The theme of «Russian Seasons» in the porcelain plastics of Thuringian factories in the 1910s–1920s

The article is devoted to the study of the problems of reflection of the theme of ballet and dance in European porcelain sculpture of the first decades of the XX century. The plots and images of the «Russian Seasons» (Ballets Russes), which became a significant cultural phenomenon of the 1910–1920s, were especially popular. The porcelain factories of Thuringia actively used this theme in their works. The Thuringian figurines are characterized by an emphasis on the details of the costume, made in the technology of lacy porcelain. This made it possible to achieve the maximum similarity between the costumes of porcelain ballerinas and their historical prototypes. The line of figurines based on Diaghilev’s ballet performances and decorated with lacy porcelain was wide enough, but so far this layer of Western European miniature porcelain sculpture has hardly been studied.