Showcases 18 and 19. Gold and silverware of the last quarter of the XVIIIth and first third of the XIXth century

The rococo style did not predominate for long in Russia. By the 1770s whimsical rocaille and sumptuous asymmetrical ornament were being replaced by flower garlands, laurel and oak branches, symmetrical patterns executed in casting and low-relief characteristic of classicism. A new stylistic tendency was based on an interest in ancient classical style, aroused by the excavations and archeological finds at Heraculaneum (1719) and Pompei (1748). Showcases 18-19 represent exhibits which are marked by a renewal of classical forms, motifs and subjects.

The Kremlin museums possesses precious artworks by renowned Moscow makers A. Ratkov, C. Muller, F. Seguin, Petersburg artists H. Unger and H. Eckert, G. Ador and others. By combining matt and polished precious metals, reposse or engraved ornament and smooth background, classical forms and pure colors the craftsmen skilfully brought out the texture and natural beauty of the metal. Ornamentation of the period consists of laconic symmetrical designs of geometrical forms, decorated with precious stones; elements which imitate patterns of classical order, or shaped as figures, animals, plants.

In the second half of the XVIIIth century jewellery-making and techniques of art processing of metals and stones were being developed: polychrome enamel was replaced by two-coloured enamel in two cold shades (known as grisaille), artistic casting of gold, silver and platinum became widespread, new forms and shapes of utensils and tableware came into fashion. Great number of samovars, snuff-boxes, decorated with enamel miniatures, sugar bowls, tea-strainers etc. were executed. The apparent simplicity of the objects executed in classical style in no way affected their material value. Jewellers used precious and semi-precious stones for ornamentation as well as combination of the metal surface, for example, gold beads of pearling on a silver background.

Decor of the applied art of the early XIXth century reflected motifs and objects of the Patriotic war of 1812. Such untraditional subjects for Russian decorative art as cannons, shells, spears, banners and cannon-balls appeared within iconography of artworks. One can find many views of Moscow and Saint-Petersburg of the 1820s-1830s which reveal people's interest in the history of Russia and their everyday life and used as ornament for silverware up to the end of the XIXth century.