October, 12 - December, 08, 2013

the National Museum of the Republic of Buryatia, the city of Ulan-Ude

Organised by:
the National Museum of the Republic of Buryatia, Moscow Kremlin Museums 

Tapestry portrait (arras) of Peter IThe exhibition project, carried out by the National Museum of the Republic of Buryatia and the Moscow Kremlin museums, is dedicated to the XVIIIth century - the period from the reign of Peter the Great to the time of Paul I. The presented items are regarded as commemorative of the golden age of the Russian Empire - the epoch of outstanding achievements in science, political and cultural life of the country. Artworks, worthy of particular note, are referred to the time of Peter I, who initiated the reorganization and strengthening of the Russian army, the development of arms and armor manufacture and the Russian award system, the growth of industries, the foundation and construction of a new capital, changes in the style and design of the secular and ceremonial clothing and many other reforms.

The exhibition incorporates pieces of arms and military equipment – the production of the Russian weapons factories, which were founded in the XVIIIth century in Tula, Olonets, Saint-Petersburg and Sestroretsk. A group of orders' insignia, presented at the exposition is intended to illustrate the process of the development of the Russian award system. The ceremonial coat of Peter II, sewn in the French style fashionable in Europe at the beginning of the XVIIIth century, is regarded as one of the results of Peter the Great's "Westernization" of Russia, when fashionable European clothing was expected to replace the traditional Russian dress.

Cultural relations and interactions with European countries led to the appearance of new types of tableware, clothes and utensils. Court life in the Russian Empire, new palaces, official ceremonials and state receptions required special furnishing and interior decoration conforming to a required standard. The XVIIIth century saw the alteration of the tradition of making arrangements for various festive celebrations or state ceremonies. Having enlisted the services of the finest jewellers of the period, i.e. Jeremie Pauzie, Benedict Gravero etc., Empress Elizabeth, Peter the Great's daughter, established a unique "foreign workshop" for revival and improvement of the Moscow jewellery-making. Therefore the Moscow workshops were to produce new types of tableware and interior utensils, i.e. coffee- and teapots, milk-jugs, samovars, which reduced the production of traditional Russian vessels and plates, from now on used as gifts and rewards for services.

In the late XVIIth-early XVIIIth century the successfully established diplomatic and cultural relations with eastern countries were extended. The oriental weapons, watches, jewellery from Iran and Turkey as well as delicate items made from porcelain, nephrite, objects crafted in gold and silver, inlaid with gemstones, reveal the curiosity about the world and interest in foreign cultures, peculiar to the XVIIIth-century society.

This outstanding project serves as a representation of a remarkable page in the history of Russia and gives an opportunity to explore the precious collection of historical relics of the XVIIIth century from the Moscow Kremlin.

 
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