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Adolphe Morand was a French subject who was destined to create his own business in Russia. In the 1840s, he worked as a bronzer at the factory of the famous manufacturer F. Chopin, but already in 1849 he opened his own workshop. In the 1850s, an enterprising young man, a merchant of the second guild, teamed up with merchants E.I. Genke and K.D. Pleske in order to expand its own production.

In 1857, a large electroplating factory for artistic bronze, founded by the Duke of Leuchtenberg in St. Petersburg, was sold piecemeal after the death of the owner. The galvanoplastic workshop was bought by the merchants mentioned above, calling their factory “Partnership of Genke, Pleske, Moran.” Later, the sole owner of the factory was A. Moran, who made his name famous thanks to highly artistic bronze products.

Since the Duke of Leuchtenberg’s enterprise was sold along with the land, the workshop was set up near the mouth of the Obvodny Canal, all the equipment from the former workshop was transferred to it. The architect F. Puschel built a whole complex of buildings here, from which the Moran plant, famous in Russia and abroad, later grew. The new enterprise continued the work on electroplating, previously carried out at the Duke of Leuchtenberg's plant, and also launched the production of bronze products.

Full of energy, Moran and his Russian companions approached the matter in a big way. Just a few years after its founding, the plant employed more than three hundred people, and the production itself was mechanized as much as possible and organized using the most advanced technologies for that time. A steam engine was used in the casting process, which made it possible to produce products worth more than 220 thousand rubles in silver.

Since at that time the success of bronze foundry production was directly related to government orders, only those factories flourished that could receive expensive orders for decorating palaces, temples, and parks. Moran's factory not only managed to receive such orders, but also successfully fulfilled them, which became the reason for the prosperity and popularity of the enterprise.

After many years of partnership with Pleske and Genke, Moran stopped working with them and already in the 1870s represented the factory's products only under his own name. In 1892, Moran went to his homeland in France, transferring the factory to Sergei Genrikhovich Gona.

Back in 1898, in the directory “All of St. Petersburg” in the category of bronze and copper, S.G. Gonet was listed as the owner of the plant, which he called "Moran A. and Successors." However, later, about a year later, his brother G.A. took over the plant. Gone. The plant changed not only its owners, but also its address, moving to Malaya Bolotnaya.

In 1907, the factory changed hands again and was taken over by professional bronzer and factory manager E.P. Gaker. Hacker led the plant until the Great Russian Revolution.

Factory products

Government orders

Having sufficient experience in bronze foundry production, Moran was able to quickly put the plant on a grand scale. The factory produced luxurious chandeliers, fountains, clocks and inkwells, as well as many other artistic bronze items. The most famous works of the Partnership were giant chandeliers for St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, doors for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, bronze monuments to Russian tsars and magnificent chandeliers for some palaces.

Thus, one of the first chandeliers for the Hermitage, created in 1889, still illuminates the museum and is its property, which is treated very carefully. This is a huge chandelier with many electric lamps. In the nineteenth century, this design made it possible to replace more than a dozen chandeliers, and requires several people to clean and check it every year. The decor of the chandelier is made in the style of Louis XVI.

Although Moran was a French subject, and was later forced to leave Russia without receiving Russian citizenship, he cast grandiose bronze works in the molds of Russian sculptors. This contradicted the canons of the fashion existing at that time to focus on Western models, but made it possible to set a national direction in monumental sculpture. For his significant work, Moran received the honorary title of supplier of bronze to the Imperial Court.

Chandeliers of the Armorial Hall
Winter Palace.
Bronze factory of A. Moran, 1900

Bronze from the Moran factory has been preserved not only in state museums and private collections, but has also become the property of many Russian cities. The plant cast about seventy monuments from super red bronze, which were later placed throughout Russia. This is a monument to the writer N.V. Gogol in Moscow, monuments to the composer M.I. Glinka, navigator I. Kruzenshtern, Empress Catherine II in St. Petersburg, artist I.K. Aivazovsky in Feodosia and many other famous Russian figures.

Cabinet bronze

Bronze was used to decorate not only palaces, temples and park complexes, but also the houses of aristocrats. From the moment the imperial family acquired bronze lamps, furniture, mirrors, clocks and other objects, bronze became a symbol of nobility and wealth. Gradually it penetrated more and more into the everyday life of wealthy people.

In the period 1880-1890s, the Moran factory began to produce the so-called cabinet or chamber bronze, which at that time was of significant interest to wealthy citizens. It was considered very fashionable and prestigious to furnish a study with bronze clocks, inkwells, candlesticks or intricate sculptures. The same interior items were used to decorate living rooms, libraries and other rooms where guests could be invited.

Ashtray “Horse Head”.
Sculptor E.A. Lansere.
Cast by A. Moran.
1862-1886

The factory not only introduced the latest technologies, but also relied on the originality of the work. While most manufacturers working with cabinet bronze, silver, gold, porcelain and other materials were guided by Western samples, Moran relied on the original works of Russian artists. This step turned out to be very successful and brought fame to the plant far beyond the borders of St. Petersburg. Contemporaries wrote about the manufacturer that the most valuable thing about his products was the originality and originality of the works created according to sketches and models of Russian artists.

The theme of Russian realism was developed by many sculptors of this period. Its appearance in the products of the bronze foundry industry is also associated with the closure in 1860 of the foundry house belonging to the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. If until that time the classical style, characteristic of European bronze-casting schools, had dominated, now the craftsmen began to work in private factories and were able to sculpt on the topic that was truly interesting to them. In the works of talented sculptors E.A. Lanceray, A.L. Obera, N.I. Liberich, RR. Bach and many other Russian masters created original scenes from the lives of ordinary people, military men, and animals.

