History and Culture: Exhibitions "Ustyug Residents and Russian America" and "Trade Ties of the Ustyug Merchants of the XVIII Century" presented in Veliky Ustyug

The Museum of History and Culture of Veliky Ustyug (Vologda Region) launched exhibitions about the contribution of the Ustyug merchants to the development of Russian America and trade with Western Europe and China.

The exhibition "Ustyug Residents and Russian America" introduces the contribution of the city residents to the development of Russian America and their Pacific Odyssey. The exposition presents the equipment of fishing vessels of the XVIII century. It showcases a naval sundial with a compass, a telescope, a signal cannon, a sword in a scabbard and much more for sea voyages. There is also a rare icon of the Theotokos of the early XVIII century with the inscription: "Quiet to sea travellers".

The map of the Aleutian Islands, drawn by the Ustyug merchant V. I. Shilov in 1767, will attract the visitors' attention. A copy of the flag of the Russian-American Company reminds us that the Ustyug native M. M. Buldakov had been its leading director for 27 years.

The exhibition presents a model of the three-masted sloop Neva with sailing and artillery weapons. The ship Neva with seven Ustyug natives onboard made the first Russian circumnavigation in 1803–1806.

The exhibition "Trade Ties of the Ustyug Merchants of the XVIII Century" features original items from the museum collections, reflecting the contribution of the Ustyug merchants to the formation of the all-Russian market and the development of trade with Western Europe and China. It showcases samples of Western European, Chinese and Russian goods traded by the Ustyug merchants of the XVIII century, who had to overcome huge distances. There are Western European and Chinese silks, Sevres vases, a painted gold Chinese porcelain jug, a girandole and Russian-made glass products.

The exposition presents documents interesting for lovers of history, including the label of the Kyakhta customs, which belonged to the Ustyug merchants Nikolai and Sergei Sutyagin, and the request of the Veliky Ustyug merchant V. I. Shilov for a trade certificate with China (1780). An exposition also recreates a fragment of the interior of a merchant's house of the XVIII century.

The exhibitions will run until December 31, 2021.