The Miklashevsky Porcelain Factory is one of the amazing and original phenomena in the decorative and applied arts of Russia in the 19th century. Popov′s natural competitor is distinguished by his attachment to the Baroque and the excessiveness of decoration. This southern Russian aesthetic, immediately recognizable, attracts the attention of the public and collectors to this day. Determines the special position of the Miklashevsky factory in the register of Russian porcelain.
The history of the factory has been revered since 1839, when the landowner of the Chernigov province Andrei Mikhailovich Miklashevsky organized a porcelain manufactory on his own property in the village of Volokitino. Success was accompanied by the discovery nearby of kaolin, a white clay so necessary for making porcelain; and also the invitation of French craftsmen, who irrevocably infected production with baroque forms and a high standard of quality. All this plus, as they would say now, a successful marketing policy contributed to the instant success, fame and commercial viability of the project. From the first days of the factory, Andrei Mikhailovich tirelessly advertised the project and products. A wide range of prices lured consumers. From 50 kopecks for household little things to thousands of individual orders. It’s not for nothing that in the first year of the manufactory’s existence, it received a large silver medal at the All-Russian Industrial Exhibition. 10 years later, at the same exhibition in St. Petersburg, the factory’s products were awarded a gold medal. However, the secret of the economic miracle turned out to be simple and historically unpretentious. It disappeared in 1861, along with the abolition of serfdom, when the last working peasants fled from the factory.
As already mentioned, this was a wide range of items from practical, everyday items to examples of art unprecedented in the Empire, which, thanks to the irrepressible power of Miklashevsky, were traded at every more or less significant fair or exhibition store. Throughout the Empire, and abroad from Persia to Western Europe. The recognizable style of whimsical baroque and roccaille forms with accented pastel pink and blue tones distinguishes the bulk of the plant’s products. But the factory’s craftsmen were noted for their stylizations of English and German porcelain. For example, Meissen’s technical innovations, the so-called “Boule de neige” (Cherry Blossom Carpet), in Miklashevsky’s work take on the sound of the coziness of grandmother’s knitting. But the absolute original is a series of porcelain caricatures of French and Russian writers based on the drawings of Benjamin Roubaud. These large-headed figures retain the spirit and flair of the era. It is impossible not to say about the unique porcelain iconostasis of the Church of the Intercession. The only one of its kind in Rus′, it completely decorated the iconic interior in a single material and style. Unfortunately, now only scattered fragments remain of it, just like the master′s porcelain fireplaces, chandeliers, frames and clocks.
All of them stylize the AM monogram in one way or another or use the toponym Volokitino, Cyrillic or Latin. In the early stamps of the 1840s, the Miklashevsky coat of arms enclosed in a circle with the corresponding inscription was also used. Sometimes the M stamp in a square is found.