Ceramic souvenirs in Almaty.

"Yesterday I watched the circle spin,
How calmly, without remembering ranks and merits,
The potter molds bowls from heads and hands,
From great kings and the last drunkards."

Omar Khayyam.

Kazakh ceramic ornament.

Alma-Ata scientific and experimental ceramic factory was located at 123 Karasai Batyr Street (former Vinogradov), corner of Muratbaev (former Goncharnaya), in Almalinsky district of Almaty.

In 1935, the Scientific and Experimental Ceramic Station of Kazpromsovet was organized in Alma-Ata. The station was headed by A.N. Beloskursky, an invited specialist from Western Ukraine. The Alma-Ata Scientific and Experimental Ceramic Factory is the only enterprise in Kazakhstan that produces artistic ceramics.
It developed on the basis of a ceramic workshop created more than three decades ago. A wide variety of manufactured products and a high level of their artistic execution are the result of systematic improvement of the skills of artists, skilled workers and the entire staff of the factory.
Vases, jugs, decorative devices for water, kumiss, liqueur, coffee sets, fruit dishes, various household utensils, flowerpots, technical ceramics - this is far from a complete list of manufactured products. Along with mass-produced products, the factory makes unique souvenirs and gift items.
These works embody the hard work of artists, craftsmen, their desire for beauty, love for their land, its past and present. The Central Museum of Kazakhstan, the T. G. Shevchenko Art Gallery in Alma-Ata, the Museum of Oriental Cultures in Moscow and other museums of the country preserve and promote the ceramics of Kazakhstan.
Ceramic products of this factory were exhibited at international exhibitions in Italy, France, Belgium, the USA, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Ceylon. The following artists worked at the enterprise: Valentin Vasilyevich Kukuytsev (in 1946 - 1948), and later - Tamara Davitashvili, Valentina Sadovskaya, Rafael Kudrin.
In 1968, 5 workers of the factory were awarded medals of the USSR Exhibition of Economic Achievements, including: E. I. Panfilova - a silver medal, N. B. Ruzieva. V. F. Patsebin. V. F. Sadovskaya, F. A. Reznik - bronze medals. In the ceramic products of this time, attempts to use volumetric forms and systems of constructing an ornament on vessels characteristic of different historical eras and peoples can be traced, for example, ancient amphoras, lekythos, luster vases of Moorish Granada, etc.
The new context of forms with often unresolved proportional relationships and introduced variations of Kazakh elements of ornament led to a certain eclecticism and kitsch, not expressing the harmony of aesthetic and spiritual ideas of the interpreted samples.
Ukrainian forms of ceramic vessels were especially actively used, which were then also painted with Kazakh ornaments. In search of national originality in ceramics, the forms of leather vessels were repeated, for example, torsyk and zhantorsyk.
In 1937, the ceramic station participated in the World Exhibition of Arts, Crafts and Sciences in Paris. Despite the fact that the USSR pavilion received negative reviews from European and American art critics, and critics called the style of Soviet art neoclassicism, the experimental station received a silver medal and a diploma for a ceramic vase with a portrait of A.S. Pushkin based on a painting by I.N. Kramskoy.
In the pre-war years, the station produced small pots, vases, cups, plates, floor vases and glazed facing slabs with Kazakh ornaments. Among them, vases with colored graphic drawings of tiered ribbons of the Kazakh ornament koshkar muyiz on white engobe stand out.
The factory was awarded a 2nd degree diploma of the USSR Exhibition of Economic Achievements. Taking into account the increased demands of buyers, such products as vases, "Frieze", "Souvenir", "Harvest", "Winter", "Cactus", souvenirs "Camel", "Argali", decorative dishes and others were prepared for sale.
All of them reflect the national traditions of the Kazakh people. On December 23, 2019, the ceramic factory ceased to exist.

Geographic coordinates of location of Almaty Scientific and Experimental Ceramic Factory: N43°14'59 E76°55'13

Authority:
Oksana. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100014720916998

Daughter of General I. V. Panfilov is - Yevgeniya Ivanovna Panfilova.

