Zverev G. Elephant
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The rapid recovery of the stone-cutting craft industry after the October Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War is convincingly demonstrated by the participation of professional crafters in national and international exhibitions.
In the exhibitor catalog of the First Agriculture Exhibition of the USSR, which was held in Moscow in 1923 году, we can see the name of the well-known crafter Grigory Danilovich Zverev. The son of the renowned miner Danila Kondratievich, who Bazhov, the famous writer, selected as the prototype of his Danila-the-Master, was born in Koltyshy village in the Ekaterinburg District in 1894. At the age of thirteen he went to Ekaterinburg to study stone-cutting and faceting arts. In 1915, the young crafter was drafted into the Army. After the Civil War he came back to the Urals where at first he worked in crafts cooperatives and in 1927 he came to the Russkiye Samotsvety, a restructured lapidary factory, where he worked for forty years.
Grigory Zverev took part in the most significant projects of the factory: In 1935 he cut and faceted gems for the stars on the tower of the Moscow Kremlin; then he worked on the gigantic mosaic map “Industrialization of the Soviet Union” – the map was exhibited at the Paris World's Fair in 1937 – and made elements of the union republics’ coats of arms made from faceted gems; the coats of arms were showcased at the New York Exhibition in 1939.
The “elephant” cut from rock crystal is a very rare example of carved craftworks dating back to the 1920s and having validated authenticity. The statue made after the model of the early 20th century is notable for its impressive size. Following the Ural craft tradition, the master polished only some parts of the statue, the rest of the elephant’s body is matted to imitate the skin of the animal. The elephant’s eyes are accented by green garnets – demantoids. The display stand made from polished grey-and-green Kalkan jasper brings to mind traditional base plates of paperweights decorated with carved berries – a popular design pattern in the Urals.
In the exhibitor catalog of the First Agriculture Exhibition of the USSR, which was held in Moscow in 1923 году, we can see the name of the well-known crafter Grigory Danilovich Zverev. The son of the renowned miner Danila Kondratievich, who Bazhov, the famous writer, selected as the prototype of his Danila-the-Master, was born in Koltyshy village in the Ekaterinburg District in 1894. At the age of thirteen he went to Ekaterinburg to study stone-cutting and faceting arts. In 1915, the young crafter was drafted into the Army. After the Civil War he came back to the Urals where at first he worked in crafts cooperatives and in 1927 he came to the Russkiye Samotsvety, a restructured lapidary factory, where he worked for forty years.
Grigory Zverev took part in the most significant projects of the factory: In 1935 he cut and faceted gems for the stars on the tower of the Moscow Kremlin; then he worked on the gigantic mosaic map “Industrialization of the Soviet Union” – the map was exhibited at the Paris World's Fair in 1937 – and made elements of the union republics’ coats of arms made from faceted gems; the coats of arms were showcased at the New York Exhibition in 1939.
The “elephant” cut from rock crystal is a very rare example of carved craftworks dating back to the 1920s and having validated authenticity. The statue made after the model of the early 20th century is notable for its impressive size. Following the Ural craft tradition, the master polished only some parts of the statue, the rest of the elephant’s body is matted to imitate the skin of the animal. The elephant’s eyes are accented by green garnets – demantoids. The display stand made from polished grey-and-green Kalkan jasper brings to mind traditional base plates of paperweights decorated with carved berries – a popular design pattern in the Urals.
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