Collections of the Russian museum

The foundation of the collection was laid with objects from the interior of the Mikhailovsky Palace and also items of applied art from the suburban imperial residences and the palaces of St Petersburg aristocrats — the Usupovs, Shuvalovs, Sheremetevs and Stroganovs. The museum holds numerous objects belonging to the imperial family from Peter I to Nicholas II.

The porcelain collection is the most extensive in the museum department of decorative and applied art, making up almost a third of its collection. All the main stages of the development of Russian porcelain are represented here, starting with the work of D. Vinogradov. Furthermore the collection of Vinogradov porcelain, the largest part of which came from the collection of Prince Nikolai Nikolaievich Romanov Jr., is today the largest in the world. The collection also presents, although partly, the first examples of all the czar’s services from the times of Elizabeth Petrovna to Nicholas II. The museum holds objects from the Imperial Porcelain Factory and private enterprises connected to the names of Gardner, Kornilov, Kuznetsov, Popov, Safronov and others.

The museum collection of glass is both complete and of very high quality. It contains unique objects from the eighteenth century, that were once the property of Peter I, Anna Ivanovna, Catherine II and other Russian heads of the state, and also the best collection of items dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812.

Many works of M. Vrubel are part of the extensive collection of faience and majolica, among which is one of the first fireplaces made by him.

The most notable feature of the collection of fabrics are the Kolokoltsov shawls, silk scarves embroidered with gold, church vestments, as well as works from St. Petersburg Tapestry manufacture, among which is the famous tapestry, “The Battle of Poltava.”

The furniture section has at its basis the objects of decor of the White Hall and other interiors of the Mikhailovsky Palace. Here all the periods of the development of furniture are on display, starting with the Petrine era, exemplified by items created from the sketches of remarkable architects such as C. Rossi, V. Stasov, A.I Shtakenshneider and G. Bosse.

If, not so long ago, decorative and applied art of the twentieth century played a modest role in the museum collection in comparison to other eras, then that drawback has now been remedied with items of the highest artistic quality.