A series of porcelain items “Novgorod Souvenirs” reproduced famous city sights. Even though these table sculptures had no practical application, they were quite popular: tourists brought them as souvenirs of their trips to Novgorod, and locals bought them to decorate their homes and give as presents to their guests.
The exhibition “Museum Porcelain Workshop” displays a miniature replica of the Novgorod Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Kozhevniki, which was built in 1406. This event is mentioned in the chronicle, “The three churches were set up: Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist in the Rostkin Monastery, St. Peter and St. Paul church in the Nerevsky End and Church of St. Nicetas in the Plotnitsky End.” There used to be a wooden church on that site — it was built in 1227 and later destroyed by fire. The new church was built of large stones and limestone; the decorative elements on the facades were made of brick.
The porcelain statuette was an exact architectural copy of the Church of Peter and Paul: when viewed from above, the cross-domed temple was square, and in its center, four pillars supported the structure and divided the area into nine equal cells. The builders placed a dome over the central section. The austere forms were supported by the exterior walls, which were not plastered.
The upper part of the facades had an ornament drawn on the bricks — the artisans of the porcelain factory “Proletary” reproduced it on the statuette. The patterns consisted of strips of triangular indentations called “begunets”. They alternated with round and pentagonal recesses, rosettes, and sawtooth courses of bricks. The apse, the lowered ledge of the building, was decorated with vertical semicircular volumetric friezes and arches. Some parts of the pattern could be traced on earlier monuments of the Novgorod architecture in the mid-14th century.
In the 20th century, the Church of Peter and Paul in Kozhevniki was almost completely destroyed. In the 1930s, the bell tower was demolished, and during the Great Patriotic War, the main part of the church was damaged. The building stayed in the dilapidated state for a long time, and the restoration works started only in 1959. The Novgorod architects Lyubov Shulyak and Grigory Stender supervised the restoration process.
The exhibition “Museum Porcelain Workshop” displays a miniature replica of the Novgorod Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Kozhevniki, which was built in 1406. This event is mentioned in the chronicle, “The three churches were set up: Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist in the Rostkin Monastery, St. Peter and St. Paul church in the Nerevsky End and Church of St. Nicetas in the Plotnitsky End.” There used to be a wooden church on that site — it was built in 1227 and later destroyed by fire. The new church was built of large stones and limestone; the decorative elements on the facades were made of brick.
The porcelain statuette was an exact architectural copy of the Church of Peter and Paul: when viewed from above, the cross-domed temple was square, and in its center, four pillars supported the structure and divided the area into nine equal cells. The builders placed a dome over the central section. The austere forms were supported by the exterior walls, which were not plastered.
The upper part of the facades had an ornament drawn on the bricks — the artisans of the porcelain factory “Proletary” reproduced it on the statuette. The patterns consisted of strips of triangular indentations called “begunets”. They alternated with round and pentagonal recesses, rosettes, and sawtooth courses of bricks. The apse, the lowered ledge of the building, was decorated with vertical semicircular volumetric friezes and arches. Some parts of the pattern could be traced on earlier monuments of the Novgorod architecture in the mid-14th century.
In the 20th century, the Church of Peter and Paul in Kozhevniki was almost completely destroyed. In the 1930s, the bell tower was demolished, and during the Great Patriotic War, the main part of the church was damaged. The building stayed in the dilapidated state for a long time, and the restoration works started only in 1959. The Novgorod architects Lyubov Shulyak and Grigory Stender supervised the restoration process.
