ne of the highlights of the Hillwood Museum is its important collection of Russian Imperial porcelain. Founded in 1744 in St. Petersburg, the Imperial Porcelain Factory was a natural inclusion in the city Peter the Great had founded in 1703. Since the European discovery of the process of porcelain manufacture in the early eighteenth century--the formula was first worked out in China in the seventh century-- it had been the object of intense competition among European monarchs, most of whom established royal manufactories. As many of the pieces Mrs. Post purchased demonstrate, the Russian Imperial Porcelain Factory often produced goods that advertised the commissioning monarch’s political or military power, erudition, or noble character and, perhaps most important, the vast lands he or she controlled. For more information on each object, click on
buttons below.
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