Fig.2.
Malachite vase by Vi ncenzo Maderni, early 19th century.
Victoria & Albert museum, acc.
nr. 339-1886, on loan to Lancaster
House, London
© Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
The malachite used in the first decades of the century, both a
in the Imperial lapidaries like Peterhof and Ekaterinburg but St
also in the private workshops like Maderni, mainly came fro m possible
the two Urals deposits respectively at the south and north o f Collections
Ekaterinburg, and these are generally of two clear types.
Th e Alexandra
first, used here masterfully for this tazza, is characterized b y Medici
concentric layers of small stalactites and is quite vivid gree n Petersburg
in colour.
The other – a shimmering variegated malachite- i s nr
a stone in plain dark green, whose mass is composed of a shar
multitude of crystals
To work with both types of malachite, the and
Russians had also perfected the ‘Russian mosaic’ technique, surfac
cutting the malachite into small pieces of veneer between t w
A
and four millimeters thick, sorting them for their patterns, a n
then after grinding and polishing, carefully cementing them t
Nicola
the metal or stone form of the object, and skillfully masking th
joints with a paste of powdered malachite
vase-amphora circa 1824-25 (The Hermitage Museum,
Petersburg) according to Galberg’s designs it is
that he supplied Medici vase Royal
(inv.no.
RCIN
1708), a gift from Empress
Feodorovna to George IV.Together
with another
vase, bought the Duke of Westminster in St
from Moderni, (fig.2, Victoria & Albert museum,
339-1886,
on loan to Lancaster House, London), they
the same type malachite, with deep green colour
contrast, veneered small pieces, but still creating
patterns, like present lot.
(Budrina, p.125-126).
tazza executed by the Maderni studio after a design by
Galberg was given to the Duke of Wellington by the Emperaror
I in 1826, part Wellington collections at Stratfield
Saye House, Hampshire. (Budrina,
(Budrina, p.122).
group objects suggest the start using malachite on
its own, as the preeminent material, not as frame for gilt or
bronze.thus
became main actor and
the conduit for the object’s attraction.
IVAN IVANOVICH GALBERG (1782-1863)
Ivan Ivanovich Galberg, an architect and designer, was
at the Imperial Academy Arts until 1798.He
This
There are not many prominent examples of pre-1830s
malachite creations, and there are only a very few early
patinated
malachite works of a comparable scale to the present tazza
The reasons are multiple: malachite in such quantity enabli ng a
continuous pattern of such large scale was rare; malachite was
expensive, especially in such amounts, and covering a large
body with a veneer of malachite required an advanced level of
educated
craftsmanship only held in a few workshops.
The present tazza therefore seems to be part of a small gro up
of malachite objects that kicked off production of large scal e His
vases in the St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg lapidary works
from about 1825.
Ivan I.
Galberg was instrumental in this, as buildings
he would supply the drawings for these projects, both for th e title
production in Imperial workshops, but also in private ones, a
which would also supply the Imperial household. benefits
was
then an assistant to the architect Giacomo Antonio Domenico
Quarenghi, then served as an architect at the Cabinet of
Majesty and participated in the construction the
Mikhailovsky Palace, the Alexandrinsky Theater and other
St.Petersburg.
March
1840, received
of academician, and on January 14, 1842, became
professor of the 2nd degree consideration of his work and
he brought to students of Academy where
he taught for many years.For
several years, he also taught
at Institute of Railway Engineers and Civil
Engineering School.
Most notable amongst the private workshops is that of
architecture
the Italian Vincenzo Maderni (1797-1843), who executed
126