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Gzhel Ceramics

 

 

General History:

Until the late 18^th century, the ancient village of Gzhel was primarily known for producing enameled pottery and toys. Their reputation began to change during the early 1700s when, in an attempt to create porcelain-like paste, Gzhel craftspeople created the formula for majolica. Though porcelain was discovered in 1747, Gzhel craftsmen would not learn how to produce porcelain until the early 19th century.  To satisfy their quest, Gzhel craftsmen would provoke tales of broken trade secrets and factory break-ins.

 

During the 18th century, porcelain was so valued that only the famous Gardner Factory and Imperial Porcelain Factory knew its formula. However, when a Gardner Factory worker, Pavel Kulikov, set up his own shop in 1802, porcelain glaze samples were quickly stolen from his workshop (and the furnace sketched as well). Shortly afterward, Gzhel workshops began producing the same high-quality porcelain Kulikov had made. Indeed, it was not uncommon for workshops to purchase from their competitors in order to repaint and market these wares under their own trademark.

 

However, Gzhel craftsmen remained focused upon producing majolica, semi-faience, and faience wares.  In the early 1800s, Gzhel manufacturers produced highly creative art objects from expensive majolica.  Once semi-faience was introduced, manufacturers began producing dinnerware imitating Delft China.  When pure faience became available, Gzhel manufacturers settled on mass-producing inexpensive ceramic ware for the middle class.  As the century progressed, manufacturing decisions were increasingly being determined by competitive need. By the 1860s, cutthroat competition had led many leading Gzhel factories to close their doors. As the century came to a close, only expensive porcelain registered any artistic merit at all.

 

Though World War I and the Russia’s Civil War worsened the situation, the craft was given a temporary reprieve from a government decree signed by Lenin. By the 1920s, Gzhel potteries had begun a slow comeback by first organizing into cooperatives (known as artels). In 1936, a new cooperative (Khudozhestvenaya Keramika or ‘Artistic Ceramics’) was organized in Turygino (where Gzhel ware is currently produced). However, the craftsmen’s products (statuettes, tableware, vases, and toys) were artistically inferior to what had been produced in the past. Many products had little in common with what was produced in the previous century.

Attempts to revive the Gzhel tradition began to occur after World War II. Historians, artists and state production engineers came together to research Gzhel's secrets. Among them was a Gzhel historian named Alexander Saltykov.  By carefully studying Gzhel collections, he created a glossary of Gzhel brushstrokes and decorative methods. Once guesswork, the study helped ceramic workshops reassemble Gzhel production techniques. At the same time, laboratory research reestablished the formula Gzhel craftsmen used for majolica.

To help train local potters, Saltykov turned to Natalya Bessarabova, an interior decorator and co-worker. Together, they reintroduced old folk painting techniques. During the 1960s and ‘70’s, Gzhel became more decorative and original ideas came to the forefront. Since then, the artistic variation in Gzhel ware has increased and the design itself has become more sophisticated.

 

Though contemporary Gzhel is highly eclectic, the traditional blue-on-white "Gzhel Rose" motif remains a constant. Similar to a stylized tulip, the "Gzhel Rose" takes several different forms, allowing for individual style while retaining traditional design. Though individual style has indeed become highly expressive in the last few decades, today’s Gzhel production can be traced from the same decorative techniques and motifs employed during the 19^th century. The many Gzhel artists who study their predecessor’s brushwork and design intentions best express this continuity.

 

By revisiting its history, Gzhel artists produced contemporary ceramic ware both distinct and uniquely competitive with the best European ceramic ware available. Its artistic originality makes it a uniquely Russian folk art that is known throughout the world.

 

 

Design
Early porcelain ware emphasized nature and floral motifs (flower garlands, rosettes, fruit baskets).  Several commonly portray a stylized rose set among colorful foliage in a bouquet.  In contrast, later porcelain wares would reflect the popular designs of famous battles (1812 French invasion, Crimean War), Russian landscapes, St. Petersburg monuments, and genre/ everyday life scenes.

 

During the early 1800s, Gzhel craftsman took much of their inspiration from the internationally known Gardner and Popov factories. Accordingly, they produced Empire-style china painted in cobalt blue and gold.  By the 1840s, Gzhel craftsmen had transitioned toward the then-popular Rococo style, employing relief element, rocaille scrollwork, and naturalistic painting. At the same time, Gzhel china reveals occassional Gothic revival style elements. By the 1850s, Gzhel china had become increasingly diverse in form and decoration.

 

 

 Porcelain Production Process

The first step towards producing gzhel china is producing a simple pencil sketch, a prerequisite for modeling the item in plasticine (the prerequisite step for producing a plaster model). Here, a potter’s wheel is used in conjunction with a steel cutter (resting on a wooden support) to clear excess plaster from the model. Once completed, a bi-sectional plaster mould is created and greased to hold the model. Sprayers are used to fill the work-mould with viscous china paste. When this paste soaks through the molding’s walls, the paste solidifies to the mould’s shape. The molded shape is a smoothed and any separate handle or additions are added. After drying, the item is enclosed in a protective encasement and fired (between 800 and 950 degrees C) in a kiln.