"Smoking Circassian." E.A. Lansere.
Factory A. Moran. 1870

Moran, along with such famous manufacturers as Chopin, Werfel or Stange, also collaborated with famous sculptors, casting works based on their models. Chamber sculptures based on the works of Russian sculptors accounted for the lion's share of the plant's output. In addition to animalism and genre scenes, the cabinet sculpture cast at the Moran factory contains images of famous representatives of Russian culture. Among them were smaller copies of monumental monuments, the height of which reached almost one meter.

Military-historical themes and hunting scenes were also quite popular. Generals, rulers or hunters were invariably depicted on horseback most often in some event. Thus, the royal hunter during the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible is represented as strong, agile, galloping astride a fast horse.

"Royal Hunter"
the times of Ivan the Terrible."
Form E.A. Lansere.
Casting by A. Moran.
1879

In a similar way, Prince Svyatoslav appears before the viewer at the moment when he sends his army to battle. According to the descriptions of the Tale of Bygone Years, Svyatoslav was a brave warrior, fast as a leopard, unpretentious on campaigns, did not carry carts with him, ate simple food, slept without a tent. This is how Lanceray captured it in his characteristic manner of detailing the sculpture.

Sculpture of Prince Svyatoslav.
According to the model of E.A. Lansere.
Casting at A. Moran's plant.
1886

The work “Svyatoslav on the way to Constantinople” is a kind of testament to the world of art by the greatest sculptor, his last work, which he managed to complete before his death. In it he expressed his entire attitude towards the Russian character, the spirit of the Russian person. The sculpture is one of Lanceray's best works and was therefore cast in many factories, including Moran's.

The production of cabinet bronze by famous masters was not a cheap pleasure, since only the sculptor himself had to pay a decent amount for those times. So, for the multi-figure form cast by the famous E.A. Lansere, the foundry worker had to pay five to six hundred rubles. For comparison: making a star of the Order of Alexander Nevsky with diamonds cost three thousand rubles. Cabinet bronze could not by itself ensure a significant flourishing of production, so factories had to expand their activities and range. In particular, Moran's factory produced electroplating products, products made from cupronickel and other materials.

Currently, cabinet sculpture cast at the Moran factory is exactly the same indicator of taste, prestige and wealth as it was in the 19th century. The cost of various bronze sculptures today is estimated at tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars, but true connoisseurs of antiques are willing to pay such sums in order to surround themselves with the best examples of world culture.

Moran factory marks

The hallmarks of Adolphe Moran's factory usually contain the surname of the owner himself. Since many famous sculptors worked for the manufacturer, on the bronze the name of the author of the work was placed next to the name of Moran. It could be a short "A." Moran" or longer versions: "Excellent. head A. Moran Ave.” or “Excellent.” head And Moran.”

Some stamps contain the abbreviation of St. Petersburg: “A. Moran Ave. St. Petersburg.” All inscriptions were made by hand, so they depended entirely on the author’s handwriting. Sometimes these were printed letters, and sometimes neatly handwritten ones.

Since Morand's surname was written as Morand in French, there are variations on this theme in the stamps. For example, in the sculpture “Ox” made by A.L. Ober, next to the inscription of the author of the form there is a mark of the Moran plant: “A. Morand SPb.” with the characteristic letter “d”. The spelling “Murand” is also found.

There is a monument near the Red October plant in Volgograd. Bronze is on fire, and inside the fiery bronze is a sailor. The artist managed to convey in metal the furious gaze of a sailor in the last minutes of his life....

There is a monument near the Red October plant in Volgograd. Bronze is on fire, and inside the fiery bronze is a sailor. The artist managed to convey in metal the furious gaze of a sailor in the last minutes of his life.

He stands, cutting off the enemy with his hands, not allowing him to pass through himself, burning in the flames of Stalingrad. The fire will not let him go, but the enemy will not pass through the flames of the burning sailor. Mikhail Panikakha remained forever in the city, where he did not allow the enemy.

The guy was drafted into the Red Army from Ukraine. The Pacific Fleet began its service. But the war changed the sailor's path. He is now in Stalingrad. Everyone submitted a report to be sent to the front. He got lucky. He was included in the favorites.

Mamayev Kurgan was the same then, only shells were exploding, and the Germans were coming from behind the mound towards the soldiers who were facing death in the middle of the fire. The enemy marched to Stalingrad, hoping to break through to the oil-rich Caucasus.

The attack rolled on one after another. The Pacific troops took on the tanks with only rifles in their hands. There was no technology. Seven tanks attacked living people, but only rage shone in the eyes of the sailors. Mikhail found himself in a trench, among German tanks.

How does a person decide to die, taking his enemy with him? This is incredibly scary. And it hurts. The guy only had grenades and Molotov cocktails left. He crawled forward.

The bullet hit the bottle with the mixture. It flared up like a bright torch in an instant. The hero spent his last strength to throw himself at Hitler’s tank with a burning torch. The burning man was glued to the enemy vehicle.

He was 24 years old. He had no children left. He died without letting the enemy into the city on the Volga. And it continues to burn on the streets of Volgograd for many years.

The feat of Mikhail Panikakha became known throughout the country. D. Bedny dedicated poems to him:

... He burned the enemy with his fire!
Legends will form about him,
Our immortal Red Navy man!

Sensational knowledge of the ancients, which is hidden from ordinary people: Second-color metal in the ancient world, Causes of Hephaestus’ lameness, Benefits of tin, Boiling of cold water and other secrets of ancient bronze casting.

For those who have just joined, this cycle shows the progressive development of metallurgy from the Neolithic to...

The Ancient World of Bronze Casting

Until people learned to use iron, non-ferrous metals and their alloys were the main material for the manufacture of weapons, tools, tools, household items and, of course, jewelry.

