The Kornilov brothers plant

The plant of the Kornilov Brothers was renovated in 1835. The best craftsmen from the factories of Popov, Batenin, Gardner, Imperial were invited to the plant.

A great contribution to the development of production was made by recognized masters - French ceramists. At one time, the orders of drawings for ceramic painting were carried out by the Russian illustrator Karazin N.N. At the Kornilov factory, for the first time in Russia, the decal method was used to decorate porcelain.On one site (sales, so I can't give a link) I saw comprehensive information about the plant. It won't tell experts anything new, but it will be interesting for beginners. In 1835, M.V.Kornilova founded a porcelain factory on the Vyborg side in the village of Polyustrovo. The location of the plant in the Northern district of St. Petersburg (now 59 Polyustrovsky Prospekt) promised good prospects due to the availability of the necessary raw materials and sales markets nearby, it was also convenient for transporting goods. M.V.Kornilova attracted five sons to the management of the plant – Peter, Mikhail, Ivan, Vasily and Yakov Savvinovich.

Since 1791, even before the foundation of the factory, the brothers Savvin Vasilyevich (husband of MV Kornilova) and Vasily Vasilyevich Kornilov traded imported porcelain in the shops of the capital and provincial cities of Russia.

Outstanding organizational skills of M.V. Kornilova allowed to prepare the enterprise for production in just one year. Before the revolution, the Kornilov factory produced various porcelain products. Since the foundation of the plant, much attention has been paid to the technical equipment of the enterprise, the latest achievements of science and technology in the field of ceramic production have been introduced. At the same time, much attention was paid to the artistic side of the products. The best craftsmen from the factories of Popov, Gardner, Batenin, and the Imperial Porcelain Factory were invited to the factory. A great contribution to the development of production was made by recognized European masters – French ceramists.

The best artists of their time made sketches for the decoration of Kornilov porcelain. Raw materials were supplied to the enterprise from Finland (quartz and feldspar), white clay from Glukhov, Chernihiv province and from England, capsule clay – from Tikhvin and Borovichi, Novgorod province. Paints for porcelain painting were made at the factory and partially supplied from France. In the middle of the XIX century, the Kornilov brothers factory was one of the four leading porcelain enterprises in Russia, along with the Imperial Porcelain Factory, Gardner and Popov factories. Early Kornilov porcelain was made in the spirit of historicism with the use of artistic forms and stylistic techniques characteristic of this style, borrowed from past centuries, but reworked and embodied in new, original works. Fashion trends were dictated by the IFZ, and then reflected in the products of private Russian factories of the second third of the XIX century.

In the second third of the XIX century, with the growing number of porcelain establishments in Russia, the Kornilov brothers factory was one of the industry leaders along with the Gardner and Popov factories. The Kornilov brothers porcelain factory was one of the best in terms of technical equipment.

The technical part of the enterprise was significantly improved by the electromagnetic method of mass purification introduced in Russia in 1885. The new method has significantly improved the quality of the porcelain shard. In addition to porcelain, the Kornilovs tried to work with other types of ceramics. So, in the middle of the XIX century, entrepreneurs rented the factory of Baron L.F. Korf in the Shlisselburg district of St. Petersburg province. At this enterprise, relatively cheap faience of good quality was produced. However, about a year later, the Kornilovs suspended this undertaking.

Rare samples of Kornilov faience are a happy find for collectors.

From 1896 to 1898, the St. Petersburg porcelain factory Benois, founded in 1888, was attached to the Kornilov factory. Its products were not specifically labeled. The products were created rather for the soul and they hardly brought significant income. Porcelain trinkets - flowers, jewelry and toys - were designed for modern fashionistas and their children. The sculpture has not been produced at all since the 1850s. That is why there are almost no Kornilov figures preserved. At the Russian manufactory exhibition of 1849 in St. Petersburg, Kornilov porcelain was awarded a flattering characteristic: "The porcelain of three private breeders Gardner, Kornilov and Miklashevsky, relative to the mass, is very good.

