Imperial Porcelain Factory

Founded by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in St Petersburg (1744). First porcelain manufactory in Russia. Russian porcelain was invented by the mining engineer Dmitry Vinogradov, who created the country’s first successful works of porcelain (1746). Renamed the Imperial Porcelain Factory by Catherine the Great (1765). Worked on commissions for the imperial court, such as dinner services, decorative vases and other objects for palace interiors in St Petersburg and Moscow, presents for foreign guests and diplomats. Nationalised and turned into the State Porcelain Factory (1917). Renamed the Mikhail Lomonosov Factory (1925). Privatised (1993).