#Exhibit of the Month

German porcelain is highly prized among antique collectors for its exceptional material quality, originality, and the meticulous craftsmanship of its decorative design.
The museum's collection preserves five figurines from one of the oldest porcelain manufactories in the Thuringia region of Germany - the statuary group known as *"The Musicians"*, crafted at the Volkstedt manufactory. These pieces entered the museum's holdings in 1991, acquired from a resident of Chișinău. With undeniable historical and artistic value, they bear the distinct imprint of the Rococo style.
The Volkstedt manufactory has a long-standing tradition in producing figurines, including those depicting musicians. In 1760, Georg Heinrich Macheleid - inventor of hard-paste porcelain in Thuringia - founded a production workshop in Zitzendorf, which was relocated to Volkstedt in 1762. Macheleid led the manufactory until 1764. Over time, the factory changed ownership and management multiple times. Under the direction of Christian Nonne, it flourished between 1767 and 1797, a period marked by significant artistic development. Volkstedt began creating figurines that would later gain international recognition.
It was during this flourishing period that the museum's porcelain statuettes, titled *"The Musicians"*, were produced. They depict five “putti”: four playing musical instruments (flute, mandolin, horn, and pipe), while the fifth conducts. Each figurine is entirely handcrafted - from modeling to painting - and delicately adorned with pastel tones and gilded details, capturing the playful movement and refined artistry of each musician. The base is made of mass-colored porcelain in a rare grey-green hue. The contrast between green, white, and gold accents lends the ensemble an unusually delicate appearance. These ornamental features are characteristic of the Rococo style, which emerged in France and is closely associated with the reign of King Louis XV.

The mark applied to the figurines consists of two crossed forks, clearly rendered in underglaze blue, with slightly blurred paint - a detail that helps date their production. Because the crossed forks often resembled the crossed swords of the Meissen trademark, the Volkstedt manufactory was compelled to change its mark starting in 1787. Initially represented by a single fork, the mark briefly returned to two forks before being replaced in 1800 by the graphic symbol "R", referencing the town of Rudolstadt. Therefore, the brief period during which the two-fork mark was reinstated - and during which the museum's figurines were likely produced - is estimated to be between 1787 and 1800.

The statuettes range in height from 10 to 18 cm and are preserved in relatively good condition.

These late 18th-century German porcelain pieces, now on display, are exceptionally rare. They stand as true works of art by German craftsmen and serve as important historical testimonies to the evolution of porcelain manufacturing in Germany.

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Publications

Journal „Tyragetia"

vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2

Iconographic patterns of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova

ISSN 1857-0240
E-ISSN 2537-6330

Adelaida Chiroșca

Iconographic patterns of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015

Abstract

The theme of the Dormition is reﬂected in the ﬁve icons from the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova. Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, falling on August 15, is celebrated for a long time; according to some sources, it was oﬃcially established in 582. The canonical composition of the icons of the Theotokos was formed after the restoration of the veneration of icons, when the Church overcome heresy and consolidated the basic theological provisions. Initially the scenes were laconic, with a small number of characters; thereafter these iconographic compositions develop into complex patterns with a variety of characters and attributes. Icons of the Dormition from the museum's collection belong to the 18th early 20th centuries, and most of them represent the traditional iconographic patterns arranged both horizontally and vertically.

Retaining in their compositions the characteristic features of the earlier representations the Mother of God on Her deathbed surrounded by the Apostles, the image of the Savior with the soul of His Blessed Mother in His arms, surrounded by angels, painters at the same time introduced elements of more recent origin, or some details less characteristic of this iconographic model. Two such compositions reminiscent of the famous icon from the Dormition Church of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and reproduce the pattern of so-called icons-reliquaries, takes us back to the early icons with special recesses for storage Marian relics, to the churches of Blachernae and Kalkoprateya in Constantinople, where such objects were kept. Other compositions include the scene with Jewish high priest Athonias and an angel with a drawn sword, shoes of the Mother of God, or a burning candle.