Today is a special day for me. Alua Bakhytjanovna Baikadamova wrote this morning. Alua Baikadamova is the granddaughter of the legendary General Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov.
Here's the story.
I am collecting information about the activities of the unfortunately closed Almaty Ceramic Factory. That was its name before it closed in 2019. I found a page on Instagram of a store that operated at the factory. The last three posts amazed me:
10.14.2019 – Due to the closure of the enterprise and the store, discounts from 10 to 50%.
11.27.2019 – Final sale – 50%. We are working for the last month!
12.23.2019 – The last photo on the page of the once legendary plant. Without words. Silently. That's how they are silent when there is a dead person in the house.
I went to the place where I often grazed there in the early 2000s. The last time I bought vases was in 2015. The building is located on Karasay Batyr Street, 123 (former Vinogradova), corner of Muratbaev (former Goncharnaya). The store is closed, through the dirty glass you can see cement floors and bare walls.
A greenish-gray bas-relief remains on the building.
That's all. The plant with its glorious past is gone. The last one who fought for it was the deputy director Kulyash Gaysina, whom I searched for a long time, even found her phone number and the phone number of her husband Kadyr Gaysin (thank you, Elena Grigoryan!), but one number already belongs to another person, and the second is out of reach and does not answer.
I found the memoirs of Anatoliy Ivanov-Weisskopf on the Internet. Wow, we knew each other from a long time ago, even friends on FB, but I did not know that he worked at the plant in the early 1980s to 1991. I began to ask him about the craftsmen who worked there, he named their names, and suddenly said:
- Evgenia Ivanovna Panfilova, the daughter of General Panfilov, worked as an artist for us.
I jumped from such interesting news. I wrote to Alua Bakhytzhanovna, met with her.
Here is what she said:
General Panfilov had five children: Valentina (Alua's mother), Zhenya, Vladilen, Galina, Maya.
Zhenya and her little son Kolya moved from Moscow to Alma-Ata somewhere in the early sixties. My mother invited her to Alma-Ata. Zhenya went to work as a draftswoman at a ceramics factory. Later she worked as an artist. In 1968, five workers were awarded medals of the USSR Exhibition of Economic Achievements, including E.I. Panfilova - a silver medal, N.B. Ruzieva, V.F. Patsebin, V.F. Sadovskaya, F.A. Reznik - bronze medals.
She worked at the plant until her retirement in 1980.
She died in 2013. On March 16, I went to Kasteyevka for the opening of the exhibition of the remarkable Kazakh artist Ibrahim Kubekov and there I met Natalia Bazhenova, who heads the department of decorative and applied arts. They are currently making a catalog of ceramic products and collecting information in the archives about the years of life of artists, including Panfilova.
And today, Alua Bakhytjanovna clarified the years of life of Evgenia Ivanovna and sent me photographs. She was born on January 25, 1925 in Ashgabat. She died on March 25, 2013 in Almaty.
This information will be included in the catalog of the State Museum of Arts of Republic of Kazakhstan named after Abylkhan Kasteyev.

Works by Tamara Georgievna Davitashvili at former ceramics factory in Almaty.

