A soup tureen has always been considered the centerpiece of the festive table, although it is not an essential item. Nevertheless, even the most ordinary dinner becomes festive thanks to this piece of tableware. The tureens first appeared in the 17-18th centuries in France. At that time, serving process was much more important than the food itself. The way of serving food in tureens turned out quite comfortable and over the time this type of tableware became mandatory in all European rich people’s houses.
Following the fashion of the French elite, Russian aristocrats also started to use tureens, produced by the Imperial Porcelain Factory and enterprises of the industrialist Matvey Kuznetsov. There is a tureen of “Kuznetsov faience” in the museum collection.
Continuing his family business, Matvey Kuznetsov opened a branch of his factory in 1847 in Riga where porcelain was produced. It is no coincidence that the industrialist chose that place as it was profitable due to the opportunity to transport goods by sea to different countries. In 1870 there was another momentous event: the company bought the Auerbach faience factory in 1870, one of the best in Russia.
With his business ingenuity Kuznetsov continued his family business and advanced the company: he merged eighteen of his own companies, including eight porcelain and faience factories, and created “M. S. Kuznetsov”s Partnership for the Production of Porcelain and Earthenware Products”. In 1872 Kuznetsov gained the right to put the State Emblem on his porcelain, and in 1902 he was awarded the title “Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty”. The stamp of the period of the partnership crowns the bottom of the tureen from the museum’s collection.
Initially, the tableware from this collection belonged to Izmail Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, the scientist’s youngest son, geographer, botanist, social activist and statesman. He lived in the same house on Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg, where his father lived from 1861 to 1914. Tableware, among other family things, were inherited: from Izmail Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky to his daughter Olga Korolkova, a Soviet chess player. The tureen was given to the museum collection by his great-granddaughter Nadezhda Korolkova.
Following the fashion of the French elite, Russian aristocrats also started to use tureens, produced by the Imperial Porcelain Factory and enterprises of the industrialist Matvey Kuznetsov. There is a tureen of “Kuznetsov faience” in the museum collection.
Continuing his family business, Matvey Kuznetsov opened a branch of his factory in 1847 in Riga where porcelain was produced. It is no coincidence that the industrialist chose that place as it was profitable due to the opportunity to transport goods by sea to different countries. In 1870 there was another momentous event: the company bought the Auerbach faience factory in 1870, one of the best in Russia.
With his business ingenuity Kuznetsov continued his family business and advanced the company: he merged eighteen of his own companies, including eight porcelain and faience factories, and created “M. S. Kuznetsov”s Partnership for the Production of Porcelain and Earthenware Products”. In 1872 Kuznetsov gained the right to put the State Emblem on his porcelain, and in 1902 he was awarded the title “Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty”. The stamp of the period of the partnership crowns the bottom of the tureen from the museum’s collection.
Initially, the tableware from this collection belonged to Izmail Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, the scientist’s youngest son, geographer, botanist, social activist and statesman. He lived in the same house on Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg, where his father lived from 1861 to 1914. Tableware, among other family things, were inherited: from Izmail Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky to his daughter Olga Korolkova, a Soviet chess player. The tureen was given to the museum collection by his great-granddaughter Nadezhda Korolkova.
