GARDNER - RARE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FIGURINE, 19th CENTURY
A rare antique porcelain figurine 'A boy with a basket'.
Depicts a plump boy holding a basket on his head with one hand and an empty tray and a towel with the other.
The figurine is made at a high level, facial features, small folds on clothes and the texture of objects are perfectly executed, the figurine is neatly painted.
with the a red stamp of the Gardner factory under the double-headed imperial eagle and a red number 16 on the pedestal.
There is also an embossed stamp with the word 'GARDNER' and number '18'.
The famous Gardner factory was considered the best porcelain enterprise of the Russian Empire. Similar figurines depicting peasant life were very popular in the 19th century.
We have included a biography of Gardner below.
CONDITION: Very good for age. No visible damage or repair. Please refer to pictures and email with any questions.
DIMENSIONS: H. 8 3/4 inches (22.2 cm).
REFERENCE: For an identical figure see, Porcelain in Russian 18th-19th centuries, The Gardner Factory, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, 2003.
ESTIMATE PRICE: $300 - $3,000.
CHANCE: You have a GREAT CHANCE to purchase a unique item for your collection - over the years it will only INCREASE in price.
HISTORY of SALES: A few years ago Gardner's Porcelain Figures were sold on Live Aictioneer for $9,000, $10,000, $12,000 and $14,000 - please see the screenshots.
PAYMENT: Payment can be made with PayPal, Credit Card (via PayPal), Zelle, Wire transfer, Check or Money Order.
PAY in PARTS: You can pay for any item during 3-6 months. Just make a 10% deposit and the item will wait for you. We have been offering a possibility of deferring a payment for more than a year now and many people like it and have taken advantage of it.
SHIPPING: Let us Handle Your Shipping. We are one of the few places that offer full service shipping. For your convenience we will ship your item - shipping costs will be included in the invoice.
SHIPPING COST: This is the actual delivery cost. Choose a shipping carrier and a mail service of your preference. Combined shipping is available - next item will be ONE DOLLAR for shipping.
WELCOME: We welcome bidders from ANY country in the WORLD. We will send the item according YOUR instruction.
NEW: Returning customers will have 50% DISCOUNT on shipping.

HISTORY: Gardner Factory Russian Porcelain founded at Verbilki, near Moscow, by the Englishman Francis Gardner in 1766, and known for its hard paste porcelains, the Gardner factory served as important competition for the Imperial Porcelain Factory, spurring artists at both institutions to produce more complicated wares in terms of both form and decoration. One of two porcelain works in Russia during the 18th century, The factory was situated in the Gjelsk region where local clay, which proved suitable for porcelain, could be used. Gardner started with a German manager called Gattenberg, who later joined the Imperial Factory, and he employed a well-known German painter, Kestner. But these and other foreigners taught many Russian craftsmen, principally serfs, who gradually replaced them, as soon as they had mastered the various techniques; so that the number of foreigners employed in key positions steadily diminished in course of time. The factory was operated by the family for three generations until 1891, when it was taken over by Kusnetzoff. The Gardner Factory made lesser quality wares for export and higher quality pieces for the capital trade. In 1777 the Empress Catherine teh Great commissioned the Gardner Factory to produce four dessert services for the receptions held in the Winter Palace. Each service included plates, round and long leaf-shaped dishes, baskets of various sizes for fruit, and a variety of ice cups. Among its other notable works were colored figurines of Russian subjects in unglazed biscuit porcelain. Gardner porcelain had a wide variety of marks in the 140 years of its existence.

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