One of the most complex methods of artistic processing of natural stones is “Russian mosaic”. This technique glorified many domestic craftsmen who worked at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Russian mosaic technique itself was invented in the second half of the 18th century.

Using the Russian mosaic technique, masters created a wide variety of works: from furniture (malachite sets) to interior items (vases, paintings, figurines, candelabra) and jewelry. The Russian mosaic technique involves a special technology for processing stone and creating shapes. The first step was always to create the desired form of the work - for example, a vase.

After the mold was ready, thin plates of a pre-prepared stone (for example, malachite) were glued onto it. At the same time, the master at this stage is faced with the task of combining plates of different shapes in such a way that they, like a puzzle, form a single pattern - creating a single harmonious picture. Each plate (thickness up to 6 mm) is ground down at a certain angle. This approach simplifies the subsequent adjustment of parts to each other.

Another important point is to combine the elements so that the seams are invisible. Previously, craftsmen used tin as glue. At the same time, for certain types of stones (for example, malachite) a special mastic was used.

The next stage of creating a product using the Russian mosaic technique is polishing and grinding. The glued plates are rubbed with a special grinding stone. After this procedure, the stone acquired a special attractive shine.

One of the features of the Russian mosaic technique is that it is possible to create a stone pattern from plates not only on a flat surface, as is the case with Florentine mosaics, for example, but also on curved surfaces. Products created using the Russian mosaic technique are distinguished by expressiveness and a pleasant ornate stone pattern. Once you see what Russian mosaic is, it is impossible to confuse it with something else.

It’s easy to get acquainted with the art of Russian mosaic - just look at the collection of stone products in the Russian gift house “Great Rus'”. The gallery of the Great Rus' store presents a wide variety of works by Russian artists created using this amazing technique. You can buy any work both on the website and in our salon.

One of the first places in the Hermitage stone collection belongs to objects made of malachite - about 200 vases, tabletops and other works of stone-cutting art. Malachite is well known to most people, like amber - it is a green ornamental stone of various shades, ranging from blue to almost black. When cut, it gives a beautiful layered pattern in the form of rings and stripes.

Malachite products are varied in their shapes and purposes. Monumental vases decorated the interiors of palaces, illuminated by stone floor lamps. In the state rooms of the palaces there were tables inlaid with green stone. Small items - boxes, caskets, ink utensils, snuff boxes - were household items in the old days.

The strict, beautiful forms of malachite products are perfectly combined with the color richness of the stone and its patterns. This impression is enhanced by the shine of gilded bronze, which is used in the decorative design of products.

Malachite, Russian mosaic, and the Peterhof factory

All malachite products, including huge decorative vases, are made using the Russian mosaic method that brought fame to the Peterhof factory.

This is how Academician A.E. Fersman describes the technique of this work in his famous book Essays on the History of Stone:

Pieces of dense malachite were sawn into plates several millimeters thick, which were set on marble or metal according to the pattern of the stone, with almost imperceptible, carefully adjusted seams, which gave the impression of a solid stone. In this way, invented back in the second half of the 18th century, Russian craftsmen lined (like plywood) huge tables, bowls, vases and even columns, widely using malachite, lapis lazuli and occasionally jasper. We admire the huge vases made of these stones in the large halls of the Hermitage, the sparkling tables and columns in the b. The Winter Palace or in St. Isaac's Cathedral - all these unique world art objects are made in this way, from small pieces, and not from monoliths of stone.

One of the first products of the Peterhof factory, made using the Russian mosaic technique from malachite, was a round tabletop. The surface of the table is lined with malachite plates; chased antique figures made of gilded bronze, depicting a cheerful procession of bacchantes and satyrs, decorate its side. The triangular base of the table is decorated with bronze sphinxes and ornaments.

In the photo on the right is the Fireplace of the Malachite Hall of the Winter Palace. 1839. State Hermitage Museum.

In the Hermitage, the most artistically valuable household items made of malachite are exhibited in the Malachite Hall. Malachite is also widely used in the decoration of the hall itself.

Along the long sides of the hall there are eight malachite columns arranged in pairs, along the short sides there are eight pilasters with capitals on white marble pedestals. Malachite fireplaces are built under huge mirrors in gilded wooden frames. In the center of the parquet floor, from where the wooden beams radiate, stands a malachite vase on a tripod of gilded bronze and with winged female figures. Along the walls and windows there are tables, floor lamps, and vases covered with malachite mosaics. The showcases display a variety of malachite products - table decorations, writing instruments, caskets, boxes and other products. This is a real incomparable malachite kingdom, which every citizen of our large country would like to visit at least once in their life.

The malachite temple, made in the form of an antique rotunda temple, where malachite is used in the decoration of the columns, and other colored stones in the mosaic of the floor and dome, is also one of the monuments of the 19th century stone-cutting art of the Hermitage.

Agate rooms in Tsarskoe Selo

A similar achievement in the art of Russian mosaic is the Agate Rooms in Tsarskoe Selo.

The technique of Russian mosaic, where the plates were so skillfully selected according to tone, pattern and color that the impression of a monolithic stone with a single pattern was created, was used when working not only with malachite, but also with jasper, lapis lazuli, agate and other stones.

