Exhibition "Open Storage of the Furniture Collection"

About exhibition

The furniture collection of the Rybinsk Museum-Reserve comprises approximately 480 items dating from the 16th to the 20th centuries and continues to grow actively through donations. About 100 furniture pieces are displayed in the museum's main exhibitions. Furniture is periodically shown in temporary exhibitions. However, the majority of the collection is kept in closed storage. These items have either never been exhibited for various reasons or are exhibited very rarely. Of course, the new exhibition cannot display the entire furniture collection. It is merely an attempt to open a kind of museum behind-the-scenes to guests and city residents in the hope of establishing a dialogue with the public, potential lenders, sponsors, and specialists who, by becoming acquainted with the collection in this form, gain an understanding of the kinds of objects the museum preserves and the issues it faces regarding restoration and the expansion of the existing collection. The exhibition features more than 50 items, mostly of domestic manufacture. These include large case furniture, seating, tables, floor and wall clocks, and peasant furniture. The pieces represent various styles such as Renaissance and Baroque, Classicism and Empire, Historicism and Art Nouveau. Visitors will receive exclusive information about the collection as a whole, become acquainted with the interiors of rooms in noble estates and urban merchant mansions of the 19th–early 20th centuries, and learn about the characteristics of different applied-art styles and furniture decoration techniques.