GARDNER’S PORCELAIN SCULPTURE, CIRCA 1870 – 1890 Spinster woman (Pryakha)

Gardner’s Porcelain Factory, circa 1870 – 1890 mark: in Cyrillic ‘Gardner Fact. in Moscow’ with the Imperial coat of arms ‘two-headed eagle crowned with two imperial crowns’ (on the underside) biscuit height 13 cm The Gardner Porcelain Manufactory was founded in 1766, in the small town Verbilki in Moscow region, by Englishman Franz Gardner (1714 – 1790), and for more than two centuries has been creating masterpieces of porcelain art that became a decoration of imperial palaces in Russia and Europe. The manufactory produced the “personalized” services decorated with coats of arms of aristocratic families, noblemen’s crowns, and monograms. In 1856, Gardner received the title “Supplier to His Imperial Majesty’s Court”.