Jewelers who were commissioned by the tsar in Russia during the time of Peter the Great: biography, work organization, and stylistics

Abstract

The goal of this research consists in comprehensive examination of all groups of gold, silver and diamond jewelers who were commissioned by the tsar in Moscow and Saint Petersburg in the late XVII – early XVIII centuries (their biographies, work organization, and artworks), as well as in analysis of stylistic evolution in the artistic image of items made of precious metals of that period. The research is based on the combination of art and historical-cultural approaches. The object this work the jewelry art of the time of Peter the Great. For achieving the set goal, the author refers to the unpublished archival documents and monument of decorative and applied art from the collections of Russian museums. Summary and analysis are conducted on the published material dedicated to the work of jewelers of that time; new records on the jewelers are introduced into the scientific discourse. The research demonstrates that that in the early XVIII century, tsar’s order was carried out by several teams of jewelers from Moscow and Saint Petersburg, who were simultaneously public servants and “free” artisans. The analysis of archival documents allowed specifying the nationality of foreign specialists, as well as the time of their arrival to Russia. The author suggests correlation between attitude of the monarch-commissioner towards court culture and the stylistics of works of decorative and applied art.