History of the Dyatkovo Plant
The Dyatkovo crystal production has been developing for over
200 years and it can boast of a rich history. The factory
was started by the famous Russian manufacturers Maltsovs in
1790. A big variety of goods, beginning with the most common
household articles like tumblers, wine-glasses, goblets, decanters,
vases and up to sets of crystalware and unique articles of
architectural decoration, have gained wide appreciation and
are very popular both in Russia and abroad.
In late eighties of the XVIII century the area of Dyatkovo
was purchased by Maria Vasilievna Maltsova, a gentlewoman.
She founded a crystal factory in Dyatkovo in 1790. Some more
glass factories were subsequently built nearby
That was the origin of the Maltsov huge industrial empire,
which by the mid-nineteenth century included dozens of different
enterprises, located in the Oryol, Kaluga and Smolensk gubernias
(provinces). The growing and development of the Dyatkovo crystal
plant predetermined the subsequent destiny of the small village
of Dyatkovo, which turned into a large rural centre after
the Transfiguration Cathedral was put up there in 1810.
Started as a small manufacture, the Dyatkovo crystal factory
had grown into one of the biggest glass enterprises of Russia
by the end of the XIX century.
Labour conditions at the factory had always been extreme
and hard. The temperature of 1000 degrees C was achieved by
burning firewood. Predominating in the production were; unbearable
heat at the furnaces, gaspolluted air in the shops, lung-blowing
of produce items, prevalence of manual work at every stage
of a most elaborate technology process. A lot of children
and teen-agers worked side by side with grown-ups in the shops
of the factory.
Gradually a collective of experienced and skilled masters
took shape at the factory. Professional secrets were often
relayed from generation to generation.
The idea "To Any Taste" became the motto of the
factory. To prove it, a lot of inexpensive glassware of a
very wide range were produced there alongside with very complex
and expensive sets, sets of items made by hand, details of
architectural decoration for cathedrals and palaces.
The glass from Dyatkovo has always been distinguished by high
artistic qualities, strict harmony of forms and decorum, purity
and a perfect quality of decoration. A rich experience of
artistic culture, accumulated by a number of generations,
has been summed up, concentrated and has received a specific
interpretation in the works of contemporary masters- executors
and skillers. The magic art of Dyatkovo masters of crystal
has constantly been rewarded with prizes and enthusiastic
appreciation of consumers.
In the XIX century masters of crystal from Bryansk more
than once made sets for 200 persons for the tsar's residences.
These sets were assigned to be used with china and faience
sets, bearing the National Emblem, in the Winter Palace, in
Tsarskoye Selo, on Yelagin Isle and in Gatchina. Moreover,
even today top-rank routs in the Kremlin are served with the
Dyatkovo crystalware.
In 1952 a big multi-itemed set "for Banquets" was
produced at the factory for the first time. Its author was
the young, at that time, artist Yevgraph Sergeevich Shuvalov.
Later he became a People's Artist of RSFSR, a Repin State
prize-winner. The work was done by the order of the USSR Council
of Ministers.
 The
set "For Banquets" has inevitably evoked people's
delight due to its harmonic perfection: exquisite delicacy
of forms and filigree of sparkling diamond sides. And then
its magic tinkling! No similar tinkling, distinguished by
crystal purity and velvety tunefulness has been achieved in
numerous experiments made in Russia and abroad. The set "For
Banquets" is produced at the USO "Dyatkovo Crystal"
at present. An ideal composition of the classic Russian crystal
best traditions lies at the base of this remarkable phenomenon.
For many a decade the set "For Banquets" has been
constantly popular in the market.
The USO "Dyatkovo Crystal" is a modern, dynamically
developing enterprise. It provides produce of a most wide
range of crystalwares. The enterprise closely cooperates with
consumers and deliverers, extending its market. The Dyatkovo
crystal plant plunges into the third millennium with assurance
of its successful perspectives. This optimistic assurance
is guaranteed and based on our rich artistic traditions, high
qualification of the staff, both masters and artist-designers,
today's rates of the production development and all the glorious
history of the enterprise overlapping the period of two centuries.
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