The main metallurgical technologies were foundries: the art of processing liquid metal made it possible to obtain unique bronze products and household items. It was during this era that things appeared that accompany a person in his daily existence, and tools that are symbols of the main technical professions. This time was called the Bronze Age.

In 2000, Japan became the first country in the world to declare itself a recycling economy. A number of laws have been passed aimed at maximizing the use of secondary resources, including scrap metal. Every Japanese first-grader knows the “3R” principle today: these are “Recycling” (use as secondary resources), “Reuse” (reuse) and “Recovery” (recovery of secondary materials). For the first time, an official definition of the above concepts was given in the Regulation on the recycling of used cars, adopted by the European Union in 1997. However, similar, and very strict, laws on the procedure for recycling scrap metal existed in all the great empires of the Ancient World: in Assyria, China, Egypt, Rome. The use of bronze casting and forging technologies made it possible to successfully implement the “3R” principle in ancient non-ferrous metallurgy.

Ancient non-ferrous metallurgy

The key technical transformations of the Bronze Age, which lasted for two millennia, are considered to be the development of irrigation agriculture and the full metallurgical cycle of metal production, including ore mining, charcoal burning, preparation of materials, smelting and refining of rough metal, casting, forging, wire drawing, and other types of metalworking and scrap metal recycling.

During this period, technologies for smelting and processing metals were mastered, called the “seven metals of antiquity”: copper, gold, lead, silver, iron, mercury and tin. It is generally accepted that the decisive role in technical progress in the Bronze Age was played by the appearance of cast axes, swords and hoes - the main types of tools and weapons. The basis of civilization was the metallurgy of copper and bronze.

Axe. Village Koban, North Ossetia. End of the 2nd - beginning of the 1st millennium BC.

Both oxidized and sulfur ores were widely used to produce copper. Copper deposits are usually divided into two zones. The upper part, located above the groundwater level, is an oxidation zone. It contains minerals, the basis of which is easily reduced copper oxides - malachite, azurite. The lower, main part of the deposit is formed by sulfide ores - chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and chalcocite (Cu2S). The copper content in sulfide ores is much lower than in oxidized ores. After depletion of the upper layers, man had to use poorer sulfides, and this required the development of fundamentally new (innovative) metallurgical technologies.

Ancient metallurgists found a solution to the problem. It was found that adding a sufficient amount (about 30%) of reddish or brown material to the charge leads to an increase in the volume of smelting and an increase in the quality of copper. This material was iron ore in the form of hematite or limonite, often present in exposed parts of chalcopyrite deposits. The addition of iron ore fundamentally changed the copper smelting process. One of the products of the reduction reactions was iron monoxide. At a temperature of about 1200°C, it reacted with the SiO2 of the gangue to form fayalite (Fe2SiO4), which became the main constituent of the liquid slag. Thus, iron ore played the role of flux. This technology had a decisive influence on the further development of metallurgy. The slag formed during the smelting of copper is almost identical to the slag that was later obtained during the smelting of iron in cheese furnaces.

When using sulfur ores, a number of preparatory operations were required. Oxidation of crushed ore in air for a long time was widely practiced. Due to the influence of humid air and precipitation, the ore was enriched with oxygen and lost some of the sulfur. An important role was played by the preliminary roasting of sulfur ore, during which the sulfur burned out and the ore loosened. It was carried out in heaps, in specially arranged pits, as well as in special structures - stalls. The dimensions of the stalls were significant: their stone walls reached 12.5 m in length and 1.5 m in width.

An increase in the smelting temperature level depended, first of all, on the improvement of blowing technology and technology. The decisive role was played by the use of natural blowing - wind power. Stoves built into the natural landscape were effective. They were often built on the leeward side of a hill, had connecting horizontal and vertical channels, and were lined with stones and coated with clay. In this case, a “pipe effect” was achieved, increasing the air flow into the unit. In the bottom of some furnaces there were metal receptacles - recesses for installing pots into which metal flowed through special holes.

Significant progress followed the invention of the simplest hand and then foot bellows. They were made from animal skins and were a primitive type of pump with reservoirs adapted to fill them with air. Hand and foot bellows were widely used already in the 3rd millennium BC. e. Metallurgical furnaces with artificial blast were, as a rule, rectangular or cylindrical, with thick walls up to 1 m high, made of stone and coated with clay on the inside, entirely made of adobe or lined with brick.

The copper ingots smelted from ore contained a significant amount of slag inclusions. They were separated by hammer blows. Refining of blister copper was carried out in crucibles and small furnaces. At the same time, air was supplied to the molten blister copper by blowing tubes, the bulk of the impurities remaining in it, except for noble metals (gold and silver), oxidized and formed slag.

Bronze casting art

The Bronze Age represents an era of rapid development of metalworking. The technology for manufacturing metal products at this time, as a rule, included the combined use of techniques from both foundry and forging technologies, followed by polishing and engraving of products.

At first, casting was used in open clay or sand molds. They were replaced by open forms carved from stone, and forms in which the recess for the object being cast was located in one door, and the other, flat, played the role of a lid. The next step was the invention of split molds and closed molds for figure casting. In the latter case, an exact model of the future product was first made from wax, then it was coated with clay and fired in a kiln. The wax was melted and the clay took an exact cast of the model and was used as a casting mold. This method is called wax casting. Craftsmen were able to cast hollow objects of very complex shapes. To form a cavity, it was practiced to insert special clay cores into molds - casting rods. Somewhat later, technologies were invented for casting in stack molds, in a chill mold, in various molds with a casting rod attached to a frame, investment casting and reinforced casting.

