I went to the Gzhel Union factory, where they make the same blue-and-white porcelain. I tell you and show you how the production tour and the painting workshop are going. The collection of the Gzheli Museum. Where to buy real Gzhel porcelain.
Where is the Gzhel plant located
Gzhel production has historically been localized in the Ramenskoye district of the Moscow region, rich in white clay. Now there are 5 factories and several private workshops in Gzhel and nearby villages. I visited the Factory of the Order of Friendship of Peoples “Gzhel Association”, which is the creator and copyright holder of the Gzhel craft.
- Address: 280 Turygino village, Ramenskoye, Moscow region
How to get there
I arrived at the factory by car, the other members of our group traveled from Moscow by train. Put the navigator at the address or name — the Gzhel Association plant, otherwise you may end up in another place.
By car
Exit to Yegoryevskoe highway via Lyubertsy or via Novoryazanskoe highway. Novo-Kharitonovo village. After the stele with the sign “Gzhel Union”, turn right. Parking at the administrative building.
By train
From Kazansky railway station to Ramenskoye or Gzhel station, then by buses 36, 51 or minibus 63K, 51K, going to the village of Novo-Kharitonovo, stop “Militia”, then on foot 10-15 minutes to the administrative building “Gzhel Association” or take a taxi.
By bus
From the bus station at Kotelniki metro station — suburban buses 325 Yegoryevsk, 376 Roshal, 369 Shatura to the stop “Work settlement”, Novo-Kharitonovo village. Travel time is approximately 1-1.5 hours. Then walk through the village of “Electrical Insulator” to the left turn to the plant “Gzhel Association” 5-7 minutes.
Production tour
I visited the Gzhel Union plant as part of a blog tour, thanks to which I was able to talk with the deputy director of the plant, Galina Golinkova, and learn about the current situation and plans for the development of the enterprise.
In December 2019, AFK Sistema (Sberbank) became an investor in the Gzhel Association and a comprehensive reconstruction of the enterprise began. Now, starting from the territory and ending with the workshops, everything looks very modern and fresh. The company plans to expand production and promote the Gzhel tourism cluster.
Tours of the Gzhel Association plant are conducted by appointment on the website. The price depends on the number of people. If you are less than 5, the total cost of the tour is 2500 rubles. For a group of 5 to 25 people: 450 rubles/child under 18 years old, 550 rubles/adult. The duration of the tour to the production and exhibition (museum) is 45 minutes.
On the ground floor of the administrative building there is a cafe, a factory store, a wardrobe, a toilet. We left our outerwear, met with the guide and went to inspect the factory.
The guide took us through the workshops of the enterprise, telling us in detail about all the cycles of porcelain production. It is forbidden for outsiders to be inside the production premises, but everything is perfectly visible through transparent glass.
Foundry Shop
Gzhel porcelain is made from white clay, which contains up to 18 natural components. The clay is mixed with water and a slip is obtained — a soft porcelain mass.
The master comes up with a sketch of the future product and makes a model out of plasticine. A plaster mold is removed from the model, which is then ground with a sharp knife, eliminating irregularities — a mandrel.
Initially, the product has a light gray color, but then it is painted pink. The guide suggested that we guess why they do it. We guessed right — defects (microcracks) are clearly visible on pink. We also wondered how the blank is taken out of the mold and how the vase becomes hollow. A brand name “Gzhel” is put on a high-quality product and it is sent to the next workshop.
Painting workshop
Hereditary craftsmen and artists with special education work in the painting workshop of the Gzhel Association. They have the most painstaking work on painting products. Each artist (we haven’t seen any men) is sitting at her desk by the window.
Another surprise awaited us here — it turns out that Gzhel is painted not with blue, but with gray paint — an emulsion of cobalt dioxide. The intermediate result only partially resembles the final one, it has a different size and color. The painted product is dipped in glaze and sent to the oven.
Roasting shop
The firing process takes place in two stages: the first at a temperature of 800 ° C, 8 hours, the second – 1350 ° C , 36 hours. The vitreous substance melts and a pattern appears on the product. Porcelain gives a shrinkage of 13-17%.
