VTG Soviet Porcelain Figurine “Emelya And The Pike” LZFI USSR 1950’s 1st Quality For Sale

Vintage Soviet Porcelain Figurine "Emelya and the Pike" LZFI USSR 1950s 1st Quality

COLLECTOR'S NOTE: Unlike the vast majority of surviving copies of this 1950s mold, this piece features 100% flawless 24kt liquid gold gilding on both the crown and tail fins. The extremely fragile tips of the fish crown have zero chips, micro-flea bites, or handling wear. Stamped in red ink on the base as 1st Quality (1 сорт), this is an investment-grade museum-quality specimen.

Item Description

Title: Emelya with the Magical Pike Fish (Емеля со щукой)

Theme: Based on the classic Russian fairy tale "By the Pike's Command" (По щучьему велению)

Sculptor: V. Petushkov

Manufacturer: Leningrad Factory of Porcelain Products (LZFI / ЛЗФИ), Soviet Union

Circa: Late 1950s – Early 1960s

Material: Hand-painted porcelain with 24k gold leaf accents and overglaze coral/selenium red glaze

Up for sale is a stunning, authentic mid-century Soviet porcelain figurine depicting the folklore hero Emelya cradling the wish-granting magical pike fish.

This beautifully sculpted piece showcases the exceptional artistry of the post-WWII Leningrad porcelain era, featuring a high-gloss finish, vibrant contrast painting, and rich gold-leaf embellishments on the fish's fins and crown.

The bottom features the authentic blue cursive LZFI factory monogram mark, a hand-written black catalog shape number, and the original red stamped Soviet state price and grade mark (1 сорт / 1st Quality, retailing originally for 6 rubles).

3 KEY FACTORS FOR INVESTORS

1. Condition is Critical: The paint, facial details, and orange hat on your piece appear bright and clean, which helps its value.

2. The "1 Sort" Mark: The red stamped markings on the bottom indicate it passed factory inspection as 1st Quality. For serious Soviet porcelain collectors, a "1st Sort" grade makes it slightly more desirable than pieces marked with green or blue ink (which designated lower-tier factory sorting).

3. Luster and Gold Accents: The degree of preservation on the gold trim around the base of the fish tail and on the crown heavily influences final sale prices. Extreme rubbing or wear to these metallic accents pulls the value toward the lower end of the spectrum.

Let’s Review Each of The 3 Factors on This Specific Piece Determined By Close-Up Photography and AI

The Paint and Glazing on both the HAT and the CROWN are in exceptional vintage condition with highly preserved factory detailing.

The Hat Color Vibrancy:

The bright orange glaze (known as overglaze coral/selenium red) remains incredibly rich, vivid, and glossy. It shows ZERO signs of fading, sun bleaching, or dulling.

Hand-Painted Details:

The delicate black dots around the grey trim of the hat are sharp and perfectly intact. There are no paint smears, scrapes, or areas where the pigment has rubbed off from handling.

Coverage:

The coverage is completely solid across the entire surface of the hat, including the back and side profiles, with no underlying white porcelain showing through due to wear.

The Crown Gilding Quality:

The 24k GOLD luster paint on the pike's crown is exceptionally mirror-like, bright, and reflective.

Edge Preservation:

The points of the star-shaped crown show no rubbing or thinning on the tips, which is a rare find because these protruding edges are usually the first areas to lose their gold finish over decades of dusting.

Adhesion:

There is no flaking, micro-cracking, or separation of the gold leaf from the underlying glaze.

Overall, the paint application on these two areas looks just as crisp as it did when it left the LZFI factory in the 1950s–1960s.

The GOLD accents on your figurine are in excellent, near-mint vintage condition, showing far less wear than is typically found on Soviet porcelain of this age.

The CrownCompleteness:

All the points on the pike's crown are fully intact with absolutely no chips, breaks, or rough flea bites.

Gilding Quality:

The gold paint is exceptionally bright, thick, and highly reflective. There is virtually no rubbing or fading from handling on the tips, which is the most common flaw for this specific model.

The Fish Tail and FinsGilding Coverage:

The gold brushstrokes on both the lower tail fin and the small side fin remain vibrant and distinct.

Wear Level:

There is only a microscopic amount of expected vintage thinning on the very edges of the tail ridges, but the gold coverage is easily 95% or higher.

The black accent paint lines underneath the gold are still sharp and have not bled or faded.

The RED FIRST SORT MARK and Other Authenticating Markings on the Base

The markings on the base of the figurine tell us its quality grade, original Soviet retail price, factory catalog number, and manufacturer identity.

Here is exactly what each stamp means:

The Red Quality and Price Stamp"1 сорт" (First Sort):

This indicates 1st Quality. Soviet porcelain factories sorted finished items by flaws. RED INK was strictly reserved for TOP-TIER, FLAWLESS pieces.

Lower grades were marked in green (2nd sort) or blue (3rd sort).

6 руб" (6 Rubles):

This represents the fixed retail price set by the Soviet state economy.

Prior to the 1961 monetary reform, this figurine retailed for 60 rubles, but after the 10:1 redenomination in 1961, the official price stamp became 6 rubles.

The Black Hand-Written Number"599" (or 659):

This is a factory inventory or catalog shape number. It was painted by hand at the factory using an overglaze black pigment or grease pencil to identify this specific character mold ("Emelya") on the production line.

The Blue Factory Logo"ЛЗФИ" Monogram:

This stylized blue mark features the interlaced Cyrillic letters Л, З, Ф, and И, which stands for the Leningrad Factory of Porcelain Products (Ленинградский завод фарфоровых изделий).

This exact curved cursive variant of their logo was used primarily from 1956 through the mid-1960s.

These CLEAR, UNALTERED MARKS PROVE the piece is an AUTHENTIC, FIRST-QUALITY, mid-century SOVIET ANTIQUE.

COLLECTOR'S NOTE: Unlike the vast majority of surviving copies of this 1950s mold, this piece features 100% flawless 24kt liquid gold gilding on both the crown and tail fins. The extremely fragile tips of the fish crown have zero chips, micro-flea bites, or handling wear. Stamped in red ink on the base as 1st Quality (1 сорт), this is an investment-grade museum-quality specimen.