Ancient foundry molds were made from stone, metal and clay. Clay casting molds were typically made by imprinting specially made models from wood and other materials into clay. Cast metal products themselves could be used as models. It should be noted that molds carved from stone or cast metal, due to their greater value, were not always used for casting products, but could be used to make low-melting models in them. For example, in some areas of England, lead models were cast in bronze molds.

Development of foundry technologies

Metal molds were mainly made from copper, since it has a much higher melting point than the bronze for which they were intended to be cast. The use of chill molds made it possible to obtain castings of complex profiles, with small details, the exact negative of which was difficult to cut out in a stone mold. The transition to a metal mold, stronger than clay and easier to manufacture than stone, made it possible to combine the advantages of double-leaf molds, adapted for repeated use, and wax castings. For example, at the time in question, casting bits from two or four loosely connected links was widely used, to obtain which a separate sprue (channel for supplying metal) and a folding mold of at least four parts were required for each link.

Additional forging of cast products without changing the shape has become a constant practice in order to increase the hardness, density and elasticity (ductility) of the material. The main types of products subjected to such processing were tools and some types of weapons - swords and daggers. Forging was used in the process of making pins, which were also engraved or minted. The same processing techniques were applied to jewelry.

A. Open mold casting
b. Split mold casting with core

The era of metals began when the technology for making cast axes and swords was mastered everywhere. The need to combine a stone ax and a wooden club in one tool arose among humans already in the Stone Age. The first bronze axes, made by casting, repeated the shape of stone ones, however, new requirements for tools and the unusual properties of bronze in comparison with stone contributed to the rapid improvement of cast products. Axes of complex shapes appeared, with edges, lopsided ones, and celts. Their production required a highly developed foundry craft: the complex configuration of the casting and the presence of a hole significantly complicated the construction of split stone molds. The appearance of improved cast bronze axes played an exceptional role in the development of many peoples: it facilitated the construction of dwellings and the production of other tools and household items, simplified the development of wooded areas by farmers, etc. Cast swords and daggers became works of art earlier than other bronze products. Ancient swords found in archaeological excavations often feature not only intricate hilts with cast designs, but also rich inlays of silver, gold and precious stones.

As noted above, the Early Bronze Age was the era of the undivided dominance of arsenic bronze. Tin replaced arsenic only in the 2nd millennium BC. e. Note that the technology for processing tin bronze is noticeably more complicated, since it often requires hot forging (albeit at low temperatures). Tin minerals are quite rare on the earth's surface. Why did tin bronze almost everywhere replace arsenic bronze in the Late Bronze Age? The main reason was the following. In ancient times, people treated metal objects with extreme care due to their high cost. Damaged items were sent for repair or melting down. A distinctive feature of arsenic is its sublimation at a temperature of about 600 °C. It was at this temperature that the repaired bronze items were annealed. With the loss of arsenic, the mechanical properties of the metal deteriorated and products made from bronze scrap were of poor quality. Ancient metallurgists could not explain this phenomenon. However, it is reliably known that up to the 1st millennium BC. e. products made from copper and bronze scrap were cheaper than products from ore metal.

There was one more circumstance that contributed to the displacement of arsenic from metallurgical production. Arsenic vapors are poisonous: their constant exposure to the body leads to brittle bones, diseases of the joints and respiratory tract. Lameness, stoop, and joint deformities were occupational diseases of craftsmen who worked with arsenic bronze. This circumstance is reflected in the myths and traditions of many peoples: in ancient epics, metallurgists are often depicted as lame, hunchbacked, sometimes dwarfs, with a bad character, shaggy hair and a repulsive appearance. Even among the ancient Greeks, the metallurgist god Hephaestus was lame.

Tin bronze

Tin, necessary for the production of tin bronze, was the last of the seven great metals of antiquity to become known to man. It is not present in nature in native form, and cassiterite, its only mineral of practical importance, is difficult to restore and rare.

However, this mineral was known to man already in ancient times, since cassiterite is a companion (albeit rare) of gold in its placer deposits. Due to the high specific gravity, gold and cassiterite remained on the washing trays of ancient miners as a result of washing the gold-bearing rock. And although the facts of the use of cassiterite by ancient artisans are not known, the mineral itself was familiar to man already in Neolithic times.

Apparently, for the first time, tin bronze was produced from polymetallic ore mined from deep areas of copper deposits, which, along with copper sulfides, also included cassiterite. Ancient metallurgists, who already had knowledge of the positive effect of realgar and orpiment on the properties of metal, quickly turned their attention to a new component of the charge - “tin stone”. Therefore, the appearance of tin bronze most likely occurred in several industrial regions of the Ancient World.

Production and recycling of tin bronzes in the 2nd millennium BC. e.

In the tomb of a high-ranking Egyptian official of the 18th dynasty (circa 1450 BC), an image of the technological process for obtaining bronze castings was found. Three workers, under the supervision of a supervisor, bring metal. Two workers with bellows fan the fire in the forge. Nearby are melting crucibles and a pile of charcoal. The center shows the casting operation. The hieroglyphic text explains that these paintings illustrate the casting of large bronze doors for the temple, and that the metal was brought from Syria by order of the pharaoh.

Bronze casting in ancient Egypt around 1450 BC. e.

The oldest tin objects are considered to be bracelets found on the island of Lesvos. They date back to the 3rd millennium BC. e. Tin was one of the most scarce and expensive metals of the Ancient World. Even in the 1st millennium BC. e. metal tin had extremely limited distribution. It was used mainly for the manufacture of small cosmetic utensils and some parts of protective weapons that required high plasticity (for example, cnimids were made from tin - armor that protected the shins of the legs, which were held on them without cords or fasteners, but only due to elasticity and elasticity) . Almost all the tin mined at that time was spent on the production of bronze.