We were shown a large automatic oven called the “wet nurse”. The factory also has manually operated furnaces. As the guide said, the stove maker decides for himself when to get the porcelain, even the factory director did not order him. If you open the oven earlier, you’ll ruin the whole batch.
After firing, the porcelain is sorted: the highest, 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade. The highest grade is without flaws, in the first grade there may be small inclusions, in the second — irregularities (craters). The price depends on the quality. Finished products are sent to the warehouse and to the shops.
Museum and Exhibition
The Gzhel Association Exhibition and Museum occupies one spacious room filled with exhibits. Here we learned about the origin of porcelain and the history of the Gzhel craft.
Due to the rich deposits of white clay, pottery in this area has been practiced since the XIV century, but until the XVIII century porcelain was imported to Russia mainly from China.
The first porcelain manufacturers in Russia were the Kuznetsov merchants, the brothers Matvey and Yakov. By the end of the nineteenth century, the “porcelain king” Matvey Kuznetsov owned 18 enterprises and was the largest supplier of porcelain on the Russian market.
At the beginning of the XX century, the traditional Gzhel fishery was practically forgotten.
In the 1920s, porcelain was made in artels. After the Great Patriotic War, Soviet artists managed to restore the old white and blue painting and porcelain business in Russia was revived again.
The exhibition “The house where Gzhel lives” presents a unique collection of authentic Gzhel products from different years. Original figurines, clocks, vases, cups, chess, plates, table sets. I want to look at everything for a long time and take pictures.
There is also a photo zone in the museum-exhibition — Gzhel porcelain wings.
Master class in painting
Group and individual painting workshops are a separate service, which, as well as excursions, must be ordered in advance on the website.
The Gzhel Association offers 2 types of master classes: with and without firing. The duration is the same — 45 minutes. At the master class without firing, you pick up the finished product immediately, with firing – after 3-4 weeks. The firing process takes place without you.
I was at a master class on painting without firing. The cost of such a master class for a group of up to 5 people is 2500 rubles, 5-25 people — 600 rubles /person.
The master class takes place in a spacious room resembling a school classroom. We were seated at tables by two, in front of each lay clean sheets of paper, a piece of glass with paint, 3 brushes, there was a cup of water.
At first, we mastered the technique of the signature drawing “Gzhel shadow smear”. Everything worked out very quickly and simply for the artist, but not very well for us. The smear should go from dark blue to light. Then we made droplets with a medium brush and drew thin lines with a small one. All these techniques are combined in the drawing “Gzhel rose”.
For painting, you could choose a flat or three-dimensional figure: a cat, a hedgehog, a dragon, a bird, a shoe… I chose a hedgehog. Everyone decided how to paint himself. What I did, look at the photo. The finished “work of art” was wrapped in a piece of paper and handed over in a branded bag.
That was the end of our tour with the master class, we were escorted downstairs, where we went to the company store.
Shop at the factory
The Gzheli shop at the factory resembles a museum. You can enter it without a tour, but you are unlikely to leave without shopping. The store is open daily from 9:00 to 17:00.
Everything is there — from small figurines to huge vases. Prices range from 150 rubles to several thousand. Dishes, interior items needed in the household and just beautiful things. All products are branded with the brand “Gzhel” — a guarantee of authenticity.
Porcelain produced by the “Gzhel Association” can also be bought in branded stores in Moscow and the Moscow region list. The flagship store “Gzheli Gallery” is located in Moscow on the Old Arbat, 12, p. 1
After visiting the factory, I wondered if my impressions matched the reviews of other people and that’s what I read on the Internet.
Review of the Gzhel Association plant
I want to thank the whole team for the pleasure of visiting the Association “Gzhel”, Turygino. A magnificent interior, modern design, a professional master class, a museum rich in history, a calm, sincere atmosphere in a cafe with delicious cakes. All this made our trip unforgettable. Vera Novikova
I went to the Gzhel Union plant in early spring, when the snow had not yet melted, so I saw its new landscaped territory only in the photo. Last year, the Gzhel landscape park was laid out in front of the building, with trees, a blue-blue gazebo, a waterfall, a lawn and stone paths. I really want to come back here in the summer.
English 
Russian 
German 
Polish