow St George and Dragon crest, surrounded by a circle, bearing the full name of the factory, at first impressed, and later painted in green or red. In the last decades of the factory's existence the double-headed eagle was added to the design, and this elaborate mark continued after the Gardner firm had been absorbed by Kuznetsov.

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