Green Branches and Leaves Pottery Mark with 2 wavy lines 3NK and also CCCP 45-00 in (red)

by sandra
(Harrow, UK)

Green Branches and Leaves Pottery Mark with 2 wavy lines 3NK and also CCCP 45-00 in (red):- I found this in a thrift shop, it a llama with a cub on her back.

Sandra

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Comments for Green Branches and Leaves Pottery Mark with 2 wavy lines 3NK and also CCCP 45-00 in (red)

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bowl with same mark
by: J.Carpenter

I have a 10 inch bowl with the branch and 3nK marking but no red cccp 45-00. I cannot find any info either. Have you found out anything yet?

Konakovo (or Konakova Konakovskaya ) Faience Plant Pottery Mark - CCCP and "ЗиК" (looks like 3nk or 3uk)
by: Peter (admin)

Many thanks for giving me a nudge on this one. I had fun researching this one! It sent me down a fascinating journey.

The Cyrillic letters "ЗиК" (looks like 3nk or 3uk in English) translates from the Russian as "Zik" or "Zeke".

It appears from researching this name, "Zik" or "Zeke" is a studio of the Konakovo (or Konakova Konakovskaya ) Faience Plant from the town of Kuznetsovo in Tver Province (now - Konakovo Tver region of Russia).

This very old and well known (in Russia) Faïence Plant was founded in 1809.

This factory was renamed by the communist regime in 1919 - "The Porcelain Factory named after Kalinin", or in Russian - "Farforovyi Zavod Imeni Kalinina".

Mikhail Kalinin was in fact no more than some minor politician of the Soviet era who headed that region at the time of the revolution and in the period after.

Here's how a website listing all major Russian ceramic makers and potteries (a fantastic hidden resource online for those interested in hard to get information on Russian ceramics) describes the history of this china manufacturer:-

The factory was founded in 1809 in the village of Domkino of Korchevskiy district of Tver province by pharmacist F.H. Brinner. On the 9th of June, 1810, it was sold to A.Y. Auerbach. In 1829 it is moved to the village of Kuznetsovo of the same district. In 1870 it was acquired by M.S. Kuznetsov. In 1918 it was nationalized. In the 1920s rising of production began. In 1924 the factory was renamed into the Tver Porcelain and Faience Factory named after M.I. Kalinin in Kuznetsovo. In 1931 it was called Konakovskaya Faience Factory named after M.I. Kalinin in Kalinin district, and since 1937 - Konakovskiy Faience factory named after M.I. Kalinin. In 1934 the laboratory was organized at the factory. During World War II the factory did not work. At present it is called Konakovskiy Faience factory.

Pottery Mark - 3NK or 3UK CCCP 45-00 continued/.....
by: Peter (admin)

The other words you might see on a pottery mark from this company (which has many different names associated with it; for example, Konakovo Faience Factory (sometimes written by non-Soviets as it sounds "Konakova") or Konakovskaya (Korchevskiy) or Kuznetsovo (Kuznetsov) or Tver or Kalinin) are:-

KOHaKOBO (Cyrillic version of "Konakovo", is pronounced "cornacovva"). This is the name of the town - like Derby or Worcester.

Amazingly, the company is still running and has a website http://faience-shop.ru (beware it is in Russian, is very primitive, has no navigation to speak of).

The CCCP on the backstamp of course stands for The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) which immediately gives a date for your piece from 1922 - 1991.

I was not familiar with this factory myself, but from researching, it appears that the Konakovo or Konakova factory is known for producing high quality wares designed by many very highly respected artists and selling at a reasonable prices.

So your item probably can't be regarded as a luxury item and collectible as such, although in my opinion the figure is absolutely beautiful in terms of design, decoration and make quality.

Apart from the Russian folk-art connection, it also reminds me of the style of Art Deco naive work of 1930's European artists such as Walter Bosse who in the 1920's and 1930's worked with several European firms as well as releasing limited edition work from his own studio (which fetches large sums at auction and is highly collectible).

Russian and Slavic art in particular seems to have a fabulous leaning (and competence) towards this lovely naive style which really appeals to me personally (see below on my reference to Russian Gzhel folk-art ceramics going back to the 1400's).

On the Konakovo/Konakova website (see link above), they have a lists of artists who have worked with them throughout the 20th Century. Although be warned, I had to translate this website from the Russian, there seems to be no sensible navigation and lots of information showing up on the search results were not there when you went to the page.

