A RARE CERAMIC GLAZED VASE, ABRAMTSEVO, LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY

When Abramtsevo was purchased in 1870 from the family of S. T. Aksakov, the estate had fallen into disrepair, with its furnaces, faced in XVII century encaustic tiles, suffering the most damage. The initiative of the new owner, S. I. Mamontov, to restore the furnaces eventually developed into a larger, more culturally-ambitious project to revitalise the art of Russian ceramics, specifically that of maiolica. This initiative formed the foundation of the Abramtsevo ceramic workshop, formed in 1889 by artists such as Repin, Vasnetsov and Antokolsky.

The leading and most prolific member of this group was M. A. Vrubel, who conceived as well as modelled the shapes for his ceramic objects. His fantastical, highly decorative designs, inspired by ancient Russian epics, legends and folklore were a prominent influence in shaping the overall iconography of Abramtsevo ceramics.

The present vase is decorated with two sirens, relates to a number of known pieces by Vrubel containing similar imagery: the maiolica fireplace ‘Mikula and Volga’, of which 5 versions exist, a ceramic bench in the Ambramtsevo estate and a pair of ‘siren’ vases, comparable to the present lot, now in the collections of Abramtsevo estate and that of the Decorative and Folk-Art museum in Moscow respectively.