The main deposits of tin in the era of the Ancient World were in Spain, Indochina, and the British Isles, which the Greeks called “tin” - cassiterides. In addition, tin ore was mined on the Apennine Peninsula (by the Etruscans), in Greece (in the Chrysaean Valley near the city of Delphi), and in Syria. According to most historians, bronze owes its name to the large Roman port of Brundisium, through which the empire traded with eastern countries. However, there is another version mentioned by the Roman historian Pliny, who believed that the name of the alloy came from the Persian word meaning “the shine of the sword.”

The advantages of tin bronze over copper, arsenic bronze and brass were high hardness, corrosion resistance and excellent polishability. The ability of tin to increase the hardness of bronze gives rise to its modern international name - “stannum”. Let us note that the root “st”, which sounds in the word “stan” and in many words derived from it in modern languages, is one of the oldest common Indo-European roots and denotes a sign of strength or stability.

Mirror, razor and nail scissors

It became possible to produce many household items and weapons only after mastering the technology of production and processing of tin bronze. This applies, for example, to the making of long swords, razor knives and especially polished mirrors. We can say that the appearance of tin bronze marked a revolution in ancient magic.
A special attitude towards the mirror is characteristic of the entire territory of ancient Eurasia. With the help of a mirror, ancient people could enter into magical relationships with the other world: many peoples had the idea of ​​​​the reflection of a face in a mirror as an expression of the spiritual essence of a person. In this regard, one cannot help but recall the belief that has survived to this day, according to which a broken mirror means misfortune.

The mirror became most widespread as the main ritual object of the cult of the female solar deity. In antiquity, mirror handles were usually made in the form of a female figure holding a mirror above her. The mirror was the main attribute of the Sun goddesses in Iran, Egypt, India, China and Japan. The special attitude towards the mirror was reflected in the choice of metal for its manufacture. The list of requirements for a mirror alloy in ancient times included color and shine that imitated the sun, high reflectivity and a non-tarnishing surface.

On mirrors, like no other type of bronze product, one can trace the stages of mastering by ancient masters the technology of thermal and mechanical processing of copper-tin alloys. For example, ancient Greek, Egyptian and Scythian mirrors, containing up to 12% wt. tin, were subjected only to cold forging. This did not make it possible to achieve high parameters of hardness and polishability. The Etruscans made mirrors from an alloy with 14-15% wt. tin. Before cold forging, such an alloy had to be “homogenized.” Etruscan metallurgists homogenized the alloy for 4-5 hours at a temperature of about 650 °C. Therefore, Etruscan mirrors had excellent polishability and high corrosion resistance. Even more tin (up to 23%) is contained in golden-yellow Sarmatian mirrors made in the 5th-3rd centuries. BC e. Products from such an alloy could only be obtained by hot forging bronze at a “red heat” temperature (600-700 ° C) and subsequent hardening in water. Similar technology was also used in India, China and Thailand.

On the threshold of a new era, a ternary alloy of copper, tin and lead became almost ubiquitous. Such bronzes, containing up to 30% tin and up to 7% lead, are the hardest and most difficult to process. However, they produce metal with high reflectivity, as well as excellent castability and polishability. Products made from such an alloy became widespread in China, Central Asia and the Roman Empire, although Pliny notes that they were extremely expensive and were available only to very wealthy people.

Lump molding

Unique bronze casting technologies were created by metallurgists of Ancient China. It is known that already in the 2nd millennium BC. e. China had an original foundry technology. At a time when metallurgists in the West and Middle East produced vessels by forging, sand casting or lost-wax casting, the Chinese mastered the much more labor-intensive, but also significantly more progressive method of “piece molding”.

The technology was as follows. First, a model was made from clay, on which the required relief was cut out. The reverse image was then obtained by pressing slabs of clay, piece by piece, onto the previously made model. Fine finishing of the relief was performed on each piece of the mold. After this, the pieces of clay were fired, which in itself required virtuoso skill, since the design should not be disturbed.

The initial clay model was cleaned to the thickness of the walls of the future casting, obtaining a rod for forming its internal cavity. The pieces of the mold were assembled around the rod, thus creating a solid shape. At the same time, the seams and joints between the pieces of the mold were deliberately not sealed tightly so that metal could flow into them. This was done so that the metal frozen in the seams took on the appearance of an elegant edge, giving the product a special decorative touch. The tradition of using vertical casting seams to decorate products has become a hallmark of Chinese metallurgical art.

Chinese bronze vases

Another example of original Chinese foundry technology is the production of bronze basins with “boiling” water. On the bottom of such basins, craftsmen placed cast drawings of a certain type and direction. They changed the acoustic properties of an object filled with water in such a way that as soon as its handles were rubbed, fountains began to rise from the surface of the water, as if the water, while remaining cold, had actually boiled. Modern research has made it possible to establish the reason for this extraordinary effect: friction produces sound waves that resonate and cause rapid vibrations in the cast protrusions at the bottom of the basin, as a result of which trickles of water are pushed upward.

Perhaps no Bronze Age culture lives up to its name better than that of ancient China during the Shang Yin dynasty (late 2nd millennium BC). At that time, in the cities there were entire quarters of artisans engaged in metal processing, making weapons and special ritual items made of bronze. Apart from a few marble sculptures from this era, all surviving works of art are made of bronze.

Antique statue casting

In the ancient world and the Roman Empire, the fashion for bronze statues, which were dedicated to gods, kings, prominent figures, and winners of games, became widespread. Statues were often melted down, especially for political reasons.

