Tea steamer, M.S. Kuznetsov factory

Porcelain, decal, gilding. Gilding scuffs. The brand is underglaze. Guarantee of authenticity. Rare.

The M. S. Kuznetsov Porcelain, Earthenware and Majolica Products Manufacturing Association is one of the largest porcelain and earthenware industries in the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was founded on September 29, 1887 by Matvey Sidorovich Kuznetsov, a Russian industrialist and entrepreneur from the Kuznetsov family, and existed until 1917, when most of the enterprises were nationalized.

On September 29, 1887, the M. S. Kuznetsov Porcelain and Earthenware Production Partnership was registered with a fixed capital of 5,001,000 rubles in 1,667 shares of 3 thousand rubles each. Over time, it included 7 Russian factories for the production of earthenware and porcelain tableware: in Riga, Dulev, Novgorod and others. The Board of the Partnership was located in Moscow at 8/2 Myasnitskaya Street.

In 1891, Kuznetsov bought the Gardner porcelain factory in the village of Verbilki near Moscow, founded around 1766 by the Russified English merchant Franz Yakovlevich Gardner. He produced expensive, highly artistic tableware and was the winner of many exhibitions, competing with the Imperial Factory near St. Petersburg. The Gardner plant in Verbilki lagged far behind Kuznetsov's factories in terms of technology and cost of production, its financial affairs became confused, which allowed Kuznetsov to buy it for 238 thousand rubles, gaining the right to put the brand "Gardner" on products, signs, invoices, as well as use its medals and awards, which spurred the sale of expensive products. In 1892, a porcelain factory was founded in Slavyansk, Izyumsky district, which produced earthenware. In 1894, Kuznetsov bought a factory in the village of Pesochnaya, Yaroslavl Province, and in 1898 he bought a factory in the village of Pesochnya, Kaluga Province, from the Maltsovs.

By 1898, the Partnership had become the largest in Europe, and at the beginning of the 20th century, about 2/3 of Russian porcelain was produced in the factories of the Partnership. In 1902, Kuznetsov was awarded the title of Supplier of His Imperial Majesty's Court. One of the Partnership's competitors was a network of factories owned by Matvey Sidorovich's cousin, Ivan Yemelyanovich Kuznetsov. Its production facilities were located mainly in the north of Russia. In 1906, due to the growth of revolutionary sentiments, Matvey Sidorovich suggested to his cousin to abandon the exhibition sale at the fairs of Vologda, Ostrov, Pskov and Dorpat. An agreement was reached, and the main competitors began trading at the fairs in turn[5]. Ivan Yemelyanovich Kuznetsov sometimes put the brands of the partnership on his products, which became the reason for the proceedings in court.

Dulevsky porcelain represented the country at world exhibitions and was awarded gold medals in Paris in 1889 and 1890, the Grand Prix in 1903 and 1905 in Reims and Liege. In 1903, the partnership's fixed capital was 3.9 million rubles, by 1913 it had been increased to 5 million rubles, and the balance was almost 19 million rubles. Annually, the factories of Kuznetsov produced porcelain and earthenware products totaling 7,149 million gold rubles, the total number of workers at the enterprises reached 12.5 thousand people. For comparison: the share capital of one of the largest insurance associations in Russia at that time, the Russian Mutual Insurance Union, amounted to about 1 million gold rubles; the expenses of the Russian treasury in 1903 amounted to 1,883 million gold rubles, the official annual pension of a worker for disability in 1903 was 25 rubles. 32 kopecks.