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1829 St Petersburg
| Name: | All-Russian industrial exhibition / Exhibition of Russian Manufactured Products |
| Dates: | May 1829; |
| Days: | |
| Venue: | The ‘Southern Warehouse’ of the Stock Exchange and in a temporary building |
| Theme: | To boost the national industry, interior and foreign trade |
| Exhibitors: | 326 from 33 provinces (1829) |
| Awards: | |
| Visitors: | |
| Legacy: |
The influence of the French Expositions were felt here too. In 1812 in what Russians call the Patriotic War they defeated Bonaparte, and this led to a fervour for celebrating their national strengths. Count Yegor Kankrin, Russia’s Minister of Finance, proposed the first exhibition. The aim was a public display of the country’s industrial products to stimulate industrial development of the industry, its domestic and foreign trade. The Manufacturing Council set the parameters for the show in October 1828.
TBy exhibiting the organisation gained the right to put the state emblem on their wares, documents and advertising material, this appears to have been considered award enough. In 1902 and 1913 St Petersburg welcomed the All-Russian Artisan Exhibition, the first one taking place in the Tauride Palace, the second at the Botanic Garden.
The Russians would hold sixteen industrial exhibitions in the 19th century at multiple centres:
- 1829 – St Petersburg
- 1831 – Moscow
- 1833 – St Petersburg
- 1835 – Moscow
- 1839 – Warsaw
- 1841 – St Petersburg
- 1843 – Moscow
- 1845 – Warsaw
- 1849 – St Petersburg
- 1853 – Moscow
- 1857 – Warsaw
- 1861 – St Petersburg
- 1865 – Moscow
- 1870 – St Petersburg – Salt Town
- 1882 – Moscow – Khodynka
- 1896 – Nizhny Novgorod – the largest
The first industrial exhibition was held in May 1829 (no data on number of days), it was held in the ‘Southern Warehouse’ of the Stock Exchange and in a temporary building. It was named the ‘Exhibition of Russian Manufactured Products’.
It gathered 326 exhibitors from 33 Russian provinces, though the majority came from the St Petersburg and Moscow areas; the exhibitors spanned fifteen industries.
Participating in the exhibition bestowed the right to put the state emblem on the exhibitor’s wares, documents and advertising material; this was a major benefit of being an exhibitor.
A special exhibition catalogue was produced. The data that survives appears to suggest that exhibits were rather upmarket.
Andrei Schreiber exhibited a clock case known as ‘Diana Hunting’, now on display in the Rundal Palace of Latvia. It portrayed the mythological goddess Diana standing in her chariot drawn by four stags. It was awarded a gold medal.
An English banker, James Gardner, established the Gardner Factory in St Petersburg which emulated the Imperial Porcelain Factory designs that were themselves only permitted to supply to the royal court. At the 1829 event Gardner exhibited a large amphora bearing images of the Bolshoi Theatre and won awards.
Tula merchant Vasily Lomov showed samovars, which were rewarded with a silver medal. The catalogue lists deer and reindeer suede for mattresses and blankets. Yet, most of the prizes were awarded to companies offering technologically advanced textiles.
Around 60% of the exhibitors were factory owners operating in the textile, metalworking, machine-building and chemical industries (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1979).
The exhibition delighted the Tsar and as a result a pan-Russian Manufactured Products exhibition was proposed for 1833 in Moscow.
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