Right after the opening of the Crafts Museum in 1882, one of its main activities was to promote the sale of handicrafts. Almost simultaneously with the opening, a warehouse was created at the museum, which accepted products from artisans for commission sale. Later, philanthropist Sergei Morozov proposed and implemented several measures to develop the museum and to expand sales: a system of orders according to the catalog-price list was introduced, lending to artisans was organized and the supply of materials through the museum was organized. In 1903, Morozov funded a new museum building designed by architect Sergei Solovyov in Leontievsky Lane.
In 1911, a wing was added to the three-story building, which housed a shop. The shop was opened in a vast space on the first floor of the new building, which quickly became popular among Muscovites. During the period of its dynamism at the beginning of the 20th century, the creative team of the museum was faced with the task of not just recreating old peasant furniture, relying on the best examples of folk art, but making modernized, comfortable, functional items that correspond to fashion trends and are in demand by customers.
The project’s focus on sales and the practical dissemination of the Russian style in the interior bore fruit — the Russian style was gaining popularity among both domestic and foreign clients. In the 1900s, the museum was a regular participant in international exhibitions. The Russian craftsmen acquired customers from Europe and America. European artists even began to create “replicas” of things in the Russian style. The exposition features a carved frieze — one of the elements of the store’s interior decoration — reminiscent of the traditional decoration of a peasant house, a patterned frontal board that separated the frame from the pediment (part of the front wall of the house between the two roof slopes). In the center of the frontal board, the date, sometimes the name of the master, often a flowerpot or tree could be depicted. On either side of it were lions, mermaids or sirens (birds of paradise with female heads).
In 1911, a wing was added to the three-story building, which housed a shop. The shop was opened in a vast space on the first floor of the new building, which quickly became popular among Muscovites. During the period of its dynamism at the beginning of the 20th century, the creative team of the museum was faced with the task of not just recreating old peasant furniture, relying on the best examples of folk art, but making modernized, comfortable, functional items that correspond to fashion trends and are in demand by customers.
The project’s focus on sales and the practical dissemination of the Russian style in the interior bore fruit — the Russian style was gaining popularity among both domestic and foreign clients. In the 1900s, the museum was a regular participant in international exhibitions. The Russian craftsmen acquired customers from Europe and America. European artists even began to create “replicas” of things in the Russian style. The exposition features a carved frieze — one of the elements of the store’s interior decoration — reminiscent of the traditional decoration of a peasant house, a patterned frontal board that separated the frame from the pediment (part of the front wall of the house between the two roof slopes). In the center of the frontal board, the date, sometimes the name of the master, often a flowerpot or tree could be depicted. On either side of it were lions, mermaids or sirens (birds of paradise with female heads).