On a ceramic bowl dating back to the 5th century. BC BC, the Greek artist depicted the various stages of making life-size bronze statues of a man. A special furnace allows you to obtain bronze and maintain it in a liquid state. A young man standing behind the stove blows the bellows to increase the temperature in the stove. Painted plates and masks hang on the horns - these are offerings of thanks, providing protection against failure at work, or demonstrations of the types of products made in the workshop. In the next scene, the master attaches his right hand to a bronze statue located on a clay bed. The separately cast head still lies on the floor. Models of hands and feet hang on the wall. A little further on, two workers are polishing a large statue of a helmeted warrior standing on a platform. Two people supervise the work. It is believed that one of them is a sculptor - the author of the statue, and the other is a bronze caster who embodied the sculptor's plan in metal.

Making a bronze statue (drawing on a ceramic vase)

Usually, after casting the parts and assembling the statue, the unevenness of the top layer was eliminated, the surface was polished, and the details were finished with a chisel and a chisel: beard, hair, folds of clothing. The lips were made of red copper, the teeth were made of silver, the eyes were inlaid with glass or stone, and colored strokes were applied.

Making a bronze statue

The ancients did not like the patina that covers antique bronzes today. At the time of creation, the sculptures did not have the current (green, brown or black) shades: the tone of the figures was warm and golden, like a bronze tan. Against the backdrop of an abundance of various statues dedicated to, albeit great, but mortal people, sculptures of powerful gods stood out in size and decoration. The largest metal statue known in antiquity, the Colossus of Rhodes, was one of the seven wonders of the world.

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Introduction

A lot of words have been said about the role of Kuzbass in the Great Patriotic War, hundreds of books, fiction and documentary, have been written. Kuzbass helped the front not only with its coal and metal, but also with its main resource – human resources. Thousands of our fellow countrymen stood up to defend the Motherland. Their military deeds embodied the steadfastness and courage of the entire Russian people.

It is no coincidence that Siberian units were always sent to critical sectors of the front. Wherever the Siberians from Kuzbass fought, they showed heroism, remained patriots to the end, and did not lose their dignity and humanity. The feat of one of our fellow countrymen is immortalized in bronze. One of the symbols of the Tyazhinsky district, which is located in the north of the Kemerovo region, on the border with the Krasnoyarsk Territory, is the image of the monument to the Soviet liberator soldier installed in Treptow Park.

A copy of the Berlin monument crowns the memorial complex on Victory Square in Tyazhin (Appendix 1).

This image can be seen on a banner at the entrance to the village of Tyazhinsky with the inscription: “The pride of the Tyazhinsky district is Nikolay Ivanovich Masalov - a legendary man” (Appendix 2).

In the name of N.I. Masalov named the Tyazhinskaya Central District Library. The local history museum has an exhibition dedicated to this man. Residents of the area know that N.I. Masalov, during the battles in Berlin, carried a German girl from under fire and became the prototype for the monument in Treptow Park. Therefore, the purpose of the work is to establish the reality of the historical basis of the legend about the Kuzbass soldier who carried a German girl out from under fire.

Feat of a soldier

The advanced units of the Soviet troops reached Berlin in April 1945. At this time, the 220th Guards Rifle Regiment, in which Sergeant N.I. Masalov served as standard bearer, began an offensive along the right bank of the Spree River. More than twenty thousand Soviet soldiers died during the storming of Berlin. Under the old plaques of mass graves and under the mound of the main monument of the memorial in Treptow Park, more than five thousand soldiers rest.

These soldiers saw with their own eyes the suffering of Berlin civilians. It's no secret that in any war, children are the first to suffer. Longing for their children, Russian soldiers could not calmly look at the suffering of German children. So, the children approached the soldiers and held out empty cans or simply their thin palms. And the Russian soldiers shoved bread, lumps of sugar into these hands, or simply sat them down at their soldier’s bowler hat, shedding tears from their eyes. When Russian troops were preparing to attack, during one of the street battles, Nikolai saw a little German girl sitting under a bridge and quietly crying. Her mother lay nearby.

She was killed. Nikolai Ivanovich heard the child’s cry before others and rushed to save the girl. The area in front of the bridge was under fire. Sergeant Masalov crawled, feeling every crack with his hands, pressing against the asphalt (the area was mined). A Russian soldier picked up a German child. Noticing this, the Germans opened fierce fire on their silhouette. Despite the machine gun fire, Nikolai Ivanovich managed to get up and, covering the girl from the bullets with one hand, and with the other, holding the machine gun, run back. It was at this moment that the dazzling disk of the sun rose above the earth. Its rays seemed to strike the enemy trenches, blinding the shooters for some time. At the same time, Russian cannons struck and the attack began. From the outside it seemed that the entire front was saluting the feat of our fellow countryman.

Monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator

After this event, a few days later, the sculptor E.V. Vuchetich came to the regiment and immediately found Nikolai Ivanovich Masalov. The sculptor made several sketches of the sergeant, said goodbye, and left. It’s unlikely that Nikolai Ivanovich could have guessed why exactly the sculptor needed him? However, it was not by chance that Vuchetich drew attention to the Siberian warrior. He was fulfilling an assignment from a front-line newspaper - the sculptor was looking for a type for a poster dedicated to the Victory of the Soviet people in the Patriotic War. The sketches and sketches that Vuchetich made in the regiment were useful to him later, when he began work on the project of the famous ensemble - a monument located in Treptow Park.

It happened like this. Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov, after the Potsdam Conference of the Heads of the Allied Powers, in the fall of 1945, summoned Vuchetich to his place and invited him to begin preparing a sculptural ensemble - a monument that would be dedicated to the Victory of the Soviet people over Nazi Germany. According to the original plan, it was supposed to place the majestic figure of Stalin in bronze, with an image of Europe or a globe hemisphere in his hands, in the center of the composition. From the memoirs of the sculptor himself: “Many artists and sculptors looked at the main figure of the ensemble.

