Shchekotikhina-Pototskaya’s distinct style is recognised for its use of bright colours and ‘subjects from eternal Russia: peasants feasting, bellringers, the sun and the moon, motherhood, Snegurochka the snowmaiden, fishermen, and harmonica players’ (N. Lobanov-Rostovsky, ‘Soviet Propaganda Porcelain’ in The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, vol. 11, Russian/Soviet Theme Issue 2 [Winter, 1989], p. 136). In her depictions of figures, Shchekotikhina-Pototskaya places great emphasis on costume, a theme important to the artist likely due to her grandmother’s work as an embroiderer.
Upon invitation from the illustrious Sergei Chekhonin, Shchekotikhina-Pototskaya joined the State Porcelain Factory in 1918, at which point the main focus of production was artistic propaganda in praise of the newly established Soviet state. Here, she rapidly asserted herself as one of the most innovative designers. In contrast to Chekhonin’s avant-garde, geometric style, Shchekotikhina-Pototskaya produced uniquely emotive works by making use of vibrant colours and dramatic or festive themes.
‘For the very first time on porcelain, the painting conveys a genuine sense of life and movement; [..] even the most skilled copyist could not reproduce those flying, uninhibited brushstrokes.’
Owing to her Russian Old Believers heritage and her grandfather’s work with iconography, Shchekotikhina-Pototskaya had extensive knowledge of icons which reveals itself in her porcelain painting by ‘[encouraging] her to disregard perspective’ resulting in ‘all the events occurring emphatically on the surface’ (N. Lobanov-Rostovsky, Revolutionary Ceramics: Soviet Porcelain 1917-1927, London, 1990, p. 21). The indiscernible planes combined with the vibrantly coloured business of her painted scenes adds an energy and rhythm to Shchekotikhina-Pototskaya’s work which is exemplified in the present lot. It also creates a collision between the old and the new - the iconographic undertones and the dynamic agit-driven modernism.