German porcelain is highly prized among antique collectors for its exceptional material quality, originality, and the meticulous craftsmanship of its decorative design. The museum's collection preserves five figurines from one of the oldest porcelain manufactories in the Thuringia region of Germany - the statuary group known as *"The Musicians"*, crafted at the Volkstedt manufactory. These pieces entered the museum's holdings in 1991, acquired from a resident of Chișinău. With undeniable historical and artistic value, they bear the distinct imprint of the Rococo style. The Volkstedt manufactory has a long-standing tradition in producing figurines, including those depicting musicians. In 1760, Georg Heinrich Macheleid - inventor of hard-paste porcelain in Thuringia - founded a production workshop in Zitzendorf, which was relocated to Volkstedt in 1762. Macheleid led the manufactory until 1764. Over time, the factory changed ownership and management multiple times. Under the direction of Christian Nonne, it flourished between 1767 and 1797, a period marked by significant artistic development. Volkstedt began creating figurines that would later gain international recognition. It was during this flourishing period that the museum's porcelain statuettes, titled *"The Musicians"*, were produced. They depict five “putti”: four playing musical instruments (flute, mandolin, horn, and pipe), while the fifth conducts. Each figurine is entirely handcrafted - from modeling to painting - and delicately adorned with pastel tones and gilded details, capturing the playful movement and refined artistry of each musician. The base is made of mass-colored porcelain in a rare grey-green hue. The contrast between green, white, and gold accents lends the ensemble an unusually delicate appearance. These ornamental features are characteristic of the Rococo style, which emerged in France and is closely associated with the reign of King Louis XV. The mark applied to the figurines consists of two crossed forks, clearly rendered in underglaze blue, with slightly blurred paint - a detail that helps date their production. Because the crossed forks often resembled the crossed swords of the Meissen trademark, the Volkstedt manufactory was compelled to change its mark starting in 1787. Initially represented by a single fork, the mark briefly returned to two forks before being replaced in 1800 by the graphic symbol "R", referencing the town of Rudolstadt. Therefore, the brief period during which the two-fork mark was reinstated - and during which the museum's figurines were likely produced - is estimated to be between 1787 and 1800.
The statuettes range in height from 10 to 18 cm and are preserved in relatively good condition.
These late 18th-century German porcelain pieces, now on display, are exceptionally rare. They stand as true works of art by German craftsmen and serve as important historical testimonies to the evolution of porcelain manufacturing in Germany.
• Nicolae Răileanu, Considerații privind activitatea muzeelor din SUA (Some Considerations Concerned Museums' in USA) • Elena Prus, Cezar Secrieru, Muzeul ca spațiu de receptare a valorilor spirituale (Museum as a Receptacle of Spiritual Values) • Aliona Duplei, Expoziția - formă de expresie a muzeului (Exhibition as a Form of Expression in a Museum) • Lucia Tonu, De la muzeul satului la ecomuzeu (From the VillageMuseum to an Eco-Museum) • Marina Tanașciuc, Scurtă istorie a evoluției vocației educative a instituției muzeale (History of Evolution of a Museum Educative Mission) • Eugenia Borodac, Tamara Stamatov, Criterii privind determinarea porțelanurilor (Some Criteria of Determination of China Articles Authenticity) • Natalia Kalașnikova, La aniversarea a 100 ani de la inaugurarea Muzeului Etnografic Rus din Sankt-Petersburg (By the 100th Anniversary of the Russian Museum of Ethnography from Sankt-Petersburg) • Lilia Calughin, Andrei Tetercev, Sistemul Automatizat de Evidență a Patrimoniului Muzeului Național de Istorie a Moldovei (The Museum Funds Registration Automatized System of the NationalMuseum of History)
II. Arheologie șl istorie (Archaeology and history)
• Maher Wanli, Ilie Borziac, Cultura Stânca ori preaurignacian? (The Stânca Culture or the Aurignacian One?) • Nicolae Chetraru, Serghei Covalenco, Considerații privind vârsta relativă a stațiunii din paleoliticul superior Rașcov VII (Considerations Concerned the Relative Age of the Upper Paleolithic Site Rașcov VII) • Victor Sorochin, Relațiile între culturile Precucuteni-Tripolie A și Bolgrad-Aldeni (Relations between the Precucuteni-Tripolie A and the Bolgrad-Aldeni Cultures) • Natalia Mateevici, Ştampile amforistice grecești din colecția de antichități a lui Victor Borșevici (Stamps on the Greek Amphorae from the V. Borshchevich Collection of Antiquities) • NicolaeTelnov, Alexandru Levinschi,Dacii liberi - o nouă cultură arheologică în Republica Moldova(Free Dacians - a New Archaeological Culture of the Republic of Moldova) • Alexandru Levinschi, Date preliminare privind datarea complexelor getice "Saharna - La Revechin" (Preliminary