However, I did manage to find part one and part two of an article called.....

"Artists Konakovo Faience Factory Part 1 and Part 2". Each on a separate page, but there seemed to be no obvious navigation from one page to the other.

Interestingly, some of the artists signatures are included. I didn't see the branch and leaf motif shown in your photo, but this device may have something to do with the artist.

Konakovo have won lots of plaudits for their work since 1809 - The factory won the Grand Prix at the Paris World Exhibition of (1937), silver medal of the World exhibition in Berlin (1958), gold medal of the World Ceramics Exhibition in Prague (1962 and 1979), the Red Banner of Labor (1971), Gold Medal at the Plovdiv Exhibition of 1984.

continued below/.....

Backstamp 3NK (or 3UK) and CCCP 45-00 on figurine
by: Peter (admin)

continued from above/....

The Konakovo faience factory is still one of the biggest producers of faience and decorative majolica in Russia to this day.

Whilst researching this factory, I read an interesting definition of the difference between faïence and majolica which I had always thought of before as, more or less, the same thing in that they are highly decorated earthenwares. However, it seems faïence is less expensive to make and because of the underglaze decoration method, the wares are more hard-wearing and therefore more suitable for everyday use

Quick Company Profile:

Founded in 1809 the Konakovo factory owned by ceramics faience pioneer in Russia, Andrey Auerbach. It made a product known as "Empire faience" showing both printed and hand painted designs resembling Gzhel folk ceramics (see www.artrusse.ca/gzhel).

Note the similarity of your item with the artwork and tradition of Gzhel Pottery ceramics.

Konakovo always prided themselves on the skills of their painters, their designers and their technical expertise.

1829 and 1833 saw the Konakovo factory awarded with the right to use the State Emblem on its wares.

In 1870 they were taken over by the "Kuznetsov's Company, producing porcelain, faience tableware and decorative majolica. M. S. Kuznetsov bought it from A. A. Auerbakh

I suppose working in English bone china, I have never needed to know the difference between faience and majolica. As I said above, in reading the Konakovo/Kalinin website, I discovered that that faience differs from majolica in the glazing and decoration. Faience is considered cheaper and the use of underglaze decoration gives to articles a harder wearing properly more suitable for everyday wear and tear.

In the 1890's the factory also began to make items described as "semi-faience" as well as majolica (see the difference between faience and majolica described above), and also porcelain (hard-paste vitrified), but generally the items produced at the end of the 19th Century into the 20th Century are not considered by experts to be as high a quality as the previous eras of production.

After this demise in its original standards, in the 1920's, the factory (M. I. Kalinin Kona Kovo) once again set out to restore its quality roots, so this is when they began to use the services of pre-eminent artists - which can be found listed on the articles mentioned above.

Ceramic artists such as:-

I. S. Efimov

V. A. Favorskii

I. G. Frikh-Khar

E.M. Gurevich

M. P. Kholodnaia

S. D. Lebedeva

I Apterman

V. G. Filianskaia

Then later in the 1950's and 1960's

O. G. Belova

G. G. Veber

G. M. Sadnikov

I. V. Vasilev

V. V. Sergeev

O. P. Gagnidze

continued below/....

Konakovo Faience Factory or Konakovskaya (Korchevskiy) or Kuznetsovo (Kuznetsov) or Tver or Kalinin
by: Peter (admin)

Mark with 2 wavy lines 3NK (or 3uk) CCCP 45-00 porcelain mark continued/....

A product list for the Konakovo or Konakovskaya (Korchevskiy) or Kuznetsovo (Kuznetsov) or Tver or Kalinin Faience Factory would include the following:-

- Tableware (Faience, semi-faience and porcelain)
- Tea Sets (teapots, cups saucers, dishes, etc)
- Gift ware (majolica, faience, porcelain)
- Vases (majolica, faience, porcelain)
- Coloured ceramics (majolica, faience, porcelain)

Overall, you have a very interesting piece which an expert would most certainly be able to date to within 5 - 10 years of accuracy and also give the current market value of ....

see My vintage and antique china values page

Hope this helps.

Peter (admin)

red marks
by: Jelen

The red mark with CCCP - is the sign of quality with
russian letters , which means USSR.
The 45-00 can be price or serial number, which is more likely for this item.