They praised and admired the work. But I felt some dissatisfaction with the completed result. And I made a choice - I need to find another solution. I immediately began to remember the Soviet soldiers who carried German children out of the fire zone during the storming of Berlin. Later, I returned to Berlin again. I managed to take several hundred photographs, and most importantly, sketches. I also managed to visit Soviet soldiers and was introduced to the heroes several times. It was on the last trip that a new decision matured: the monument should depict a soldier with a child on his chest.

Then, he sculpted a figure of a meter-tall warrior. There’s a fascist swastika underfoot, there’s a machine gun in his right hand, and his left hand is holding a three-year-old girl.” Next, under the light of the Kremlin chandeliers, it was time to demonstrate both projects. Moreover, the first version of the monument is a monument to the leader. - Listen, Vuchetich, aren’t you tired of this guy with a mustache? – asked Joseph Vissarionovich. Stalin pointed the mouthpiece of his pipe towards the one and a half meter figure. “This is still a sketch,” someone tried to intercede. “The author was shell-shocked, but not without language,” Stalin said abruptly and fixed his gaze on the second sculpture. - And what's that? Vuchetich hastened to remove the parchment from the soldier’s figure. Joseph Vissarionovich examined him from all sides, smiled sparingly and said: “We will place this soldier in the center of Berlin, on a high burial hill... Just you know, Vuchetich, the machine gun in the soldier’s hand must be replaced with something else.”

Nowadays, a machine gun is a utilitarian item. The monument will stand for centuries. Let him hold something more symbolic. Well, let's say a sword. Weighty, solid. With this sword, the soldier cut the fascist swastika. The sword has already been lowered, but woe will be the one who forces the hero to raise this sword again. Do you agree!? That’s how, with Stalin’s consent, the construction of a monument began in Berlin, which depicted not himself, but a Soviet soldier with a child. Completing the project was considered a task of utmost importance. A special construction department was even created. By the end of 1946, 39 competitive projects had been collected. Before their consideration, Vuchetich came to Berlin. The idea of ​​the monument completely captured the imagination of the sculptor... Work on the construction of the monument to the warrior-liberator began in 1947 and lasted more than three years. More than 7 thousand specialists were involved. The memorial occupies a huge area - 280 thousand square meters. Ferrous and non-ferrous metals, thousands of cubic meters of granite and marble - the request for materials puzzled even Moscow.

An extremely difficult situation was developing. However, an interesting incident helped the matter. From the memoirs of the Honored Builder of the RSFSR, G. Kravtsov: “An exhausted German, a former prisoner of the Gestapo, came to me. He saw how our soldiers were choosing pieces of marble from the ruins of buildings, and hastened with a joyful statement: he knew a secret granite warehouse 100 kilometers from Berlin, on the banks of the Oder. He himself unloaded the stone and miraculously escaped execution... And these piles of marble, it turns out, on Hitler’s instructions, were stored for the construction of a monument to the victory over the Soviet Union. That's how it happened. But you can’t fool history!” The pedestal of this ominous monument was supposed to represent a colossal structure 300 meters long and wide. On it there is a dome hall 220 meters high. The total cubic capacity of this structure was supposed to be 20 million cubic meters. At the top of the dome is a huge eagle, its claws sunk into the globe it grips. The domed hall was planned to accommodate 180 thousand people, to whom the Fuhrer could not wait to make a victory speech. Everything was ready for the monument. Only one thing was missing - victory. But Victory came, Victory of the Russian people. It did not come on its own; it was won in fierce battles by warriors with red stars on their caps. And the prepared granite was used for a different purpose - a grandiose monument to the Soviet soldier - liberator was erected from it in Treptow Park

Hero's life path

Nikolai Masalov was born into a peasant family in the Tisulsky district (Voznesenka village). After graduating from the 3rd grade of a local school, he went to work on a collective farm, since in the period before the 6th grade he was very sick - the result of unsuccessful fishing on the first ice (Masalov fell through the ice). And when he recovered, he fell far behind his peers. He flatly refused to go to school with his younger brothers. Working conscientiously on the collective farm, he completed a six-month tractor driver course and again continued to work in his native village.
Nikolai Masalov, at the age of seventeen, was called up to the front. In the ranks of the Red Army he received the specialty of a mortar operator. Having received baptism of fire in March 1942 on the Bryansk front, near Kastornaya, he was redeployed to new places: Yelets, Orel, Kursk. His regiment had to break out of encirclement several times, and often used bayonets - they took care of every cartridge.

Later, the regiment was reorganized, and it became part of the army of General Chuikov, which heroically defended Stalingrad. For the defense of the hero city, the regiment received the guards banner, and Nikolai Ivanovich Masalov received the position of assistant in the banner platoon.
During the years in the war, Nikolai Masalov received three wounds and two shell shocks, and after the victorious assault on the Seelow Heights in 1945, he was nominated for the Order of Glory, 3rd degree (Appendix 5).

Masalov returned to his native village immediately after demobilization. But due to the battle wounds he received, he was unable to work as a tractor driver. For a long time he worked as the head of the economic department in the Tyazhinsky kindergarten.

Nikolai Ivanovich gained fame in the mid-60s. Not only central Soviet newspapers and magazines, but also foreign media wrote about him (Appendix 6). Later, Soviet and German filmmakers teamed up to shoot a film about him, and the full-length documentary “The Guy from the Legend” was released. In 1969, Nikolai Ivanovich Masalov was awarded the title of honorary resident of Berlin.

After wide fame and interest in his personality, Nikolai Ivanovich was a frequent visitor to schools, as well as a participant in organized meetings with pioneers (Appendix 8). However, the hero did not like to talk about his feat, because he believed that in his place every Soviet soldier would have acted in the same way. For this reason, during Masalov’s lifetime, no one could guess what unique materials the hero had accumulated: awards, photographs, books, albums and certificates, letters and postcards, newspaper clippings and magazines (Appendices 5,6,7).

