Tile patterns. A collection of tiles from the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts.

The Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts collection contains a collection of tiles, which includes three complete stoves with minor losses, fragments of several stoves from the late 18th to the first half of the 19th century, and individual tiles from the late 17th to the early 20th century.

Tile production in Russian lands began to develop no earlier than the 15th century.

The few tiles held by the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts, the Kaluga United Museum-Reserve, and private collections, made in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, were most likely produced in other cities. Similar tiles were produced in factories across Russia until the mid-18th century, especially in provincial centers.

Kaluga tile production developed using the same technology and artistic techniques as the workshops of Moscow, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Smolensk, and other Russian cities. In the early 18th century, the need for a valuable commodity in the growing city of Kaluga led to the emergence of local tile production. Kaluga potters used local clay to produce their pieces.

Kaluga tiles are characterized by the use of white opaque enamel and painting with cobalt paint and low-melting glazes of various colors.

Unfortunately, no information remains regarding the houses from which the tiles entered the museum’s collection. However, archival documents reveal the names of the master tile makers who created such remarkable works of pottery. Kaluga merchants and townspeople — the Zhorins, Kushinnikovs, Ryzhevs, Svechnikovs, Laneevs, and Khatuntsovs — built tile factories and, for 200 years, adorned the homes of not only Kaluga residents but also sold their wares to other cities.

The exhibition will also feature a virtual reconstruction showing what a complete stove decorated with tiles would have looked like. This reconstruction will allow visitors to gain a deeper understanding of how these works of art were integrated into everyday life.