- Museum number
- 1990,0506.9
- Description
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Plate; porcelain, painted overglaze with, in the centre, the tools of reading and writing (inkwell, pen, book) on top of a hammer and sickle, in black, grey, buff and red, within a green circle, and round the rim, an inscription in Russian with a row of books at the left and a sheaf of grain and a sickle at the right.
- Production date
- 1920 (decorated)
- Dimensions
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Diameter: 22.10 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- See also 1990,0506.10
Associated dates : 1917-1925 (Russian Revolution).
Text from J. Rudoe, 'Decorative Arts 1850-1950. A catalogue of the British Museum collection'. 2nd ed. 1994, no. 356 (appendix)
For a cup and saucer designed by Vilde with similar emblems but a different inscription, see E. Gollerbach and M. Farmakovski, 'La Porcelaine d'Art Russe', Leningrad 1924, 59; according to a booklet published by the Order of Lenin State History Museum, Moscow, 'Porcelain in the early years after the October Revolution', no. 8, this cup and saucer was made in 1921 to the order of the State Publishing House, whose name appears on the cup.
Information supplementary to Rudoe 1994:
For illustration of the cup with the name ofthe State Publishing House, see K. Kemp and K. Weber (eds), 'Die Tafel der Zaren und das Porzellan der Revolutionäre', exhibition catalogue, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Frankfurt, 2008, p. 214, cat no. 415 (text p. 398). For plates with similar tools of reading and writing and slogans extolling the value of literacy, see the following:
- D. Sampson Shinn, 'Soviet Porcelains (1918-1985)', exhibition catalogue, Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York 1992, p. 19, inscribed: 'All who are bold and young of heart should take up book, hammer and sickle'; I. Franzke (ed),'Russisches und sowjetisches Porzellan im Umbruch 1895-1935', exhibition catalogue Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, 1991, p. 78, cat. 64 (Knowledge lightens work), and 65-66 (All who are bold and young of heart should take up book, hammer and sickle); N. Lobanov-Rostovsky, 'Revolutionary Ceramics. Soviet Porcelain 1917-1927', London 1990, pp. 68-9, no. 52 ('All who are bold . . .' etc); I. Wardropper et al, 'News from a Radiant Future. Soviet Porcelain from the Collection of Craig HJ. and Kay A. Tuber', exhibition catalogue, The Art Institute of Chicago 1993, no. 32, p. 40 (ill.) and p. 77 (text), with the inscription 'Learn your letters in order to live better'.
All these plates refer to the early campaign for literacy in the Soviet Union. The combination of learning and agriculture suggests that the message was directed towards a rural audience, where literacy levels were much lower. In the cities, classes were organized at the workplace, but in the country, people were encouraged to study on their own through posters that linked literacy with increased wealth (Wardropper et al, p. 77).
The inscription on the British Museum plate has been previously translated as 'Knowledge in your head means food in your belly'. The literal translation is 'Knowledge in your head means bread [or grain] on the threshing floor', the idea being that a better-educated farmer would produce more abundant crops, with the row of books on the left hand side of the border complemented by a sheaf of grain and a sickle at the right.
VIlde was an artist of the older generation who had worked at the State Porcelain Factory since 1905. He designed many plates with slogans and won a gold medal for his work at the Paris Exhibition of 1925.
- Location
- On display (G48/dc4)
- Associated events
- Associated Event: Russian Revolution
- Acquisition date
- 1990
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1990,0506.9