T.A. MALININA
The collection of Russian decorative glass at the State Hermitage contains over 4,000 older exhibits and around 200 items designed by prominent modern glass artists. Many parts of illuminating devices and vases, which have a great research value and are essential for restoration, are also kept here.
The old Russian glass collection was formed in several stages. The most valuable exhibits were custom-made for the Winter Palace and other Hermitage buildings and are currently part of its decor.
There were many new acquisitions after the revolution. In 1917, the Petrograd Art and History Commission examined the mansions and flats belonging to St Petersburg aristocrats. Many of the most valuable items from private collections were brought to the Hermitage. In the 1920s, many of them were transferred from the Shuvalov, Stroganov, Yusupov, Sheremetev and other palaces. Prominent private collectors added glass articles of their own.
After the Baron Stieglitz School of Technical Drawing (the Hermitage's first branch) was disbanded in the 1920s-40s, glass items from this research museum were also included in the main collection.
In subsequent years, the collection of Russian decorative glass was gradually augmented by means of purchases from private persons and antiquarian salons, donations and various research trips.
In the permanent and temporary exhibitions at the Hermitage, its branches and in other Russian and foreign cities, Russian decorative glass of the 18th-early 20th centuries is an obligatory element, complementing the general picture of technological and stylistic development from Baroque to Art Nouveau.
The Hermitage possesses an extensive and diverse collection of the Imperial (formerly Potemkin) Glass Factory, a palace enterprise which supplied luxury items to the Winter Palace and other Imperial and Grand Ducal palaces and residences (the St Michael, Tsarskoye Selo, Pavlovsk, Peterhof, Vladimir, Anichkov, Gatchina palaces and others). The Hermitage collection is remarkably lucky in possessing monumental and decorative articles made of coloured glass, crystal and bronze designed by prominent architects such as G. Quarenghi, Ch. Cameron, A.N. Voronikhin, C. Rossi, A.P. Bryullov and others, which also complement the decor of the museum buildings.
The collections of private glass factories are of great interest. According to the available statistics, there were over 200 glass factories in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. They produced various types of glassware - from glass plates and bottles to original or even unique items.
The collection of modern designer glass has received a lot of attention lately. It is based on a donation of over 120 items from the Moscow gallery of the ROSIZO State Museum and Exhibition Centre, which exhibits art by many famous glass artists.