The painting is applied after the first firing. Because the painting is quickly absorbed (leaving little room for mistakes), powdered tracing with pounce is used to outline the design. When finished, the article is glazed and once again enclosed in a protective encasement for a second firing (1350 degrees C). The second firing fuses the glaze to the item and producing a blue color in the painting.

Gzhel complex trademark, a triangle enclosing a duck drawing with the word Gzhel, is printed on the bottom. Note: before 1972, “X” and “K” were used to designate the “Khudozhestvennaya Keramika”.

 

Majolica (1724-1810)

In 1724, Afanasy Grebenshchikov set up the first privately-owned ceramics factory near Gzhel. Along with local potters, he was the first to begin producing majolica, tableware and figurines displaying colorful peasant art. Unfortunately for Grebenshchikov, these same workers began copying his techniques for their own pottery. Without recourse, the merchant attempted to make his peasant workers serfs once again. In testament to this failure, several workshops in the Gzhel area were producing the highly sought majolica by mid-century. Majolica pottery would reach its peak by the 1780s.

 

Peasant craftsmen were keen to adorn their majolica with curved legs and/or relief scrolls, borrowing a uniquely baroque style of molding. If figurines were attached to these pitchers, they would likely represent characters involved in fighting scenes, work activities, tea parties, or other scenes taken from lubki. Majolica's popularity peaked during the late 18th century. By then, potters were seeking to create a more durable ceramic (majolica was fragile and hard to work with). Their quest would lead them to produce semi-faience by the early 1800s.

 

 

Semi-Faience (1820-1870)

In a bid to replace majolica, Gzhel craftsmen sought to replicate English faience by creating a semi-faience formula made from local clay. This clay, porous and white after firing, did not require coating with a white enamel shell before adding the design. Once fired, the craftsmen could paint, glaze, and fire again. Its trademark semi-transparent blue design, easily confused at first glance with Delft china, can be easily fired as an underglaze. These cream-colored artifacts are nearly all jugs and pitchers.

 

Unlike their majolica, Gzhel artists hand-painted their semi-faience with floral motifs (garlands, tendrils, and blossoms) and geometric designs in a free, flowing style. On the vase’s round, floral designs are displayed within horizontal parallel lines, not unlike a frieze.  Hatching strokes may be displayed to accent the object’s roundness. And though not multicolored, semi-faience displays several gradations of any singular color (blue being the most common).

 

Among semi-faience creations, Kumgans and Kvassniks, uniquely-shaped spherical and disc-shaped pitchers, are especially imaginative. Originally produced in majolica, their shapes continued to evolve until the mid-19^th century. Though the semi-faience kumgan is monochromatic, it is deliberately decorated to accent object shape. As in majolica, several pitchers are notable for displaying their production date on the front in large, bold letters. Eventually, semi-faience would be superceded by more affordable fine faience. Unfortunately, fine faience was mass-produced with stamped designs, leaving little room for artistic originality.

 

 

Faience (1830-1870)

After creating semi-faience in the early 1830s, the peasant Afanasy Kiselyov, along with the Terekhov brothers, created an inexpensive, cream-colored faience. By the 1840s, more than thirty establishments were producing faience. However, affordability coupled with high demand meant mass production, a process that compelled Gzhel factories to employ transfer printing. Though transfer printing’s introduction continued to further depreciate Gzhel’s already declining reputation, these highly detailed, monochromatic designs were attractive in their own right.

 

Style Variations

Gzhel faience was produced in many diverse styles. Early faience was painted in the then-common Empire Style. In contrast, later faience designs came to resemble woodcuts or lubok broadsides (much like majolica). More commonly, Gzhel faience depicted a stylized Russian landscape displaying somewhat realistic depth.  Unfortunately, such faience came to heavily resemble imported earthenware from England (Indeed, many landscape designs were borrowed from imported English earthenware and slightly modified!). Accordingly, Gzhel faience came to be known as the "Russian Staffordshire".

 

Shortly after its inception, faience became a daily use item. Unlike most semi-faience, faience’ shape and size were determined by its tableware function. For a short time before its decline however, Gzhel factories produced high-end earthenware with a blue tint known as pearl ware. Unfortunately, the emancipation of low-wage serfs (1861) led to a highly competitive environment among Gzhel manufacturers. The drive toward cost cutting and expansion ultimately extinguished any faience that was artistically worthwhile. Nevertheless, these ceramic factories achieved what they had sought, quickly boosting production and gaining revenues.

 Artists
Natalia Bessarabova
Liudmila Azarova
Tatyana Dunashova
Nina Kvitnitskaya
Zinaida Okulova
Iraida Khazova


Bibliography.
Dul'kina, T.I. Gzhel:Keramika 18-19 vekov: Keramika 20 veka.Planeta. Moscow. 1982.
Vasilyev, Igor. Gzhel Pottery. Aurora Art Publ. Leningrad, 1987.