Imperial Porcelain Factory, Saint Petersburg
The Imperial Porcelain Factory, also known as the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, is a producer of hand-painted ceramics in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was established by Dmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov in 1744 and was supported by the Russian tsars since Empress Elizabeth. Many still refer to the factory by its well-known former name, the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory.
Russian porcelain in Kuskovo
Very early bowl, dated 1749
Plate from an Imperial service, 1756–62
Cup with cover and saucer, c. 1760
Pâte-sur-pâte is a French term meaning "paste on paste". It is a method of porcelain decoration in which a relief design is created on an unfired, unglazed body, usually with a coloured body, by applying successive layers of (usually) white porcelain slip with a brush. Once the main shape is built up, it is carved away to give fine detail, before the piece is fired. The work is very painstaking and may take weeks of adding extra layers and allowing them to harden before the next is applied.
Berlin porcelain plate.
Pâte-sur-pâte decoration by Henry Hollins, a former apprentice of Solon, on a pair of vases from Mintons, c. 1882. Birmingham Museum of Art
Berlin porcelain plate, 1900.
Mintons vases designed by Solon in the pâte-sur-pâte style, 1880, on display at Mount Holyoke College Art Museum