Unknown Drawings of A. K. Denisov-Uralsky for Jewellery Workshops (1914–1915)

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the examination of hitherto unknown drawings by A. K. Denisov-Uralsky, created for jewellery workshops in Petrograd between 1914 and 1915. The original jewellery produced by this artist was highly sought after by his contemporaries, yet today, his authentic works are only known in single copies. It is notable that few images of jewellery created from designs by A. K. Denisov-Uralsky have survived. During the artist’s lifetime, such designs were published on only one occasion, in 1912. The process of identifying and studying authentic works by A. K. Denisov-Uralsky is associated with certain objective difficulties, primarily due to the fact that he did not possess his own personal hallmark. Furthermore, the jewellery work of A. K. Denisov-Uralsky was largely forgotten for decades following his departure from Petrograd in 1917, as he remained in Finland and never returned to Russia. The artist’s estate, comprising a mineralogical collection and personal papers, was acquired by the Museum of the Mining Institute between 1919 and 1921. In addition, the museum received four notebooks containing invoices from the workshop of A. K. Denisov-Uralsky, addressed to various jewellery firms in Petrograd. The documents in question contain 22 drawings of jewellery items. The study of the invoices enabled the reconstruction of the range of products and the main creators of jewellery works based on Denisov-Uralsky’s drawings, as well as the identification of the stylistic features of the works that are characteristic of the creative style of A. K. Denisov-Uralsky. This, in turn, enables the effective identification of his works in museum collections and on the contemporary antiquities market, as well as the tracing of the features of continuity in the oeuvre of the Ural jewellery school.

Keywords

• декоративно-прикладное искусство
• эскиз
• ювелирное украшение
• а. к. денисов-уральский
• горный музей