BY THE BAKHMETEV FACTORY, MASTER A. VERSHININ, PENZA, CIRCA 1800

The Bakhmetev Glass Factory was founded in 1763, but destroyed during the Pugachev rebellion of 1774. It was reinstituted in 1779, and produced articles in clear and coloured glass, with gilt and silver decorations. The serf craftsman Aleksandr Vershinin is recorded as the artist of these fine decorated tumblers with decoration between two walls of glass. Three similar examples of his work, lacking cover(s), are recorded in the museum of the Bakhmetev Factory, the State Historical Museum and at Kuskovo. See E.V. Dolgikh, Russian Glass of XVIII century: the Collection of the State Ceramic Museum and Kuskovo Estate, (Moscow, 1985), no.172, colour illustrations 120-121.ddddddddd