Only after the death of Nikolai Ivanovich (December 20, 2001), his daughter, Valentina, transferred the priceless heritage to the village administration of the Tyazhinsky district. The materials obtained were used to write the book “The Man from the Legend.”

Reliability of Lenenda

History knows that during the war days, Russian soldiers, without sparing their own lives, saved German children. The writer and war correspondent Boris Polevoy managed to conduct a final interview in the hospital with a soldier who also saved the child, just like Masalov, Trifon Lukyanovich from Minsk. He heard the cry of a child, as Tryphon recalled - the paternal instinct worked. After all, in the first days of the war, Tryphon’s house was covered by a bomb, burying his two children and his wife. Passing the German child over the parapet of the embankment, Tryfon stood up to his full height, shielding the child from bullets. And he himself died from his wounds. These soldiers did not save other people's children for the sake of glory. This was required by the sense of humanity that every Russian soldier retained.

Just like Trifon Lukyanovich, Nikolai Ivanovich Masalov also did not consider saving the German girl a feat.
The feat was first mentioned in the memoirs of Marshal of the Soviet Union, V.I. Chuikov, “The End of the Third Reich” and became public domain.
From the memoirs of Masalov himself, I will give a reliable picture of the events: how it all happened. Under the bridge, Sergeant Masalov noticed a three-year-old girl, and her murdered mother was lying nearby. The baby had blond hair that was slightly curly at the forehead. She kept tugging at her mother by the belt of her dress and screaming, crying: “Mutter, mutter!” The Russian soldier had no time to think. Taking the girl “in his arms,” Nikolai Ivanovich hurried back to his people. The only desire, as Masalov emphasized, was that the girl would not cry. But how she will scream! Hearing the voice, the Nazis opened fire, fortunately ours “helped” - they began to fire from all guns. “When I crossed the neutral zone, I immediately went into the first house I came across to hand the child over to civilians, but it was empty - there was no one there.

Therefore, he went straight to his headquarters. I remember my comrades, surrounding me, laughed: “What kind of language have you captured, and some of the biscuits, some of them shove sugar into the girl, are trying to calm her down with jokes.” Having passed it from hand to hand to the captain, he returned to the banner.”
From the memoirs of I. Paderin, commissar of the 220th regiment: “Yes, I confirm Masalov’s sortie. So our Nikolai Ivanovich, who enjoyed great authority among our guys in the regiment, disappeared. I was afraid of the start of a spontaneous attack, because any attack is extra blood, which no one needed, especially at the end of the war. I was left with the impression that Masalov seemed to sense our anxiety. Suddenly we heard his voice: “I’m with a child, a machine gun on the right - a house with balconies, shut his throat.” Immediately, the regiment opened fierce fire on the enemy, without any command. The tension was very high. Masalov managed to get out with the girl, under the cover of this fire. Later, we found out that Nikolai was wounded in the leg, but he didn’t show it...”

From the memoirs of Ivan Stepanovich Odarchenko, the man who served as a sitter during the sculptor’s work: “After the end of the war, I continued to serve in the military commandant’s office of Weisnesee. For a year and a half, he carried out a very interesting, but very unusual assignment for an ordinary soldier - he posed for the creation of a monument - a monument in Treptow Park. As close friends of the sculptor told me, Professor Vuchetich could not find a sitter for a very long time. Our acquaintance happened by chance; at one of the sporting events I was introduced to Vuchetich. And a month after my candidacy was approved, I was sent for posing.”

An interesting story happened when choosing a girl to pose. It was decided to look for a German child, as was actually the case. But later, Vuchetich decided that the warrior-liberator should have our Soviet girl in his arms. Since Soviet soldiers first of all saved their wives and children, and only then everyone else. However, in war there is no difference between stranger and friend when it comes to the life of a young child. Therefore, the 3-year-old daughter of the commandant of Berlin, General Kotikov, Svetlana, became the model for the monument. In one hand, Ivan held a girl, and in the other, he had a two-pound sword - a weighty, two-pound symbol of the Great Victory, as Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin had proposed.

Conclusion

Nikolay Ivanovich Masalov- a Kuzbass warrior who, during the storming of Berlin, risking his life, carried a German girl out from under fire. This feat of a Siberian soldier served as a prototype for the creation of a monument to the Soviet soldier - liberator in Berlin's Treptow Park. The reliability of this fact is confirmed by the memoirs of Marshal of the Soviet Union V.I. Chuikov and the stories of the soldier’s fellow soldiers who became eyewitnesses.

The memory of the hero lives to this day. In April 2004, the central regional library was named after N.I. Masalov (Appendix 3). On the initiative of the Council of Elders, shows and competitions dedicated to the legendary soldier were held in schools in the Tyazhinsky district. In December 2004, the first pioneer squad in the region named after the hero - fellow countryman N. I. Masalov was created at the Novovostochny secondary school.

The pioneers were presented with a banner with an embroidered motto: “For the Motherland, Goodness and Justice!” The guys have already collected a lot of material about N.I. Masalov, decorated the pioneer room and squad corners. In April 2005, the heads of Tyazhin enterprises and organizations, members of the board of the district administration and the Council of Elders, and representatives of the veteran activists held lessons - requiems: “Let us remember, let us bow to those years.” In each of the two hundred classes, the lesson began with the story of the exploit of Nikolai Masalov. In 2005, the Kemerovo publishing house Kuzbassvuzizdat published Oleg Kostyunin’s book “The Man from the Legend,” which tells about the life of N. I. Masalov.