'Lenin Among the Peasants': A Soviet Porcelain Figural Relief, Alexey Sotnikov, Dulevo Porcelain Manufactory, Verbilki, 1957

modelled as Vladimir Lenin talking to a group of peasants during a walk in the countryside, with artist's signature in Cyrillic on the reverse

There are some cracks visible primarily on the reverse, especially to the ankle of Lenin, the reverse with multiples holes for hanging
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Renowned Soviet ceramic sculptor Alexey Sotnikov (1904-1989) studied ceramic design under Vladimir Tatlin at Moscow's VKhUTEIN from 1928 to 1931 before working in Narkompros' Laboratory of Material Culture, also under Tatlin.  In the early 1930s, he began work at the Dulevo Porcelain Manufactory where he was among a group of innovative young artists creating new designs for Soviet porcelain.  His contribution made Dulevo porcelain world famous, and Sotnikov's best known work 'Falcon' was adapted as Dulevo's mark.  He was also essential in establishing a new style in the period after 1953, when Soviet artists sought to find a new artistic language free of the excesses of the Stalin era.  The present lot, with its muted tones and experimental relief form, was a key work in this development.  There is another example in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery (SKS-1940).  See Gosudarstvennaia Tretiakovskaia galereia, Skulptura pervoi poloviny XX veka, Moscow, 2002, p. 382, no. 1472.