A dining plate with the coat of arms of the Muravyov family

An original and extremely rare plate in good collector's condition. Mirgorod Art and Industrial School named after Nikolai Gogol. Porcelain; painting, gilding. Stamps: green "MIRGOROD Gogol School" in cartouche. The diameter is 250 mm. In the upper part of the front side there is a gold image of the coat of arms of the Muravyov family — in a golden four—part shield in the first and fourth parts, in a golden field, on a crown from which a sword and arrow are placed crosswise, and in the second and third - on a black eagle, with outstretched wings and a wreath in its beak. The shield is crowned with a count's crown of 9 pearls. A small chip at the edge on the back side. Guarantee of authenticity.

Mirgorod Art and Industrial School named after Nikolai Gogol was founded in 1896. The purpose of the creation of the Moscow Art School was to train personnel for the developing local industry, to train sculptors and artists specializing in the production of pottery, terracotta, majolica, earthenware and porcelain products, architectural ceramics (the demand for which was very great at that time), as well as the dissemination of technical and artistic knowledge among the artisans of the Poltava province. Already in 1900, just four years after its opening, the exhibition committee of the International Art and Industrial Exhibition of Ceramic Products in St. Petersburg awarded the "Gogol" with a medal for samples of technical ceramics, majolica products and ceramic paints developed within the walls of the school.

Following the results of participation in the All-Russian Handicraft Exhibition of 1907-1908, the Main Directorate of Land Management and Agriculture awarded the Moscow Agricultural School with a small silver medal. In 1912, the Imperial Russian Technical Society, on the recommendation of the expert commission of the International Educational and Industrial Exhibition "The Device and Equipment of the School", awarded her a gold medal for a collection of samples of construction and artistic ceramics.

With the growing popularity of Mirgorod art products within the Russian Empire and at international exhibitions, foreign specialists began to be attracted to teaching at the school. It has become prestigious to work at the Moscow Art School. The school is removed from the subordination of the Poltava Zemstvo Board and transferred to the balance of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, that is, it acquires national significance.

Historical information: The Muravyovs (Muravyov-Amur, Muravyov-Apostles) are a Russian noble and count family. The genus is included in the V and VI parts of the genealogical books of the Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Vladimir and Penza provinces. It comes from the Ryazan son of the boyar Vasily Alapovsky, whose children, Esip Pushcha and Ivan Muravey, were transferred in 1488 to the estates in Novgorod and became the ancestors: Esip — Pushchins, and Ivan — Muravyov. Descendants of Ivan Muravy in the XVIII century: Lieutenant Colonel Yerofey Fedorovich Muravyov (killed in the Turkish War in 1739) and brothers — lieutenant Colonel of the Nevsky Regiment Artamon Zakharievich (d. 1745) and Warrior Zakharievich (1665-1710). Nikita Artamonovich's nephew, Ivan Matveyevich, inherited the surname Apostol from his mother; with the death of his eldest son Matvey (see), in 1886, the surname Muravyov-Apostol passed into the Korobin family.