Presented as a diplomatic gift, the vases are decorated with underglaze painting, a technique restored from before the Revolution. The director of the factory worked with the veteran artist, Grigory Zimin (1875–1958) who painted these scenes. The factory’s production included vases dedicated to the seasons of the year, such as this pair, one of which has a summer landscape entitled ‘Stormy

Presented to HM The Queen by Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin, 1956