In the 19th century Russia, the theater played a very important role. It fascinated audiences with ballets and operas, entertained them with light-hearted vaudeville acts, and sometimes even made them reflect on the greatest existential problems. Theater celebrities had many fans and were often portrayed on household items. Such articles were sold at the Gostiny Dvor shops in Saint Petersburg. The Museum of Theater and Music houses several peculiar souvenir stoppers which represent miniature sculptural portraits of popular 19th-century theatrical personalities.

A well-preserved example of this is a stopper portraying the popular actor Pyotr Karatygin. He was famous for the vaudeville roles that he performed in his own plays. Many of his witticisms were adopted by Saint Petersburg citizens, numerous anecdotes were told about his smart comebacks and impromptu speeches.

Pyotr Karatygin was born in 1805 to a theatrical family. Both of his parents were professional actors from the school of Ivan Dmitrevsky. His older brother Vasily Karatygin was also an actor and later became the leading tragic of the Alexandrinsky Theater.

Unlike his brother, Pyotr Karatygin was more interested in comedic and vaudeville roles. In 1831, he acted in the first production of Alexander Griboyedov’s “Woe from Wit” at the Alexandrinsky Theater. His part as Zagoretsky laid the foundation for his success.

Pyotr Karatygin performed many character roles, including Zamukhryshkin in “The Gamblers” by Nikolai Gogol, von Funk in “The Bachelor” by Ivan Turgenev, and Hofmarschall in the drama “Intrigue and Love” by Friedrich Schiller.

Critics commented that Karatygin’s talent was best revealed in his vaudeville parts. “His talent is one-sided, not fit for a variety of roles, but still quite remarkable, ” said the acknowledged publicist Vissarion Belinsky. Soon Karatygin started to contribute to the vaudeville genre as a writer.

He wrote such vaudeville acts as “The Eccentric Dead Man, or the Mysterious Box, ” “The House on the Petersburg Side, ” “The Bakery, ” “The First Balcony Box, ” and “The New Samiel” and participated in their stage productions. In total, Karatygin wrote and translated from French over 70 plays.