To the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty: The exhibition of sculptures “Peoples of Russia” opened at the Russian Museum of Ethnography

June 25 at the Russian Museum of Ethnography opened an exhibition “Images of the peoples of Russia”, which is dedicated to the history of the Imperial Porcelain Factory in Saint-Petersburg of the famous series of sculptures “Peoples of Russia” for the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov  in 1913.

The idea of ​​creating this collection belonged personally to Emperor Nicholas II, who recognized the important role of the relationship of the peoples of the Russian Empire - historically multi-ethnic state - at the beginning of the XX century having a membership of about 200 nationalities. In 1907, the workshops of the Imperial Porcelain Factory started to operate the idea. The project management was handled by the famous sculptor Pavel Pavlovich Kamensky (1858-1922), who served for many years as head of the props master of the Imperial Theatres.

At the exhibition the audience can see all 74 sculptures from the series “Peoples of Russia”. Most of them belong to the collections of Russian Ethnographic Museum and the State Hermitage Museum. A number of sculptures have been recreated by masters of our time by the “Imperial Porcelain Factory”.

Next to the sculptures are presented 56 correlated with their costume complexes and individual items from the collections of RME and SEM showing the composition and ways of wearing clothes that are typical for each of the represented ethnic traditions. Much of the costume is just of “ethnographic material” with which, creating sculptures, P. P. Kamensky and artists of the Porcelain Factory worked. The other complexes are analogues of clothing outfits depicted in statues.

In the year of the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty the exhibition “Images of the peoples of Russia” is a tribute to the imperial family, which took an active part in the creation and prosperity of the Ethnographic Department of the Russian Museum, now the Russian Museum of Ethnography, whose main task is still the preservation and study of the cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia.