A SOVIET SUPREMATIST PORCELAIN CUP

BY THE IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY, ST PETERSBURG, PERIOD OF NICHOLAS II, AND THE STATE PORCELAIN FACTORY, PETROGRAD, 1923

Details

A SOVIET SUPREMATIST PORCELAIN CUP
BY THE IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY, ST PETERSBURG, PERIOD OF NICHOLAS II, AND THE STATE PORCELAIN FACTORY, PETROGRAD, 1923
Cylindrical, on conforming foot, painted with abstract and 'square' compositions in black, red, green, yellow, grey and orange on white ground, after a design by Nikolai Suetin, part of the interior painted black, with a black scroll handle, marked under base with green underglaze Imperial Porcelain Factory mark dated ‘1912’ and black overglaze hammer, sickle and cog, and the date '1923', inscribed in black '474/388.', also further inscribed in Russian 'Suprematism / after the draw.[ing by] Suetin’
2 3/8 in. (6.1 cm.) high

Provenance

Mrs Ethel Portnoy (1927-2004), a Dutch writer of Russian descent.
Acquired from the above by the present owner.

Brought to you by

Aleksandra Babenko

ababenko@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2489

Lot Essay

These rare Soviet porcelain cups are related to the Suprematist series of 1923, one of the most experimental and innovative series of the State porcelain factory. The Suprematists' designs are based on abstract geometric forms, influenced by the works of Kazimir Malevich and his followers Nikolai Suetin and Ilya Chashnik.

For comparable Suprematist cups see T. Kudryartseva, Circling the Square, Avant-garde porcelain from Revolutionary Russia (Fontanka, London 2004), pp. 120-123, and Exhibition catalogue, Die Tafel der Zaren und das Porzellan der Revolutionäre, Fragile, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt, pp. 331-333.

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