A 17-year-old glassblower from the Tver region wants to revive the unique glass production from which the «rubies» of the Kremlin stars were made

17-year-old Alexander Ivanov from Vyshny Volochok, Tver region, risks soon becoming the most famous glazier in the country. Or, if you prefer, a glass master. The profession is rare and interesting. And the guy’s eyes are burning, he’s in love with the glass. Recently I talked about glassblowing on a TV show on the federal channel; it is exhibited at VDNKh.

It all started a few years ago, then Sasha began collecting a collection of glass from the Volochkovo plant “Red May”. The plant, known since tsarist times, where ruby glass was repeatedly brewed for the stars of the Moscow Kremlin, is no longer there. Production collapsed in 2001, unable to withstand the clash with the market economy. Today, instead of a giant enterprise, there are only ruins. But history lives on in hand-blown glass objects.

Alexander collected a collection of a thousand copies. Today it is not on the shelves gathering dust, he managed to exhibit it: he made an agreement with a local art venue - the Ryabushinsky dacha.

more - more: I decided that I would become a glazier - I began to look for ways to go to school. I found it and entered Gus-Khrustalny. A guy with sparkling eyes and a love for glasswork captivated the experienced glassmakers there.

Things are going well in Alexander’s hands - his first works were included in the “Russia” exhibition, which is now at VDNKh. And recently Alexander became a participant in Andrei Malakhov’s talk show, where they talked about the fact that glass production in Russia is alive.

The guy talked about his training and the local factory with such enthusiasm and positivity that there was no doubt left: our glass industry has a future. It is clear that the young man has a lot of plans.

We talked with Alexander, talked about his love for glass, collecting and the revival of glass production in his native Vyshny Volochok.

- Why glass? How did you decide to start collecting?

- I have always collected something, since the first grade. My parents bought me different sets and interesting magazines, for example, a collection of stones in the Soyuzpechat kiosks or a map of Russia in parts with different sights. I often visited my grandmother in the village of Krasnomaysky on weekends and holidays, and when I got older, I noticed the abandoned glass factory “Krasny May”. I really liked the different colored pieces of glass or remnants of products that I often came across at the factory, where I was sometimes allowed to enter at the checkpoint. In the 7th grade, to prepare a school project, I chose a topic about the Red May glass factory, and it really fascinated me - its history, products and everything connected with it. The first items in the collection came from relatives and friends; I bought some at the market and online; I might find some in the trash because people were throwing it away. The collection contained only products from our factory until September 2023, but now they began to add exhibits from the Gusevsky Crystal Factory named after. Maltseva. There are more than a thousand different items in the collection, and each is unique and interesting in its own way, even the remains of the Kremlin ruby stars, which were made at the Krasny May factory. Many beautiful and rare vases.

- Now I’m studying in college. Is everything working out?

- At the Gusevsky Glass College I am studying the main profession “Installation, maintenance and repair of industrial equipment in glass production” and will additionally receive a certificate as a glass compositor and blower.

All together, this will allow us to further work and develop in the glass industry. Of course, there is a lot of training and work ahead so that you can make more complex and beautiful products, but the simplest flowers, swans, medals and apples are already being made.

I can’t wait to have a hands-on visit to the factory itself and try to work on large furnaces, but first I need to get my teeth into the college’s glassblowing workshop.

- According to dreams and plans: what after training? Creation of production? Or a museum?

- After graduating from college, I plan to return to my native Vyshny Volochek and open a private workshop. The Krasny May glass factory museum operates in our city, and its collection cannot be compared with anything. And I hope my small exhibition, located at the art dacha, will be replenished and expanded; it arouses great interest among tourists who come there.

But the most important dream is to revive the production of unique sulfide glass, which could only be produced at the Red May plant, and I believe that in the future this can be done, as well as over time, expanding from a private workshop into a large production, since ours needs them country and in the 21st century, you can find and interest a business that will be ready to invest in such production.

Materials: https://www.tver.kp.ru/