The collection has an icon reminiscent of the Gethsemane Shroud of the Mother of God, which was popular in Russia in the 19th century. The composition of another museum's icon does not include the image of the Savior holding a baby the distinctive elements of this iconographic type. Icons of the Dormition from the museum's collection are of medium size, only one is large this is the icon, which decorated a temple dedicated to the feast of Dormition. The museum's icons of Dormition included in the recently published catalog of the Marian icons of the 17th-20th centuries, not only demonstrate the original interpretation of the images and decorations but also provide researchers the opportunity to familiarize themselves with a little studied collection of Marian icons that can complement existing sources in the area, as well as data about the temples, from which these icons came, or personalities related to their history.

List of illustrations:
Fig. 1. Dormition of the Mother of God. Ivory plaque, late 10th early 11th c. The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg (https://www.nsad.ru/pic/3_1346080545.jpg).
Fig. 2. Dormition of the Mother of God. Ivory plaque, late 10th c. The Metropolitan Museum, New York (https:// www.nsad.ru/pic/1_1346080351.jpg).

Fig. 3. Dormition of the Mother of God (carved ivory). Rostov Veliky. Museum of Church Antiquities (https://mariamagdalina.ru/?p=8057).
Fig. 4. Dormition of the Mother of God. Rome, 13th c. The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (https://www.pravoslavie.ru/sas/image/100728/72899.b.jpg).
Fig. 5. Dormition of the Mother of God (carved ivory). Constantinople, 10th c. The Worcester Art Museum (Massachusetts) (https://www.ikonostas.in.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/00009.jpg)
Fig. 6. Fresco "Dormition of the Mother of God". Serbia, SopoФani, 13th c. (https://www.pravmir.ru/wp-content/ uploads/2013/08/0108.jpg).
Fig. 7. Dormition of the Mother of God. A cave church of Göreme, Turkey, 11th c. (https://www.taday.ru/ data/2011/08/28/1233394130/01_Gioreme_Kappadokija_11v.jpg).
Fig. 8. Dormition of the Mother of God. The Transﬁguration Cathedral of the Mirozhsky Monastery in Pskov, mid12th c. (https://interestingeventsclub.uol.ua/text/3730919/).
Fig. 9. Fresco "Dormition of the Mother of God". St. Nicholas Church, Curtea de Argeș, 14th c. (https://madalinfocsa.ﬁles.wordpress.com/2010/05/fresca.jpg).
Fig. 10. Dormition of the Mother of God. The Hospital Church of the Hurezi Monastery, 17th c. (https://ro.wikipedia. org/wiki/Biserica_Bolni%C8%9Bei_M%C4%83n%C4%83stirii_Hurezi#/media/File:RO_VL_Romanii_de_ Jos_Hurezi_monastery_5.jpg).
Fig. 11. Dormition of the Mother of God. Russia, late 18th early 19th c. (NMHM, FB-22918-42).
Fig. 12. Icon "Dormition of the Mother of God" from the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, early 19th c. (NMHM, FB-23384-109). Fig. 13. Icon "Dormition of the Mother of God" from the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, 1885 г. Lithograph from the original of the 11th c. (https://fakty.ua/138804-kogda-s-vysoty-cerkovnyh-svodov-opuskalas-ikona-uspeniya-prihozha-
nam-kazalos-chto-yavlyaetsya-sama-bogorodica).
Fig. 14. Dormition of the Mother of God. Miniature from the Gospel of the Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas, 11th c. (https://www.pravmir.ru/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/0081.jpg).
Fig. 15. Icon "Dormition of the Mother of God" from the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, 19th c. (NMHM, FB-23384-33).
Fig. 16. Dormition of the Mother of God the Shroud of Gethsemane, Russia, 19th c., St. Athanasius Church, Etulia (Vulcănești) (NMHM, FB-22918-73).
Fig. 17. The Gethsemane Shroud of the Mother of God. Jerusalem, 19th c. (https://alchevskpravoslavniy.ru/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/16.jpg).
Fig. 18. Dormition of the Mother of God. Jerusalem, 1868 г. (https://ippo.ru/img/palom/pl_9.jpg).
Fig. 19. Dormition of the Mother of God. Bessarabia, 19th c., the Dormition Church, Copceac (Comrat) (NMHM, FB-22918-203).
Fig. 20. Dormition of the Mother of God. Ivory medallion, Greece, 15th c. Victoria and Albert Museum, London (https://mariamagdalina.ru/?p=8057).