Ceremonial Vase

Dedicated to the Defence

of Sevastopol and Odessa

A gift to Joseph Stalin on his 70th birthday

from the staff of Budyansk Faience

Factory, Soviet Socialist Republic

of Ukraine, 1949

A Soviet ceremonial vase, telling the tale of the heroic

feat of two cities situated on the Black Sea

shore – heroes of the Great Patriotic War

(as called part of WWII fought on the Soviet territory).

Decorated with the portrait of the Commander-in-Chief,

this vase went to Joseph Stalin as a gift on his birthday.

Odessa

Sevastopol

Selfless courage, fury in the fight against the enemy and

dedication of the defenders of Sevastopol and Odessa – such

were the themes of the interesting painting over faience, created

by Ukrainian artist V.I. Peshinsky. On one side of the vase,

you can see the depiction of a brave Red Navy commander

leading his Marines into attack in Sevastopol.

reference:

The heroic defence of Sevastopol went on for 250 days, despite the fact that the

fascists, who attacked Crimea in 1941, had flash attack plans to capture the

southern sea fortress. After the failure of the first attempt, the German

command arranged for three more large-scale attacks on the city of Russian

Navy (there were no ground troops left in Sevastopol even before the first

attack). The attacking army had colossal power: a twofold greater manpower,

three times more artillery power, tenfold superiority in the number of tanks and

planes (the Luftwaffe planes made an average of 600 sorties daily).

Interestingly enough, when attacking Sevastopol in 1942 the super heavy

artillery weapon "Dora," which weighed in at 1000 tons and had a 32-meter

long barrel, was used for the first and the last time. The gun's carriage was as

high as a three-story building. This monster was snuck in parts by five trains

from Germany and was covertly placed in the especially dug hideout in the hills

near Bakhchisaray. This gun's shell made a one-meter diameter and 12 meter

depth hole in the ground in case of direct landing and the long-range high

explosive projectiles travelled as far as 35 kilometers into the sea. People who

witnessed “Dora" in action first heard the explosion after the sound of the

flying shell (weighing in at 7100kg). But the Germans did not succeed in

achieving high accuracy by "Dora" and its use did not cause expected damage

to the defenders of Sevastopol.

Medal "For the Defence of Sevastopol"

On the opposite side of the vase, you can see the heroic defence of

Odessa. The artist chose the image of a particular spot in the city as

the symbol of this heroic act: the shell exploded right near the

memorial bust of Aleksander Pushkin on the Primorsky Boulevard near

the building the building of the Communist Party regional committee.

Fortunately, the monument to the Russian poet, which was

erected with the public's funds in 1887 to commemorate

the 50th anniversary of Pushkin's death, withstood the attack.

reference:

The courageous defence of the most important Black Sea Naval base, Odessa,

continued for more than two months. This base was already surrounded by land

by August of 1942. Eighteen Romanian army divisions were assigned to capture

the city. This number of attacking soldiers far exceeded the number of defending

soldiers. Still, the Soviet army successfully defended the city. However, the

threat of the fall of Crimea forced the High Command to order the Primosky

Army to the peninsula. This evacuation was with full combat capability and

unblemished honor: leaving Odessa for the fascists. The Soviet army took all of

the weapons and hardware with them. Arriving in Crimea, the Primosky Army

joined forces with the defenders of Sevastopol. However; on the 1st of July,

1943, the valiant Black Sea fortress fell… To understand the scale of this great

defensive effort one should see the number of German losses as well as the

number of Soviet losses. The significance of this event can be understood if we

come to know that all the German military personnel, who took part in this

operation, received a special sleeve insignia "Crimean Shield" and the

commander of this effort, Erich von Manstein, was promoted to Field Marshal.

Medal "For the Defenсe of Odessa"

Collection custodian:

“The body of the vase is covered in exquisite painting: Ukrainian

national motifs, decorative flowers and oak leaves. The base is

decorated with traditional Ukrainian wheat. On the lid are ‘golden’

figures of Red Army and Red Navy soldiers – the same symbols which

were used on the medals ‘For the Defencee of Sevastopol’ and ‘For

the Defence of Odessa.’ We can see the image of this medal above

the words of Joseph Stalin, dedicated to the defenders of these

Soviet cities.”