About the manufacturer Gardner

The Gardner Porcelain Manufactory is one of the most important historical porcelain manufacturers in Russia.

The Gardner Manufactory was founded in 1766 by Francis Gardner (actually Franz Gardner, an English merchant from Staffordshire) in the village of Verbilki, northwest of Moscow. It was the first large private porcelain manufactory in Russia, independent of the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in St. Petersburg.

Gardner wanted to produce Russian porcelain that could compete in quality with European Meissen or French Sèvres porcelain – while remaining affordable for a wider audience.

In 1891, the Gardner family sold the manufactory to the Kuznetsov Corporation, which merged other Russian porcelain factories. The pieces continued to be produced, but often under the name "Kuznetsov" or with mixed brands.

The factory continued to operate even during the Soviet era, producing in part under the name "Verbilki Porcelain Factory" (Verbilkowski Farforowyj Zaod).