Applied and Decorative Art and Handicrafts
The collections of furniture, porcelain, glass and metal were formed in the pre-war period and suffered to some extend during the Great Patriotic war. The Museum had acquired articles of different periods and styles from luxurious palaces and modest estates. Thus, the pre-war exhibition had reconstructed palace and small estate interiors.
The losses could not be filled up. Nevertheless, the Museum managed to supplement the surviving collections (porcelain, glass) and to form the collection of furniture anew.
Furniture
Furniture is always present in history, art and everyday life exhibitions. The most valuable part of the collection is West-European furniture: carved walnut chairs of the 16th - early 17th century imitating Italian Renaissance specimens; carved oak x-form arm-chairs of the 17th century from Northern Germany, the 18th century Dutch chairs with high backs inlaid with different kinds of wood; carved gilded marble table decorated with mosaic of multi-colored stones.
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Table designed by Voronokhin.
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Russian furniture is represented by typical specimens of different periods from Classicism to Empire style. Russian craftsmen generally used mahogany, walnut and Karelian birch, poplar and maple for interior pieces. All materials are represented. The collection of widespread estate furniture includes a table with legs shaped like griffins made to the design of A.N. Voronikhin in the 1800s.
The collection of furniture is harmoniously supplemented with articles of bronze: candelabrums, chandeliers, wall lamps, mantel decorations, censers, desk sets. The case of the unique table clock is made in rococo style. The bronze clock shaped like a Gothic chapel was made in Germany in the mid-19th century, the similar clock of cast iron was made in Russia in 1854.
Metal objects
Metal objects of everyday life are represented by all main types - loving-cups, cups, plates, ladles of the 17th - 18th century. The shapes originated in traditional wooden and clay tableware. The old shapes were used in the 18th - early 19th century together with new West-European mugs, coffee-pots, etc. With the industrial mining of copper in Russia in the 18th century they began to produce metal utensils. The Urals became a center of metal production. The small samovar of the mid-18th century with a chased and carved rococo pattern is a specimen of the Urals metalwork. The Russian samovars of the second half of the 19th century, produced by numerous plants in Tula, in Moscow and in the Urals constitute a remarkable part of the collection. The samovars of different shapes, materials and techniques are regularly displayed in the Museum.
