Russia, Moscow

early 20th century

Imperial Stroganov academy

Porcelain; crystalline glaze, crackle glaze

Height 15 cm; crown diameter 3.5 cm, body diameter 11.5 cm

Mark: abbreviation "СУ" with a point, in circle

Ovoid vase on circular base, with narrow low neck, covered with light turquoise glaze.

Crystalline glaze is decorative colour glaze with textured pattern of asteriated crystals looking like frosting on the glass. In Europe, crystalline glazes were mastered at the end of the 19th century in imitation of monochrome Chinese glazes of the 18th century with textured effects. Stroganov Academy masters first saw such products at the World Ceramics Exhibition in Saint-Petersburg (1900 - 1901), presented by French master craftsmen. And it was only as late as 1905 that, after numerous experiments, the secret of crystalline production was discovered by master G.V. Monakhov (a bit earlier, in 1902, crystalline glaze was obtained by technologists K.Klever and V.-Yu. G. fan der Bellen at the Imperial Porcelain Factory). Simultaneously with the search for crystalline glazing technology, G.V. Monaknov developed a wide gamut of various coatings and crackle glazings that make bizarre cracks on the surface of pieces. This technique first appeared in China, and in Europe it came into use in the modern period, at the end of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th century.