Tartar

Art Historical Context

Step into the opulent world of 18th-century Russian porcelain *Tartar*, a figurine crafted by the Imperial Porcelainufactory in St. Petersburg around 1760–70. Standing at just 7 3/16 inches (18.3 cm) tall, this hard-paste porcelain sculpture depicts a stylized male figure, likely evoking the exotic allure of Tatar nomads from Russia's vast Eurasian frontiers. Produced during the reign of Empress Catherine the Great, it exemplifies the factory's mastery of this demanding medium—hard-paste porcelain, fired at high temperatures for exceptional durability, translucency, and fine detail. Founded in 1744 under Empress Elizabeth, the St. Petersburg manufactory rivaled Europe's finest, like Meissen in Germany, blending Rococo elegance with imperial ambition. Artisans hand-modeled and polychrome-glazed these figurines, capturing intricate costumes, expressive poses, and vibrant enamels that brought cultural "types" to life in aristocratic homes. *Tartar* reflects Russia's multicultural empire, where such pieces celebrated—and romanticized—diverse peoples amid Enlightenment curiosity. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Sculpture and Decorative Arts department (gift of R. Thornton Wilson, 1943), this gem invites us to ponder porcelain's power: tiny yet monumental, bridging art, empire, and everyday wonder.

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...