Peter Vaulin was born in
1870 in the Urals. In 1890 graduated from
Krasnouphimskaya technical school in
ceramics, studied the subject in Russia
and Finland.
He used to be in chardge of the famous
potter's workshop "Abramtcevo",
organized on the initiative of
S.I.Mamontov, known manufacturer and
patron of art. The noted artists as
M.A.Vrubel, A.Ya.Golovin took part in
that shop's work.
In 1906 Peter Kuzmich Vaulin organized
his own potter's enterprise with an art
workshop, on the base of a small
brick-yard in Kikerino, near Gatchina.
That marked a beginning of a new fruitful
period of his activity connected with
St-Petersburg.
Outstanding ceramist Vaulin, awarded the
diploma at the international exibition in
Paris, worked in clay and glaze. As
previously in Abramtcevo, a number of
eminent artists of the time came to work
in Kikerino : N.K.Rerikh, A.M.Matveev,
B.E.Borissov-Moosatov, S.V.Chekhonin,
N.Lansere, N.V.Vassiliev, R.F.Meltcer.
Perhapce more thorough investigation of
their creative work will lead us to the
author of IEM's library portal and
majolics design.
Peter Vaulin embodied the beautiful
majolic composition for he russian
pavilion of the
Drezden Hygienic Exibition in 1911. Later
it was moved to St-Petersburg to decorate
the building
of IEM's library. |
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 Portal includes
the door's platband, tympanum with flower
ornament and birds, semiarch based on two small
columns, decorated with ornaments and crowned
with capitals with Syrins. Majolic arms with
two-headed eagles are on the top of each capital.
To the left and to the right of the colums there
are charming images of a unicorn and a griffin.
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In the lower part ot tympanum there used
to be two marble plates with the inscriptions : " Library of the
Imperial Institute of Experimental Medicine opened
February 21, 1913 in commemoration of 300-year
anniversary of Romanov's House Reign" and "The building
constructed in the time of trusteeship of H.H. Prince
Alexander Petrovich Oldenburgdsky, the founder of the
institute, under the directorship of V.V.Podvisotsky to
the expenses of vice-director S.I.Vinogradsky". Now
the plates are lost.
Unfortunately,
in soviet time one of the most attractive details of the
facade was lost too : large russian arms, supported by
two angels, as well as majolic plates over the windows
with the names of famous scientists ( Aristotel,
Magendie, Muller, Pasteur, Mendeleev, etc).
Majolics of the library building needs restoration today.
The masterpiece of Vaulin's work is the decorative
ceramic of the mosque, built in St-Petersburg in
1910-1917. It's a real museum of majolics, for which a
new method of glazing was designed and used.
Vaulin decorated a lot of beautiful buildings, among them
Kronshtadt Cathedral, Yaroslavsky railway station and
Tretiyakov Gallery in Moscow.
In
1918 Peter Kuzmich became the director of Lomonosov
porcelain factory, director "Gorn" plant (
former Kikerin). He died in 1943.
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