In the technique of mosaic sets, techniques such as ribbon, soft velvet, two-sided, four-sided, streamed and others were used.

Ribbon (stream) pattern

In a ribbon or stream pattern, the stone plates were arranged in a continuous strip and were selected so that the lines of the pattern on one plate smoothly transitioned into the lines on the next one. The pattern had to flow continuously.

Soft velvet

A mosaic set of soft velvet is used when finishing large areas of the surface, while the plates are selected in such a way that the lines of the pattern gently transition into each other in all directions, and the whole set would give the impression of a single stone. Finding the joints is sometimes simply impossible!

Pattern on two or four sides

Getting a pattern on two sides or four sides is not as difficult as the previous ones. To do this, you need to saw off a plate of colored stone with a thickness of 3 mm to 6 mm. The patterns on both sections of the plate turn out to be the same, therefore, by filing the second plate and aligning it with the first, we get a symmetrical pattern on both sides.

By connecting the plates with prepared wooden rectangles, we get the walls or lids of the box. If you cut off two more plates from the same stone and connect them with the first two, you will get a pattern on four sides.

In the same way, you can make compositions on six or more sides, combining them into various patterns and decorating various things.

Stone mosaic art

The art of mosaic allows you to create amazing, highly artistic, unique, incomparable works!

One of the pinnacles of Russian mosaic and stone-cutting art is the map Soviet Union, created from colored stones and gems, placed in the Hermitage. Its size is simply colossal - it boggles the imagination. Map area 22.5 sq. m, scale 1: 1,500,000.

Excellent selection here different kinds green jasper for the endless plains of the country, yellow and brown for the mountains, white opal- these are eternal snows, light green Amazonian stone– oases in deserts, blue lapis lazuli- of course, seas and oceans. From eagle a ribbon of the state border has been laid out.

The map was made by cutters and polishers from Yekaterinburg; hundreds of people worked on it for 11 months. They cut 4000 rubies, almandines, amethysts, emeralds, topazes, aquamarines and others precious stones, which are used here.

The mosaic set required painstaking and delicate work. Based on a watercolor drawing, craftsmen selected stone tiles of the same tone so that they would be in perfect harmony with each other. At the same time, it was necessary to maintain the dimensions of the stone tiles. An inaccuracy in size in one part of the map would result in the rivers, lakes and other geographical features depicted on it not being consistent with the rivers and lakes of the neighboring part. This is real jewelry work- on a huge scale.

After assembly, the tablets were leveled on large grinding wheels. Grinding was a very responsible operation: carelessness could lead to potholes in the carefully selected stone.

The polishing of the stone map fragments was just as important.

Each capital of the union republic is marked with a large ruby star, and its name is posted emeralds. The ruby ​​star of Moscow is decorated with a hammer and sickle made of diamonds.

Thousands of gems marked the industrial centers of the country. Rubies different shapes enterprises of heavy industry are shown, almandines - chemical, amerists - light, emeralds and rock crystal - timber industry, golden topaz - food, pale blue topaz - paper mills, dark cherry almandine triangles indicated power plants, ribbons of smoky topaz - oil pipelines. Black jasper and milky white kahalong marked minerals - coal, oil, manganese, apatite, etc.

The card was framed by a beautiful frame made of white marble with bronze. It was crowned with the coat of arms of the Soviet Union. The hammer and sickle were made of dazzlingly sparkling Ural phenacites.

Thousands of visitors stood near this map for hours at World and International Exhibitions.

Then the map was redone and enlarged: the size increased to 27 sq. m, and the surface consisted of 45 thousand plates of colored stone, 450 silver and gilded stars depicting cities.

“Children’s illustrators” - Ivan Maksimovich Semyonov. Illustrations by Vladimir Suteev. Evgeny Mikhailovich Rachev. Illustrations by Evgeny Charushin. Illustrations by Boris Diodorov. Alexey Mikhailovich Laptev. Vladimir Mikhailovich Konashevich. Illustrations by Boris Dekhterev. Nikolai Alexandrovich Ustinov. Oleg Vladimirovich Vasiliev. Boris Aleksandrovich Dekhterev. Illustrations by Yuri Vasnetsov. Illustrations by Leonid Vladimirsky. Evgeny Ivanovich Charushin.

“Russian dolls” - Russian folk doll. Zernushka or Krupenichka is a doll that symbolized prosperity. Anyone who didn’t play with dolls as a child never saw happiness. Making dolls. Ritual dolls. Happiness is a small doll with a very long braid. Play dolls. The history of the emergence of Russian folk dolls. Kupavka is a one-day doll that symbolized the beginning of bathing. Ten-handle. Martinichki. Kuvadka (or Kuvatka) is one of the simplest protective dolls.

“Artist and Theater” - Theater professions. Set designers. Screenwriters. Reflection. The location of the performance. Puppet artists. Activity. Designers. Artist and theater. Silver hoof. What role does the artist play in the theater? Costumes for the performance. Variants of the problematic question. Name theatrical professions.

