All the peoples of the planet have their own history, including not only the events of public life, but also cultural traditions, features of the formation and development of crafts, folklore works, moral standards that govern people's behavior, and other no less significant artifacts. Knowing the past makes a person spiritually rich, allows you to feel like a member of a cultural community, to realize yourself and your place in the world.
Achievements of culture are stored in museums, archives, libraries. You can get acquainted with the material culture of the Urals and other regions of Russia if you visit the Museum of Stone-Cutting Art (Ekaterinburg).
General information
The Museum of the History of Stone-Cutting and Jewelry Art (Yekaterinburg) was opened in 1992. The initiative to create such an object of culture was made by the famous art critic Dmitry Likhachev. At his suggestion, the curator of the Regional State Museum of Local Lore, Natalya Pakhomova, developed the program “The World of Stone”, within the framework of which another cultural object was opened.
Stone masterpieces are located in the building of the Mountain Pharmacy, which was built in 1820 by the outstanding architect M.P. Malakhov.
Exposure Features
Exhibits are located in rooms of various thematic focus. So, in the Russian silver hall, visitors are offered cutlery and writing accessories made of this metal. Most products are made in the XIX-XX centuries. Here are the works of masters not only of the Urals, but also of St. Petersburg and Moscow: K. Faberge, P. Ovchinnikov and others.
The Museum of Stone-Cutting Art (Yekaterinburg) also boasts a gold pantry. Here are presented not only jewelry made of gold, but also such well-known artifacts as ores “Star” and “New Year's”, as well as the crystal “Demantoid Alexandrova”. Here you can see products from K. Faberge: objects covered with a guilloche, and animal figures.
Children who grew up in the Soviet Union probably remember the tales of P.P. Bazhov. Their heroes are located on the panel. The work was carried out by painters of the village of Palekh, Ivanovo Region using the lacquer miniature technique.
It is impossible to imagine a museum of stone-cutting and jewelry art in the Urals without malachite. In the malachite hall, both minerals without preliminary processing and their products (caskets, vases, countertops, dishes, etc.) are demonstrated.
In the century before last and the beginning of the XX century, Russian masters practiced a unique mosaic technique. Small strips were cut from malachite and folded so that a pattern was obtained. These unique compositions can be seen if you visit the Museum of Stone-Cutting Art (Yekaterinburg).
Since the beginning of the 18th century, the Imperial Yekaterinburg lapidary factory was known throughout Russia, the successor of which was the Russian Gems factory. The products of the company's masters are located on the third floor. The most famous exhibit is the only vase from jasper in the Urals with a height of 1.5 meters.
Stone-cutting and jewelry art of the Urals
The culture of the Ural region is regional. The work of the masters is inherent in the national flavor, the desire to preserve the national idea. For a Russian person, a product made of gold, silver or stone is a way to express themselves, to know themselves and others.
In the XIX-XX centuries, Yekaterinburg was a center of jewelry and stone-cutting art. Craftsmen owned all the methods of processing colored stone, which allowed them to create real masterpieces. The desire to preserve the national idea has led to the fact that the work skillfully combines classic and folk motifs.
It is known that Yekaterinburg is located on the border of Europe and Asia. This geographical position contributed to the unification of the patterns of East and West in the products.
Ural - a place where at the dawn of history there was a split of tectonic blocks. Therefore, craftsmen and simply connoisseurs of jewelry believe that the stones mined in this region have a special energy. The warmth of their hands was transferred to the finished product and is passed by the Ural craftsmen. The most famous artists are K. Klodt, E. Klodt, B. Hariotov, A. Zhukov, A. Borovikov and others.
