A Composite Soviet Suprematist Porcelain teaset: 'Diagonal Movement', Nikolai Suetin, State Porcelain Manufactory, 1923

comprising: a teapot, a covered milk jug, a covered sugar bowl and two teacups, the bodies decorated with a Suprematist composition in black, grey and orange, each signed: po riz N. Suetina, Suprematism, with the black square, the special Jubilee mark for the fifth anniversary of the State Porcelain Factory's association with Narkompros, (KNP) and numbered No. 474/207, No. 474/205, No. 474/202, No. 474/120; No. 474/228, together with two associated saucers, also decorated in with similar designs by Suetin in orange, green, yellow and black, signed as above with green Imperial cyphers for Nicholas II and Alexander III and numbered No. 474/215 and No. 474/223

The set was bought by the grandmother of the current owner and taken to Lodz, Poland in 1923/4.
Thence by descent.

There is recent restoration to the lid of the teapot and one of the saucers. There is a hairline crack to the front of one of the cups, approx 1cm long.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Following the October Revolution, the production of porcelain declined dramatically due to the lack of funding. However in March 1918, Narkompos (People's Commissariat for Public Education) took over the State Porcelain Factory and supplied it with money and fuel. The employees received orders not only to preserve the best traditions of Russian decorative porcelain, but to turn the former Imperial Factory into a "ceramics test laboratory of note for the whole Republic", where "agitation porcelain in the highest sense of this word" would be made, "revolutionary in content, perfect in its form and flawless in technical execution".

In the search for forms, which corresponded to the new era, the founder of the Suprematist movement, Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935) and his pupil Nikolai Suetin (1897-1954), also turned to porcelain, to express the "principle of utilitarian perfection". For their decorations they used geometric compositions with combinations of patches of colour, dynamic in its proportions and lines.

A similar sugar bowl is illustrated in T.N.Nosovich: Gosudarstvenny Farforoviy Zavod, St Petersburg, 2005, p.310. The teapot and milk jug differ slightly from those also illustrated in the same publication, but are of identical form to lot 610 in this sale.