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Gilded Gold colored BORZOI RUSSIAN WOLF HOUND FIGURINE.

A Rare Piece!

WEIGHT: 8 POUNDS 10 OZ

8" HIGH

10" LONG

2.75" WIDE

Howard Stone of the "Stone Brothers" Art, showed this to me at a Borzoi dog show --all he knew about it was that it was a Limited Edition 209/228 and I purchased this in 1998, but it may be very old. I have no other definitive dating or origin, other than the knowledge this Borzoi is the same model of the original castings, by Tamara Alexandrovna Malushima. So I have no knowledge as to whether this was made in Russia or the USA or elsewhere. One site said the artist did travel to the USA, but I have no information about the casting and plating of this piece. On the base, there is a one inch, oblong area seen in the photos, where the gold color had come off. It was like that when I purchased it and the brownish bronze shows through. I do not know what kind of process put the gold/brassy color plating on the sculpture. The figurine itself is clearly a known Borzoi model seen in non-gilded Borzois creations made by the artist. It could have been an original casting that was later plated with the gold appearance.

There are no signature or marks on the piece such as the limited series however those marks could have been covered by the gold plating. Howard Stone gave me the numbers Limited Edition 209/228

I have no information regarding this piece other than the above and what the late Howard Stone told me. He said it is definitely Bronze under the gilding, The statue has a clear ring to it. Malushina was apparently not a prolific Sculptor. She is not like some of the other named sculptors in figurines. Her couple Borzois figurines are known to Borzoi lovers. She had at least one piece called "Girl with. a Dog," from Soviet era Russia in the 60's--It was not a Borzoi pictured. It was a silver colored plated Pewter piece. I do not know if she was directly involved in this gilded series. No matter where you; look there is no Malushina model based Borzoi for sale in Bronze. Her name is not a big name sculptor commonly seen on auction houses. One can find a very inexpensive copy of her Borzoi in a lighter alloy metal. This piece has a mystery to it, and is not perfect and older.

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Here is some info about the artist from internet sources. Some articles say her birthday was in 1907 and lived till 2016 and others say 1927-2016. I cannot vouch for the correctness of these excepts about the artist.

"Tamara Alexandrovna Malushina was a Russian sculptor who was born in 1907 and died in 2016. She was known for her works depicting borzois, a breed of Russian hunting dogs. She created death masks of her own borzois with plaster and gold-plated them ¹. She also made a sculpture called “Borzye” which shows two borzois running together ². She said she first saw borzois during the blockade of Leningrad in World War II and was fascinated by them ²."

When I saw the white greyhounds galloping through these dug-out boulders. I didn’t know what kind of dogs they were. Who was their master? Where did they come from? I didn't even think about it then. But I was defeated by their beauty and grace."

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In the following write up there may have been a machine translation error from Russian, when referring to "Greyhounds," other write ups talk only about her Borzois. Here she says "I have 17 Greyhounds." Perhaps someone who knows more then I, about the artist, could confirm whether this was a translation error when mentioning Greyhounds as opposed to Borzoi, since I remember hearing that "Greyhound" in Russian may have been a generic name, in the past. As far as her correct date of her birth the 1907 date would have made her 109 years old in 2016, so the 1927 date could be more likely.

“For the first time I saw Russian dog greyhounds on Vasilievsky Island during the blockade. As a schoolgirl, I, like all my peers,dug earth ditches to protect people during bombings. On these moats from above, wooden canopies were laid and topped with earth. And during the shelling it was possible to get in and hide. And then one day I saw two white greyhounds galloping through these dug-out boulders. I didn’t know what kind of dogs they were. Who was their master? Where did they come from? I didn't even think about it then. But I was defeated by their beauty and grace."

"In 1963, in the Art Fund, I saw the announcement “A Russian dog greyhound is given...”. This ad was posted by our photographer Nikolai Nikolaevich Karmazin. I called him. It turned out that he, unfortunately, does not have the opportunity to keep the dog at home. He raised her in a garage, but he understood that such a dog needed better conditions. We met with Nikolai Nikolaevich. That's how I got my first Wald greyhound. And then I had the descendants of my Walda. I now live in the 10th generation of her great-grandchildren. In the nearly 50 years since I met Valda, I have had 17 greyhounds."

"Being an artist, I perceive greyhounds as a perfectly created creature. I only see beauty in the greyhound. And fast and sharp and affectionate and friendly...The internal content and appearance of greyhounds are completely harmonious. In the greyhound there are all the qualities that even a person should have."

"Russian dogs are perfect. And, of course, I wanted to multiply these perfect creatures. So when I came to the greyhounds, I came to them, they did not come to me, I decided that I should do everything possible to make such beautiful animals as much as possible. This beauty is close to people. There were times when I had five greyhounds at the same time. It’s hard to take responsibility for so many dogs. I have only two dogs - Clever Dasha, a descendant of my Biser, and her daughter Princess. I take them out for a walk. From one hour I walk, from the second hour I walk, both in the morning and in the evening. All my dogs lived a very good and happy life, left behind offspring.”"

A photo of an example of the non-gilded original:

The artist:

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Whether this exact piece of Borzoi art originated in Russia or the USA, it is apparently a gilded type bronze with a Gold/brass shine. I do not know enough about the various methods of gold-plating or gilding to say anything meaningful about it. I found one article about "Ormola"

"Ormolu (/ˈɔːrməluː/; from French or moulu, "ground/pounded gold") is the gilding technique of applying finely ground, high-carat gold–mercury amalgam to an object of bronze, and for objects finished in this way. The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold coating. The French refer to this technique as "bronze doré"; in English, it is known as "gilt bronze". Around 1830, legislation in France had outlawed the use of mercury for health reasons, though use continued to the 1900s."

I doubt this piece is like Ormolu at least as described above.

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It is interesting that it is said the artist, Tamara Malushina had made gold masks of her Borzois these were plaster casts she had gold plated