About AFM

In 2017, the artist Elena Saurina and the philanthropist Andrei Kuznetsov nurtured a plan to create a one-of-a-kind company to manufacture works of porcelain of unsurpassed quality. So, on December 13, on the feast day of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, the Andreyevskaya Porcelain Manufactory appeared in St. Petersburg.

Masters who had the unique skill of overglaze painting were gathered from all over Russia. Many of them have had more than a decade of experience in working with porcelain. Moreover, almost everyone has a related profession (a theater artist, a textile painter, an art restorer, a designer, an icon painter).

Our goal is to create exceptional porcelain works of almost unattainable quality to reveal the creative gift of Russian masters and the artistic infinity possibilities of the material in their hands.

Today, the Andreyevskaya Porcelain Manufactory is a set of painting and muffle kiln workshops that are well-equipped for the artists’ work, as well as exhibition halls on the Neva Embankment near the historic city center in the building of the former Petrovsko-Spasskaya Manufactory, which was built in the middle of the 19th century.

The artists create uniquely complex works on noble porcelain, which display the luxurious richness of paints, and revive the traditions of the world-famous European school of classical overglaze painting.

The Manufactory uses various forms, such as tea, coffee and table sets, porcelain paintings, vases, Easter eggs, jewelry boxes, decorative plates, and porcelain appliques for furniture.

Most of the works created by the masters at the Manufactory are in one way or another dedicated to their Motherland, Russia. We are proud of our sets with the images of temples and iconic places of the country, the flora of Russia, the Russian Guard, folk costumes and the old Russian way of life. A monogram, a family coat of arms, a portrait, a work of architecture, a still life, a landscape, theater, sport, hunting, genre scenes, works with any theme and of the highest levels of painting done by hand become exquisite gifts for any holiday and will impress discerning collectors of artworks.

The still lives embodied in porcelain have unrivaled charm, freshness and expressive beauty. This is a mysterious and magnificent world where each individual flower is the main character, and all the elements together, the whole bouquet is a harmonious, powerful chord.

A special, soft warm light envelops floral arrangements and reveals the beauty of each flower, every petal, to emphasize, on the one hand, the fragility and tenderness of flowers, and on the other hand, the never-fading nature and timelessness of their beauty.

Droplets of water tremble on a delicate petal, multicolored butterflies flutter, grasshoppers jump... A frozen moment of existence, the “quiet life of flowers” depicted on porcelain with the finest brushes, will last forever...

When representing battle compositions and portraits, we remain historically reliable. There was a curious case related to the costume of Peter the Great. Making a replica of the famous portrait where there were unclear symbols on the Tsar-Emperor’s buttons, we turned to the museum curator of the uniform in the State Hermitage with a request to draw them from nature.

This can be called a romance with one’s own profession...

A separate stage was the creation of a table set based on theatrical sketches and drawings by Leon Bakst, a leading artist, decorator and unique Russian fashion designer. We managed to combine fragments of the most beautiful ballets. The characters, the fabulous luxury of costumes and the theatrical scenery were harmoniously shifted from the theater stage to porcelain, preserving the sensual plasticity of movements, the philosophy of color and the texture of fabrics. The table set turned out to be so emotional and enchanting that according to the customer, the impression is no less breathtaking than a theatrical premiere.

Such masterpieces can be proudly passed on from generation to generation to become family heirlooms.

When completing individual orders, in addition to the technology, the customer’s personal preferences, their taste and style, emotions and sensations are involved. It is always interesting to offer something that is impossible to purchase in a store and that will create a mood, and a new emphasis in an interior.

The process of discussing and creating a new piece is fascinating because of its uniqueness. These collections give off many positive emotions to their owners and create a special cosiness and heartfelt atmosphere in a house.

The Manufactory implies no mass production and does not use mechanized methods of decoration; the paintings are patented; the works are created exclusively as a single copy.

By reviving the unique art of porcelain that is gradually fading all over the world, we believe that we are preserving a niche for man-made values in the fast flow of modernity, and each piece is not a stamped trifle, but it rather keeps the warmth of the master’s soul and hands.

Our porcelain painting is a synthesis of talent, time, and technology, and it is so complex and laborious, akin to the work of jewelers that it can be safely compared to the art of Faberge.

The Manufactory selects and orders high-quality porcelain from leading European and Japanese manufacturers; in painting the masters use skills in chemistry, a centuries-old recipe for paint preparation, as they combine pigments in the form of a dry powder with oils.

The painting is performed in stages, using the method of glaze painting characterized by many paint layers of detailed brush strokes, each of which must be fixed in the firing process in muffle kilns at a temperature of 730 to 820°C. It may take as many as ten firings.

The technology of painting on porcelain is recognized as the most complex in the world, as it is associated with alterations in color and tone of the paint affected by the temperature and the fusion of pigments onto the glazed surface of porcelain. For example, this causes dramatic color changes in gold-containing paint, from grey-brown to bright pink, or dark blue to azure.

Before commencing work, a technological chart is compiled for painting and mixing pigments; trial colors are completed and a palette of shades is prepared for a specific work.

Each color has its own temperature treatment scale; all blue, green, purple and pink shades are fired at a higher temperature, but it is 100 degrees lower for ocher and red shades are.

The process of creating a work is quite lengthy and painstaking, it can take up to several months, but it is this long process that allows the achievement of unique levels of detail and yields a unique color scheme.

Ceramic paints are fused to the surface to become a single integral whole with it, which allows porcelain to be used without fear for the integrity and safety of the painting, as well as without harm to health, and this is confirmed by the necessary certificates.

Gilding is performed with gold and platinum preparations of various percentages from 10 to 95%, depending on what effect is to be achieved. The technology of gilding porcelain gives us a large number of options, matte noble gold, glossy shine, embossed patterns, and gold painted on.

We really focus on the details of the frames for the porcelain, using the best frames made to order, and luxurious cases for each (even the smallest) item.

Leading manufacturers of frames and packaging are among the partners of the company and the development department is constantly searching for improvements and innovations.

The Manufactory plans include the production and casting of new original forms, expansion of production, cooperation with jewelry houses and furniture manufacturers. In the near future the company will enter the international market to proudly represent Russia at exhibitions of art and luxury goods.