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The Imperial Porcelain Factory or Manufactory, commonly abbreviated as IPM, was established at St Petersburg in 1744 by Dmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov, by the orders of the Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great. Elizabeth’s Father had visited Saxony in 1718 and saw there Meissen porcelain at the Dresden court. Vinogradov developed the formula for the porcelains which the new factory began to produce, for many years manufacturing items almost exclusively for the Romanov dynasty and the imperial court. Imperial patronage continued throughout the nineteenth century and by the early twentieth IPM was one of the leading porcelain factories in Europe, famous for the quality of its productions. In 1925 it became known as the Leningrad Lomonosov Porcelain Factory (LFZ - Leningradski Farforovyi Zavod) and produced a range of wares, including collectible animal figurines and dinner sets. Renamed again in 1993 it eventually reverted to its original name in 2005, under which it continues production today.

These two giraffe figures, then, are late creations of the factory but share in the characteristics of its productions over two centuries, particularly in respect of the quality of the porcelain, the modelling and the artistic quality of the decoration. One figure is modelled seated, its head gazing outwards and the other recumbent with its head bent down. Both share dappled markings on a mustard coloured ground in imitation of the fur of the live animal. The heads are strikingly represented, one almost expectant and the other dreamily pensive. While not a true pair (there are one or two more model types) these figures almost constitute an intended grouping and while attractive separately make much more of an impact when displayed together. Both are marked underneath in iron red and dating is determined by the form of the mark which was used from 1986 to 1992. Red was reserved for the best quality pieces and the mark itself is the Russian alphabet (ЛФЗ), that is ‘LFZ’ in English which is an abbreviation of the factory name ‘Lomonosovkiy Farforoviy Zavod’. Late examples then but worthy successors to over two centuries of ceramic production and highly desirable additions to a collection of decorative ceramics.