On some problems of Rostov miniature on enamel of the 20th century and the experience of their solution

The State Museum reserve “Rostov Kremlin” has the richest collection of the Rostov miniature on enamel in terms of volume. The question of its studying and preserving stands on the first place. After noticing the appearance of plaque on some works of the second half of the twentieth century, the museum addressed to the famous artist technologist and experimenter, Honorary Artist of Russia A. G. Alekseyev, who sent the samples to the head of the scientific research sector of the main funds of the Fersman Mineralogical Museum L. A. Pautov. They suggested possible reasons and gave recommendations: to place the objects in vacuum or to put the material named “ascarit” in the display cases. The first recommendation is very expensive, and the second one, because of its novelty, must be tested and approved for use in museum practice. Studying the archival materials, we noticed that as early as 1906, Rostov received paints made for porcelain decoration. Previously, it was believed that paints from the Dulevo porcelain factory appeared in Rostov only after the World War II of 1941 - 1945, but according to the archival data given in this article, paints were purchased from Dulevo already in the 1920s. In the 1950s turpentine oil was replaced with non drying mineral (turbine) oil M 8. It is quite possible that this circumstance further contributed to the appearance of plaque on the enamel. New archival information can help to find rational and effective ways to solve in the future the range of problems arising in the preservation of the Rostov miniature on enamel.