THE FIGURINE
by: Alexandra

Hello, it is very interessting commets, the red letters it is not 45, it is price - cena 5 rubels, and red triangle-simbol of high qulaty product, sorry for my english.

Zik porcelain
by: AJ

I purchased a few items in Moscow in the seventies. The prices are of course the same. My ZiK collection are all marked 1c which I take to mean First quality, whereas my fairly extensive collection of Gzhel are mainly 3c, though I think superior. The blue colour on ZiK porcelain is a brighter hue than on Gzhel (not as pleasing), and easy to spot the different manufacturer.

Any Photos of Your Collections AJ?
by: Peter (admin)

Hi AJ

I would love to upload some your photos of collections so we can see the differences and your preference for the Gzhel 3c.

Please send to

peter@theclayartist.com

Thanks

Peter (admin)

Laika Dog
by: Carol P

I just wanted to thank you for the information regarding the makers mark. I have a Laika dog, which I assume was made in 1957 to commemorate the Russians sending a dog into space. It clearly states Made in the USSR and has a very faint symbol of the green leaves & 3nK. I have been trying to investigate where it originated from for many years. I had assumed these dogs were very common given the "memorabilia" status but have yet to find another one on the internet.

Moon bear
by: Kate Ennis

I have recently bought a moon bear figure with the same red cccp symbol on the base, which having read your article is a sign of quality. There is also writing in pencil? Natasha (Benzig )?? or similar. Could this be the maker? Any help would be much appreciated.Best wishes Kate.

Figurine
by: Nick

I'm so glad to have found this as I have the figurine on the last page of shop by price "Girl sitting holding her head scarf".
Ultra cute.
I would add picture but I dont see a option to do so.
The price is 999999 py6Hen,how much is that in US dollars these days?
Thanks

Nick's Photos
by: Peter (admin)

Hi Nick

Please send your photos to me here:-

peter@theclayartist.com

and mark it clearly for the . . . "Green Branches and Leaves Pottery Mark with 2 wavy lines 3NK and also CCCP 45-00 in (red)" thread in the China Chat - Russian & East European Marks section.

I get lots of mail and pics, so this will tell me at a glance what the pics are for.

Thanks

Peter (admin)

Russian St petersberg 1762-96 handpainted gorgeous plates. Please help.
by: Anonymous

Hi, I have 3 very different handpainted pottery plates that I identified the makers mark on them, as being from Russia, St Peterborough during Catherine ii between 1762-1796.these plates are very colourful and green being the most to stand out. I have a number I found on one of these. 1063/4. Regards

Dog
by: Kele cole

Hi I just came across your site and saw this article and just wanted to say thanks because I cudnt find this mark anywhere!! I have a small dog with same mark but don't know anything about it,will try to upload pictures.

Photos
by: Jelen

If I can see photos of the marks here I can advice on it. Because the mark on porcelain can be different for different years of USSR porcelain factories. Without photos it is just waist of time.

Large tea set
by: Anonymous

Sorry in advance if this the wrong place to ask this, if so, please let me know. I have a large tea set with 3nk marks on the back. On of the plates also says "1c". The small teapot has "60" and large teapot has "22" written on the back. İn addition to the green 3nk mark just like the one in the original photo. I would love to find out the set's worth. I was very happy to find this thread. How can I share the photos?

Konakovo or ЗиК or 3nk or 3uk or Zik or Zeke Pottery Pot
by: Katheryn

Dear Pete,

I found this vase at the weekend which lead me to your thread on China Chat. Do you know if there is any way of dating the piece?
I am also unsure if it would be described as Faience or Majolica?
Your thoughts would be great.

Kind regards,

Katheryn

photos:

3nk-zik-konakovo-russian-faience

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Reply by Peter (admin)

Hi Katheryn

Thanks for your photos, which you sent for me to upload to
peter@theclayartist.com

To answer your questions:

1. This is Faience. You can tell because, firstly, the Konakovo (or ЗиК or 3nk or 3uk or Zik or Zeke) is known for Faience - which is suitable for mass production, whereas Majolica is not. Also look at the rim as with Majolica there is no rim mark as the whole piece is normally dipped including the rim (as the low fired pot is dipped, then painted over then fired again. In faience the piece sits on the rim as it is glazed.

2. This mark is said to be dated from the 1970's. I have seen no evidence for this directly, it is just what I have heard by hearsay. However, I see no reason to question this dating.

Hope this helps.

Peter (admin)

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