Peasant Woman from Ingria (Ingermanland)
ca. 1780–1800
Medium
Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Height: 8 1/4 in. (21 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
Russian, St. Petersburg
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982
Accession Number
1982.60.152
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate hard-paste porcelain figurine *Peasant Woman from Ing (Ingermanland)*, crafted by the renowned Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in St. Petersburg around 1780–1800, stands just 8¼ inches tall. Produced during the height of Catherine the Great's reign and into the early years of Alexander I, it exemplifies the factory's mastery of this technically demanding medium. Hard-paste porcelain, at high temperatures for exceptional durability and translucency, allowed Russian artisans to rival Europe's finest like Meissen and Sèvres, blending technical precision with artistic flair. The figu...
About the Artist
Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, St. Petersburg · 1744–present
The Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1744 by Dmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov under the decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, marked Russia's entry into porcelain production as the third such enterprise in Europe after Meissen and Vienna. Vinogradov, a mining engineer educated in Saxony, developed the nation's first hard-paste porcelain formula using local materials, drawi...