Art Director : Churaeva Svetlana
Architectural design: Zorkina Maria
Graphic design: Strizhevskaya Yana
Museum Collection is a unique cultural and educational project founded by David and Mickhail Iakobachvili. The Museum art fund unites more than 25,000 exhibits. It is one of the largest private collection in the world. The Museum premises with the total area of 12,000 square meters in cludes the museum complex that is located on four floors and designed for housing the permanent exposition and temporary exhibitions. The Restorationcenter, Depositary and technical support units are housed on the basement floors.
The museum welcome area is designed in minimalistic modern forms with a contrast to antique exhibits
The exposition is housed on four museum floors and divided into thematic zones.
The first and second floors accommodate self-playing musical instruments, including organs produced by Th. Mortier S.A, A. Ruth & Sohn, Carl Frei & Sohn, Gebruder Bruder, J.Verbeeck; orchestrions and player pianos of the firms Hupfeld, René Seybold,
Vose & Sons; barrel organs of the firms Bacigalupo, Frati & Co and items produced
by the Russian masters I. Nechada and Z. Kitesov.
The first and second floors accommodate self-playing musical instruments, including organs produced by Th. Mortier S.A, A. Ruth & Sohn, Carl Frei & Sohn, Gebruder Bruder, J.Verbeeck; orchestrions and player pianos of the firms Hupfeld, René Seybold,
Vose & Sons; barrel organs of the firms Bacigalupo, Frati & Co and items produced
by the Russian masters I. Nechada and Z. Kitesov.
Each floor greets visitors with a floor map decorated with a unique image of a main type of exhibit on the floor
Technical rooms are hidden from the eyes of visitors behind decorative information panels with brief biographies of outstanding mechanics, musicians and jewellers.
The entire exposition is united by the theme of mechanical rarities. The guests can listen to the sound of various cylinder and disc music boxes created by the firms Mermod Frères, Nicole Frères, Symphonion Musikwerke, Poliphon Musikwerke, Regina, Reuge; the sound of gramophones produced by the companies Thomas A. Edison, Pathé, Goldora-Werk and various models of phonographs — National Phonograph Company, American Graphophone Company, etc.
The collection of clocks, feature more than 500 diverse items that date back to the late 17th century and up to the present day. This section gives a complete picture of the time measurement devices’ usage: long-case clocks, mantel and table clocks, wall and console clocks, pocket watches, carriage clocks; as well as singular, amazing by their appearance — skeleton and mystery clocks. Clocks Gallery features works of Abraham-Louis Breguet, Pavel Bure, Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, James Cox and other great clockmakers.
The collection of clocks, feature more than 500 diverse items that date back to the late 17th century and up to the present day. This section gives a complete picture of the time measurement devices’ usage: long-case clocks, mantel and table clocks, wall and console clocks, pocket watches, carriage clocks; as well as singular, amazing by their appearance — skeleton and mystery clocks. Clocks Gallery features works of Abraham-Louis Breguet, Pavel Bure, Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, James Cox and other great clockmakers.
Part of the large-scale collection of the Russian bronze art dated back to the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries and presented by the works of the Russian sculptors E.A. Lanceray, N.A. Lieberich, A.M. Opekushin, M.M. Antokolsky, V.Y. Grachov, P.P. Troubetzkoy and others is displayed on the third exposition floor. The collection of bronze artworks is divided into thematic areas — animalistic, bust-portrait, battle and genre sculpture. The cartographic section on the third floor features the singular maps and geographical atlases of the prominent cartographers — A. Wilbrecht, Johann Homann, Joachim Ottens and others. They display a vast territory of the Transcaucasia and the Mediterranean.
The Russian Enamel section includes decorative art objects dated back to the 17th – early 20th centuries. This section is distinguished by the application diversity (cups, spoons, teapots, dishes, ladles, glasses, salt shakers, snuff boxes, needle cases, matchboxes, etc.), as well as by the enamel techniques (champleve, cloisonne, painted, plique-a-jour enamel, etc.). The collection items made both by unknown craftsmen and the leading jewelry enterprises in Moscow and St. Petersburg of the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries (firms of Sazikov, Khlebnikov, the Grachev brothers, Kurlyukov and Tenisheva workshop) give a fairly complete picture of the highest level of
enamel business in Russia throughout the 17th – early 20th centuries. They reveal the richness of artistic terms of the Russian artisans and their stylistic preferences in this area of decorative art.
enamel business in Russia throughout the 17th – early 20th centuries. They reveal the richness of artistic terms of the Russian artisans and their stylistic preferences in this area of decorative art.
The basement floor introduces visitors to collections of unique automata dolls of the 18th – 20th centuries, jukeboxes and mechanical jazz organs. There is also a lecture hall, where lectures and specialized movie shows are held.
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