Showcase 21. Gold and silverware of the XIXth to early XXth centuries

In the second half of the XIXth century large jewellery-making associations were established in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg to use new methods of art processing of precious metals.The owners of the manufactures employed the top specialists and leading craftsmen, invited painters and historians of art. Having produced precious items of a high value several firms gained their reputation in Russia as well as in Europe, i.e. the Moscow firms of Sazikov, Ovchinnikov, Khlebnikov, Semyonov and the Petersburg firms of Morozov, Grachev and Faberge.

The showcase contains articles, executed by jewellery firms and factories from the 1830s to the early XXth century and represents various techniques of metalworking and jewellery-making. The exhibits are exemplificative of the famous niello work, technique of cloisonne enamel, revived by the Ovchinnikov firm, chasing, "window" or transparent enamel.

Since the 1830s makers and specialists were searching for a new inspiration and style. Mixing of compositional and decorative elements of all the preceding periods resulted in "Neo-Gothic", the "second rococo" and "neo-classicism". Also there was a resurgence of interest in medieval Russian motifs as well as naturalistic elaborate forms. The exhibition of 1889 in Paris marked the development of a new style, known as "art nouveau" or "floral art" and distinguished in applied art for predominance of flower patterns and plastic figures.