Although the factory archives do not record the exact date the bas-relief on the left side of the façade was created, art historians and specialists estimate that it was produced between 1965 and 1980. During the 1960s and 1970s, monumental decorative art flourished in Alma-Ata (now Almaty).
Architects and artists sought to embellish utilitarian structures with unique elements, such as mosaics, stained glass, and bas-reliefs. According to archival records, following a 1966 decree by the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the Alma-Ata Artistic Ceramics Factory underwent a major technical overhaul.
The facility’s kilns were upgraded, and its creative laboratory was expanded, enabling artisans to experiment with large-scale forms. Tamara Georgievna Davitashvili primarily specialized in small-scale sculpture, elegant interior vases, decorative platters, and tableware featuring delicate glazes.
This panel stands as her only large-scale façade work. The composition is constructed from massive, shaped ceramic blocks - or "tiles" - that were fired individually and then assembled on the building’s wall like a giant jigsaw puzzle. The composition blends Eastern-influenced sculptural forms - characteristic of the Soviet-era Kazakhstani school - with distinct elements of the Georgian decorative tradition, such as the profile of the figure, the undulating, plant-like motifs at the top, and the intricate detailing of the ornamentation.
The young woman depicted in the bas-relief holds a musical instrument, symbolizing the harmony between art and craftsmanship. The factory itself, located on Vinogradov Street (now Karasai Batyr Street), has long since closed; however, thanks to the durability of fired clay, the bas-relief has been remarkably well-preserved and remains a valuable example of Almaty’s monumental heritage.
Small-scale decorative pieces and mass-produced tableware created by Tamara Georgievna Davitashvili at the Almaty Artistic Ceramics Factory have today become rare vintage finds, highly sought after by collectors. In contrast to her only large-scale bas-relief - found on the factory building’s façade - the artist’s smaller works capture the spirit of Soviet daily life from the 1960s to the 1980s, infused with the distinct national character of Kazakhstan.
Her creative legacy in the realm of small-scale ceramics can be categorized into three main areas:
1. Thematic souvenir figurines and miniatures. 
Like many of her contemporaries - such as the renowned Valentina Sadovskaya - Tamara Davitashvili was actively involved in developing designs for both mass-market and gift-oriented production. Notable examples of her small-scale work include:
Figurines in national attire: Small statues depicting Kazakh women in traditional headdresses (*saukele*) and men in *chapans* (traditional robes). A hallmark of Davitashvili’s style is the use of soft, fluid silhouettes combined with finely rendered details in the clothing.
Folklore and fairy-tale characters: Miniatures - popular during the Soviet era - that portray figures from folk tales, as well as nomads, shepherds with their flocks, or hunters with golden eagles.
2. Decorative ceramics for interior spaces.
The artist experimented extensively with utilitarian objects, transforming them into small-scale works of art: 
Floor and table vases: For these, Davitashvili created original designs that combined three-dimensional relief work with decoration using engobes (colored liquid clays) and glazes. The vases were frequently adorned with botanical motifs, echoing Caucasian and Asian design elements.
Decorative wall platters and plates: The factory produced limited-edition collectible souvenir plates. For these, the artist employed underglaze painting, depicting landscapes of Kazakhstan, the mountains of the Trans-Ili Alatau, or stylized, geometric traditional patterns.
3. Gift sets and tableware in a national style.
The Art Ceramics Factory was renowned for its tea and coffee sets, which Soviet citizens often brought back from Alma-Ata as prized souvenirs.
Tamara Davitashvili contributed to the creation of:
*Pialas* (traditional bowls) and *kumis* (fermented mare's milk) sets: Her designs were distinguished by their ergonomic forms and festive finishes, in which traditional Kazakh ornamentation was reinterpreted through the lens of Soviet modernism.
Souvenir jugs and decanters: these combined elongated, Eastern-inspired silhouettes with elements of Georgian sculptural style - hardly surprising, given the artist’s own background. A curious detail, recalled by former factory employees, is a long-standing legend in Alma-Ata that the artist was related to the famous healer Juna (Evgenia Davitashvili).
In their memoirs - shared within various Alma-Ata-focused online communities - factory veterans suggested that Tamara Georgievna was a close relative (her husband’s sister). This detail lent the artist an air of mystery within the city’s creative circles.
Today, pieces from the Alma-Ata Art Ceramics Factory dating to the period of Tamara Davitashvili’s tenure can be found in private collections, at online auctions, and in exhibitions dedicated to the Soviet-era decorative and applied arts of Kazakhstan.

Authority:
Akhmetova Gradislava Robertovna, PhD in Economics, MA, MBA.
Alexander Petrov.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005113958498
March 27, 2023