"V Luchakh Presni" Porcelain Set

About the Collection

The Presnya district holds two layers of Moscow culture that are rarely considered together. The first is the Constructivist architecture of the 1920s: the Narkomfin Building on Novinsky Boulevard, the Gosstrakh Building on Malaya Bronnaya, the Zuev Club. The second is theatre: the Gorky Moscow Art Theatre, the Mayakovsky Theatre, the Pushkin Theatre, the Theatre of Satire, the Malaya Bronnaya Theatre, and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. The collection joins both layers in a single set of tableware.

The form of the objects refers to the architecture. The symbols on the bases of the cups refer to theatrical productions.

The Language of the Collection

No print, no painting, no decal. Only two colours — white and black — and relief. The image exists as a change in surface: it can be felt with a finger before it is seen by the eye. Meaning is not applied on top of the object — it is embedded in its form.

Materials

The cups and teapot are made from white porcelain; the pour-over cone from black porcelain. The relief is formed through a plaster mould during casting. The symbols on the bases of the cups use the method of intaglio relief: a recess in the mould creates a raised pattern that retains the colour of the base material after glazing.

The Objects

Teapot “Narkomfin Chimney” — white porcelain. A cylindrical form with vertical grooves reproducing the silhouette of the ventilation stacks on the flat roof of the¹ Narkomfin Building.

Pour-over cone “Constructor” — black porcelain. The only black object in the set. It distinguishes the brewing instrument from the serving pieces.

Six coffee cups — white porcelain. The exterior carries horizontal grooves referring to the ribbon glazing of the Narkomfin Building. On the interior base, an intaglio symbol dedicated to one of the district’s theatres. The symbol is hidden while the cup is full. When the coffee is finished, the grounds settle around the relief and reveal it — like reading coffee grounds, except the subject is given in advance.

“The Lower Depths” — Gorky Moscow Art Theatre. Broken chains on the base: the freedom people speak of but never claim.

“The Bedbug” — Mayakovsky Theatre. A sting on the base: the philistinism of Prisypkin, which survives every era.

“The Servant of Two Masters” — Pushkin Theatre. Two daggers on the base: Truffaldino juggles two lives, and both blades point back at him.

“A Profitable Position” — Theatre of Satire. A pierced heart on the base: the price of honesty in a system where honesty does not function.

“Summer and Smoke” — Malaya Bronnaya Theatre. Smoke on the base: what was real for Alma, and did not hold.

“Eugene Onegin” — Tchaikovsky Conservatory. A burned letter on the base: everything that happened too late.