Taking into account not only the preparatory work, the work of the sculptor, the art of the painter, but also the price of things, it should give preference to the Gardners. The porcelain of the Kornilov brothers is not inferior to their porcelain in the least; it shines with the brightness of gilding, and the pleasantness of forms, and the choice and execution of drawings, but for that it is relatively more expensive." In the early 1850s, the Kornilov factory produced a series of objects in the Russian style. The factory produced church utensils, icons, lamps, Easter eggs with miniature and floral paintings. In 1839, Mikhail Kornilov, at a manufactory exhibition in St. Petersburg, received a gold medal with the inscription "for useful things" on the Anninskaya ribbon "for porcelain of good quality, clean finish, and the latest styles." In 1841, Peter and Ivan Kornilov were awarded gold medals in Warsaw.* In 1843, the Kornilov plant received the honorary title of "Supplier of the Imperial Court" and the right to depict the state emblem on its factory stamp "for the significant production of porcelain of beautiful shapes, elegant painting and good gilding."

Contemporaries noted that the Kornilov brothers had "a lot of luxury items, beautifully shaped according to the new fashion and decorated with very successful paintings, especially two large vases attracted everyone's attention with the flowers perfectly depicted on them." The Kornilov Plant began to receive orders from the Imperial Court. The products made according to the Highest orders in their artistic merits and technical characteristics – the whiteness of the porcelain mass, the strength of the gilding, the brightness of the colors – were not inferior to similar products of the IFZ. Basically, the Kornilovsky factory carried out completions instead of the lost items to the ceremonial palace sets – Guryev, Babigonsky, Ministerial, Gothic, Banquet with the monogram "A", Korbievsky and others. Russian Russian Manufactory Industry Exhibition in 1861, the Kornilov Factory presented a clock, a tea set "with the pedigree of the Russian tsars from Rurik", several vases with floral paintings, several table sets. The reviews of contemporaries were less enthusiastic and more critical than in previous years: "The painting is not bad, but nothing particularly striking; the taste of the decorative part, in complicated things, is generally not good." The Journal of Manufactures and Trade carefully analyzed the products of the Kornilov Brothers factory and also noted the high cost: "The Kornilov Brothers factory, which has existed in the village of Petersburg province since 1835, is now specially engaged only in the manufacture of porcelain; at least they did not deliver samples of faience to the exhibition (1861). In the porcelain products of this factory, experts found a lot of mostly clean and white, which serves as proof of careful preparation of materials; the glaze is pure, but less diffuse compared to the works of the Gardner factory; things are more diverse. The manufacture of chiseled things and simple molded ones is recognized to be quite thorough; in molded ornamental ones, and especially in figures, according to experts, improvements are needed. Floral and ornamental painting is recognized as satisfactory, but the prices are generally too high."

In 1861, the Cabinet of the Court of E.I.V. awarded the Kornilov the title of "supplier" for the second time with the condition: "... since the Kornilovs have enjoyed the right to use the state emblem on their products since 1843, it is necessary to assign them a repetition of this award in the sentence that these manufacturers, who conduct significant bargaining in both capitals, will make an effort to to improve their production". Obviously, the Kornilov plant failed to respond in time to the remarks of 1861, and in 1870 the trade of the Kornilov brothers' factory with the Highest Court was stopped under the pretext of stopping the order of completions to the out-of-use sets. This decision was preceded by the assignment in 1865 of the Kornilov brothers factory to the II category following the results of the V Moscow Manufactory Exhibition. In accordance with the new category, the brand has become blue, not red, as before. In 1867, the Kornilov Plant took part in the World Exhibition in Paris. Since the middle of the XIX century, the company has traded in Persia, Denmark, Bulgaria, France, exported porcelain to the USA and Canada. In 1875, the Kornilovs bought from the newly closed Popov factory (1811-1875) the recipes of paints developed at this enterprise, the color palette of which was distinguished by the richness of bright tones. This acquisition was used at the Kornilov manufactory until the end of its existence. In 1869, when Mikhail Savvinovich Kornilov became the owner of the plant, the plant was one of the largest enterprises of the art industry in Russia. In 1886, his heirs formed the "Kornilov Brothers Partnership" (officially existed since 1893).