Nikolsk Museum of Glass and Crystal

About museum

The Nikolsk-Bakhmetevsky factory was founded in 1789, and a museum was opened here in 1914. Three generations of the Bakhmetev family and Prince A. D. Obolensky collected samples of their factory's products, as well as foreign glass. After nationalization and the renaming of the factory to "Red Giant", the museum's collection was expanded through the efforts of its directors. Since 2006 the museum has received works by artists from various parts of Russia and abroad. At present the museum's collection comprises over 14,600 exhibits. It is considered the best collection of glass in Russia. The exhibition features traditional and new methods of glassworking, decorations imitating chased gold and precious stones. Visitors can see items made for the Imperial Court, for wealthy nobility of Moscow and St. Petersburg, gifts to Yuri A. Gagarin, a table service for the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and more. The museum houses interesting and unusual works of art.