The Russian Shop / Maison Russe
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Millennium of Russian Orthodoxy
In 988, Holy Prince Vladimir officially adopted
Byzantine Rite Christianity as the state religion of Kievan Rus'. This
date is considered the official birthday of the Russian Orthodox
Church, and in 1988, the Church celebrated its millennial anniversary.
To commemorate this historic event, three limited edition porcelain plates were designed by the Russian artist
Valeria Nisskaya (more information about her below). The plates were issued and distributed from Western Germany,
and manufactured by The Lindner Porcelain Factory. The edition
was to be limited to 10,000 plates but that number proved to be
grandiose as about 1,000 were ulitmately produced, one-tenth of the
anticipated production run. The designs on each plate are rich and detailed using pure gold and colorful transfers.
Intricate Church Slavonic lettering surrounds each design.
Plates are 10" in diameter and come with a Certificate of Authenticity
guaranteeing the quality. Valeria Nisskaya comes from a family
of artists and is truly multi-talented. In addition to painting, she is
a sculptor and has been art director for many films, including the acclaimed film "Seryozhka". She
won best art director at Cannes in 1960 and exhibited numerous paintings
in Rome and Venice, as well as in Russia.
The Church confers upon
the Holy Grand Prince Vladimir many titles, including "Baptizer of Rus'",
and "Vladimir Krasnoye Solnushko", which means "The Beautiful Sun."
Princess Olga was his grandmother, who ruled Rus from 945-962 AD. She is
considered one of Russia's most outstanding women. She was baptized in
Constantinople in 955. Soon afterwards she built the Church of Saint
Nicholas and the Church of Hagia Sophia. Saint Vladimir built his first church out of stone and dedicated it to the Dormition of the
Blessed Mother of God.
Click on each image for a closer look
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