Foreign gold and silverware

The collection of foreign gold and silverware numbers over than 9000 items, made by professional silversmiths and Western and Eastern jewelers of XIII-XX centuries. The heart of the collection was formed in the treasuries of the Tsar’s and Patriarch’s estates in the Kremlin and is one of the oldest parts in the museum, set up in the early XIX century.

In XVI-XVII centuries, the collection was filled through active purchasing foreign precious articles for Moscow rulers and a great number of diplomatic gifts to the ruling tsars.

As a whole, it is one of the biggest collections in the world, which contains a lot of material stuff for the characteristics of national peculiarity and ways of gold and silversmithery’s development of many European countries. The collection contains all basic European art styles, from Roman and Gothic to Modern and Avant-garde of the XX century.

Bright goldsmithing schools of England and Germany of XVI-XVII century are presented particularly well. These sections are unique by the quantity and quality of exhibits and have no analogies in the world. They give the exhaustive information about the work of London, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Hamburg masters.

The Dutch part of the collection is notable for chronological compactness and bright national peculiarity. It consists of works made mainly by Amsterdam goldsmiths in 40-70-s of the XVII century.

The collection of Polish and Swedish Baroque silverware is of special cognitive and aesthetic value.

The quantity and artistic qualities of works by French masters give evidence to the France’s special place in European silversmithery of Classicism and Empire style.

The collections of ancient items made of naturals, mostly of the epoch of Renaissance, and of watches and clocks of XVI-XIX centuries, in which pocket and breast ones are prevalent, are also of great interest and value in the museum funds.

In the Eastern gold and silverware works by Turkish jewelers of the XVII century, among which there are many rare and particularly valuable objects, are of particular interest.

Since 1970-s till nowadays, a lot of exhibits are presented in numerous exhibitions of Moscow Kremlin Museums both in Russia and abroad.