Data Concerning the Age of the Getian Site Settlement "Saharna - La Revekin" Complexes) • Ion Dron, Tyras (Turla/Nistru) - mărturie incontestabilă a autohtonizmului daco-getic (românesc) (Tyras (Turla/Nistru) - an Uncontestable Evidence of Geto-Dacian (Romanian) Primordial Territory) • Liviu Vacarciuc, Vestigii Antice despre dezvoltarea horticulturii (Vestiges Concerned Development of Horticulture) • Ion Tentiuc, Particularități și semnificații ale ritului și ritualului funerar în spațiul est-carpatic în secolele XI-XIII (Particularitys of a Funeral Rite on the Territory Situated to the East of the Carpathian Mountains in 11th-13th Centuries) • Dinu Poștarenco, Trecerea armatelor rusești pe la Soroca în 1711 (Russian Army's Crossing the Dniester by Soroca in 1711) • Vladimir Mischevca, Biserica "Acoperământul Maicii Domnului" din Rașcov (The Virgin's IntercessionChurch from Rașcov) • Vlad D. Ghimpu, Săpături arheologice medievale Lăpușna-2000 (Archaeological Excavations Lăpușna – 2000) • Vlad D. Ghimpu, Biserici creștine aflate în târgurile Moldovei administrate de otomani (ChristianChurches in the Moldavian Boroughs Ruled by Ottomans) • Ion Chirtoagă, Pătrunderea ideilor de modernizare în Europa de Sud-Est, în prima jumătate a sec. al XVIII-lea (The Penetration of the Ideas of Modernization into South Eastern Europe in the 1st Half of the 18th Century) • Nadejda Botea, Cartea religioasă de la Rîmnic în sec. XVIII. Din colecția Muzeului Național de Istorie a Moldovei (Religious Book of the 18m Century from Râmnic from the NationalMuseum of History of Moldova Collection) • Ala Melniciuc, Din istoria Eparhiei din Herson. Primii păstori • Mihai Onilă, Mazilii din ținutul Orhei - Lăpușna conform recensământului din 1774 (Mazils from the Orhei - Lăpușna District According to the Census of 1774) • Silvia Corlăteanu-Granciuc, Contribuții documentare la istoria comunității grecești din Basarabia în secolul al XlX-lea (Documentary Contributions to the History of the Greek Community from Bessarabia in the 19th century) • Angela Bușilă, Considerații istoriografice despre obiceiul înmormântării din Basarabia (mijlocul sec. al XlX-lea - prima jumătate a sec. al XX-lea) (Historiographer's Materials Concerned the Funeral Customsfrom Bessarabia (the Middle of 19th - the First Half of 20th Centuries)) • Ana Grițco, File din istoria orfelinatului Balș (Pages from the History of the Balș Orphanage) • Irina Ijboldina, Olga Nacco. File biografice (Olga Nacco: Biographical Essay) • Elena Ploșnița, Cartea în Muzeul Basarabean (1889-1940) (A Book in the BessarabianMuseum) • Aurelia Cornețchi, Contribuții la istoria Liceului de fete Maria Doamnă din Orhei (1907-1944) (Contributions to the History of the Girls' Lyceum from Orhei) • Diana Iepure, Pianul în ambianța cultă basarabeană (a doua jumătate a secolului XIX - începutul secolului XX) (The piano in the Bessarabian Society) • Vera Stăvilă, Documente inedite cu referință la minoritățile etnice din Basarabia interbelică (Unpublished Documents Concerning the Ethnic Minorities Bessarabia in the Inter-War Period) • Maria Danilov, Eminescu și Basarabia (Eminescu and Bessarabia) • Elena Postică, Basarabeni în refugiu: Sergiu Grossu (Bessarabians in Exile: Sergiu Grossu) • Rodica Solovei, Trecerea Nistrului de către Armata Română (1941) -o decizie controversată (Crossing the Dniester River by the Romanian Army (1941): a Controversial Decision) • Serghei Digol, Situația etno-demografică a regiunii transnistrene în primii ani postbelici (1945-1950) (Ethnic-Demographic Situation in the Region Situated Across the Dniester River (Transnistria) (1945-1950)) • Ludmila Toma, Viața și opera lui Vasile Toma (1937-1984) (Life and Creative Work of Vasili Toma (1937-1984)) • Andrei Zenkin, A.V. Suvorov în faleristica, filatelia și arta regională (din fondurile Muzeului din Tiraspol) • Silviu Andrieș-Tabac, Comisia Națională de heraldică a Republicii Moldova la 5 ani de activitate (The National Heraldic Committee of the Republic of Moldova:Five Years of Activity) • Ecaterina Bondarenco, Formarea cadrelor de conservare-restaurare - imperative al timpului (Dictates of Time: Restorers' Training) • Svetlana Speranschi, Colecția de icoane din patrimoniul Muzeului Național de Istorie a Moldovei (General Analysis of Icons' Collection from the NationalMuseum of History of Moldova) • Nicolae Dâmcenco, Expozițiile de arte plastice în muzeele din Tiraspol
III. Omagii șl recenzii (Homages and reviews)
• Nicolae Răileanu, Serghei Covalenco,Constanta vieții • Alexandru Levinschi, A 70-a aniversare - Nicolae Chetraru • Paraschiva Victoria Batarciuc,Cahle din Moldova medievală în secolele XIV-XVIl, Editura Istros, Suceava, 1999, 314 p. (Pavel Bârnea, Anatol Gorodenco)
IV. Cronică muzeală (Museums’ chronicle)
• Aurelia Cornețchi, Cronica activității Muzeului Național de Istorie a Moldovei, anul 2000
German porcelain is highly prized among antique collectors for its exceptional material quality, originality, and the meticulous craftsmanship of its decorative design...
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
