Ceremonial Vase “Chelyuskin Saga”

A gift to Grigory Ordzhonikidze

from the staff of Leningrad

Porcelain Factory, 1936

A great specimen of Soviet circumstantial

vases dedicated to the country's

historically important event. The vase

carrying scenes of the famous Chelyuskin

saga stood in the personal office of

the People's Commissioner of Heavy

Industry of USSR, Grigory Orjonikidze

(nicknamed Sergo within the party).

The vase is covered

with scenes,

which unfold

the legendary heroic

saga of 1934.

We see the map of the Soviet Union, marked with the route

Пароход Челюскин

of the “Chelyuskin” ship, which sank in the Arctic ice.

The ship was on its way from Murmansk to Vladivostok

to lay out a route for the transportation of goods

over the Northern Sea Route. The crew and scientists

on board were to fulfil an extremely difficult

task which had never before been a success:

an ordinary vessel, not an ice-breaker, had to cover the

entire Northern Sea Route reaching the Pacific Ocean

through the Bering Strait in one shipping season.

The next painting depicts the catastrophe in the

Bering Strait: the ship, heavily squeezed

by the ice, sank within two hours.

Further on we can see a camp of survivors (104 people)

on ice, under a red flag. Above it is the portrait

of the leader of the scientific expedition,

Otto Schmidt, who was the last to

leave the drowning “Chelyuskin.”

The next image shows the beginning of the rescue

operation: a plane lands on the ice to pick-up the first

group of polar explorers, who have passed two

months on ice during the polar winter.

Here we can also see the portrait of head

of the rescue commission, Valerian Kuibyshev.

The most colourful and expressive image

shows to the courageous members of

the “Chelyuskin” crew being welcomed

by a happy crowd of people on Red

Square near Lenin's mausoleum.

reference

In the 1930s Arctic expeditions were as prestigious as future space

missions. The Arctic, which the USSR claimed its territory, was a

heavily sought after piece of land for super powers. The North was

actively explored, with the whole country closely following the

surrounding events.

The “Chelyuskin” tragedy called for unparalleled heroism from the

Air Force. Spy planes and bombers were brought as close as possible

to the survivors' camp on ships, but they could not pick up a lot of

people at a time. Pilots literally worked miracles landing on ice

that worked similarly to a very short airstrip. Still, all of the

polar explorers were saved within 24 flights. This was atriumph for

the entire country; the whole nation celebrated the survivors

showering them with flowers all the way from Vladivostok to Moscow.

Schools held special assemblies in their honour, with children role-

playing the “Chelyuskin” survivors. Three days after the completion

of the heroic saga, on 19th of April 1934, the title of Hero of the

Soviet Union was instituted in the country. Of course it is the

“Chelyuskin” crew who became it's the first laureates.

Medal «Gold Star”

Author: Dubasov, I. I.

Collection custodian:

“A notable fact about this vase is that it was made for the Paris International

Exhibition of 1937, which had the theme of ‘Art and technology in the modern

world’ and brought together participants from 47 countries together. Back then,

the highlight and symbol of the Soviet pavilion was the famous 24-metre

sculpture ‘Worker and the Farmer Woman’ by Vera Mukhina. It was on its return

to the Soviet Union from Paris that the vase was handed to Sergo Ordzhonikidze

as a present.”