"Ivan Bilibin" - "The Tale of Tsar Saltan." Since 1936, after emigrating, Bilibin has lived in St. Petersburg. B.M. Kustodiev. In 1905, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” appeared with drawings by Bilibin. In 1899, Russians began to produce folk tales with drawings by Bilibin. Ivan Bilibin died on February 8, 1942. The drawings are remembered as something bright, joyful and magical. Firebird and the Gray Wolf", "White Duck and others. Portrait of I.Ya. Bilibina. 1901

“The history of Gzhel” - Porcelain production. Caster. One of the traditional Russian centers for the production of ceramics. Semi-faience. Gzhel. The first mention of Gzhel. Pottery pipes. The art of folk Russian porcelain. Art. Traditional painting with salts of non-ferrous metals. Artel "Art Ceramics". Execution of painting. Women are "scribes". Gzhel was famous for its clays. Gzhel majolica. Release of products.

"Folk rag doll" - Rag doll. A little history. Ancient Slavs. Doll. Types of dolls. Easter doll. Pieces of bright rag. The history of dolls. Lovebirds. Product cost calculation. Folk toy. Ritual dolls. Torso. Folk custom. Pock. Play dolls. How to make a spin doll. Folk dolls. Project

A distinctive feature of Russian mosaic is its use in volumetric mosaic works(Fig. 77 from Baranov’s book, p. 157).

This type of mosaic involves the preliminary production of a base in the shape of the future product. The base can be made of marble, coil, or metal, slate, plaster. The base is lined with thin plates of colored stone, most often malachite, lapis lazuli and jasper. Individual plates should be selected in color and natural pattern so as to get the full impression of a monolith.

Mosaic on spherical planes is a labor-intensive process. Stone plates for mosaics are initially prepared on grinding machines or universal wheels with profiled abrasive wheels made of silicon carbide. Then the plates are ground together and then glued to the base.

In Russian mosaic, as in Florentine, grinding and polishing is done when the picture has already been completed. The gluing mastic consists of rosin, wax, shellac and small particles of stone from which the mosaic is made. Other adhesives that have strength and a softening point of at least 45 ºC can also be used, including epoxy glue.

The most complex mosaic is malachite. The selection of malachite products according to malachite varieties is carried out in three main ways: “stamps”, “with crushed stone”, “dug velvet”.

When setting with “stamps,” malachite plates are first set in separate patterns, most often concentric, with tightly fitted seams that leave no voids. Then the space between the typed patterns is filled with pieces of malachite with a neutral pattern. For this type of typing I usually use malachite best quality, free from flaws and voids.

For the “crushed stone” set, you can use malachite of lower quality, with voids. The mosaic is typed in the same way as with the first method, i.e. the plates are selected according to the pattern, but a loose fit of the seams is allowed. The voids and seams are filled with malachite crushed stone and mastic.

When typesetting with “buried velvet” you can use small plates of different quality and design that are not suitable for other types of typesetting. The malachite plates are not glued tightly, but at some distance from each other. The space between them is filled with crushed stone from small pieces of malachite with mastic.

After completing each of the listed types of set, all seams are re-plastered. Plastering of seams is carried out after leveling, as well as after polishing the set.

Russian mosaic requires great skill and patience. This method is used to make vases, columns, bowls with a rounded surface and with relief ornaments.

A type of Russian mosaic is three-dimensional mosaic, which is often a three-dimensional sculpture. It involves the creation of a plastically integral work from one or several different stones.

Making a volumetric mosaic always includes carvings, which give it expressiveness.

Another type of Russian mosaic is the so-called overhead mosaic. Its essence is that the completed volumetric mosaic, for example a currant branch, is superimposed on ready product made of stone as a decorative decoration (Fig. 13 from Beletskaya’s book).

In the manufacture of small-sized products (boxes, vases), for decorative design, for example, flowers or berries, each individual detail is drawn, sculpted, and counter-templates are used for control.

When creating a sculpture using the three-dimensional mosaic method, in addition to sculpting the entire sculpture, individual parts are sculpted and painted in color. The production of each mosaic detail is carried out mainly on a universal headstock, equipped with the necessary devices and tools.

Parts for mosaic products are also processed on surface grinding machines (faceplates), abrasive or felt wheels, depending on the nature of the operation. In volumetric mosaic, artistic carving is necessarily used, on which the expressiveness of the volumetric product depends. Three-dimensional mosaic elements are connected with epoxy glue.

For making three-dimensional mosaics from flat plates of various geometric shapes It is necessary to first make a full-size mock-up of the future product. It can be made from cardboard or other materials convenient for this purpose. The model is painted to match the color of the selected stone; it is on it that the color scheme of the stone plates is specified.

Each geometric element is transferred to cardboard, which plays the role of a template when marking the blanks on the stone and when adjusting them. Sanded and polished adjacent plates are glued with epoxy glue into mosaic elements in accordance with the layout.

The technology for manufacturing volumetric mosaics such as vases, boxes and similar products may be different. This is decided at the stage of creating the layout. Each side of a volumetric product can be typed separately and then glued.