Collector Opens Vintage Shop as Youth Buys Soviet Crystal and Porcelain

In late December 2025, a vintage dishware shop opened in the center of Irkutsk. It doesn«t have expensive collectible rarities like sets from the Imperial Porcelain Factory or the German brand Meissen. But it does have crystal salad bowls in which your mom might have served Olivier salad or herring under a fur coat on the New Year»s table, or porcelain cups from which you probably drank tea at your grandmother«s house.

The shop was opened by Irkutsk collector and blogger Alexander Agafonov. Several years ago, he started buying Soviet dishware for himself. But over time, the collection grew so much that there was no space to store it, so he began selling extra and duplicate cups, saucers, and teapots. Alexander shared his hobby and the fashion for Soviet vintage with a journalist from IrCity.

«My collecting actually started when I once visited the Museum at the Dump (now Alexander Rastorguev»s Military History Museum. — Ed.). I suddenly liked old things and how they were all in one place, side by side. I was especially surprised by such a simple, it seemed, thing — a collection of ceramic mugs,« shares Alexander.

They hung in a row on shelves in a hangar equipped as a museum of retro items, and fascinated the man.

«Individually, they might not have been anything special. But when I saw them together — and they were all different shapes, with different decorations, patterns — it seemed interesting to me. There was a sense of warmth emanating from it all. I saw my own beauty in it,» adds the interlocutor.

Alexander decided that he wanted to have a similar collection at home, and he began collecting beer mugs from the USSR era. It turned out that quite a few were produced at that time, and at different factories across the country. Some were timed for specific dates, others had coats of arms of Soviet cities, and still others — just curious decoration.

«I ordered these mugs online, bought them on Avito and in antique shops. I literally hunted for some specimens. I think I bought all the more or less interesting mugs and from them moved on to porcelain,» continues the Irkutsk resident.

At first, porcelain dishware itself didn«t interest Alexander at all. But then he began to understand the topic, found out that porcelain varies, and among the products of different factories and masters, there are interesting specimens. After that, the collector started looking for items that interested him.

«Especially good is porcelain painted by hand, because there will never be two identical cups. That is, they are maximally similar but not identical, even if the same master applied the pattern. There will always be a slightly different tilt of a leaf or thickness of a line. That»s how you can always distinguish hand painting from decal or airbrushing,« explains Alexander.

Since people often sell entire sets of dishware online without particularly sorting their contents, over time Alexander accumulated a lot of assorted items. Sometimes from one address, the Irkutsk resident would bring three huge boxes with things and dishware.

«Interesting items for the collection I kept, and the rest of the dishware just piled up until a certain critical mass was reached. Even though I live in a private house, one day there was nowhere to put it. Even the shed was full,» admits the interlocutor.

Then Alexander started going on weekends to the same flea market at Rabochego Shtaba, where he bought his first ceramic mugs, and began selling dishware that he himself didn«t need. On the very first day, the man sold almost half of everything he had, and the revenue by the end of the day reached about 20,000 rubles (approx. $250 at current rates).

«I didn»t expect such a frenzy and live interest at all. Although back then, four years ago, we had more than democratic prices because we almost didn«t understand anything yet. We put everything up cheaply,» admits Alexander.

Every weekend, the Irkutsk resident took goods there, sold what was unnecessary, and with the proceeds, replenished both his collection and the assortment of his little shop. A little later, he rented a covered pavilion at the same flea market so as not to freeze outside. There he traded for the last year and a half until he found a building for rent in the center of Irkutsk.

«We opened here in the twenties of December. And, you know, the frenzy is completely incredible,» the collector marvels.

The interior of the vintage shop resembles (so far fragmentarily) the setting of a retro apartment. This resemblance is intentional but not yet perfected, since Alexander doesn«t have the necessary set of furniture. For example, porcelain and crystal are displayed on modern shelves, not in Soviet »wall units« as the shop owner would like. But the shop already has an antique chest of drawers, a pot-bellied Zil refrigerator, typical Soviet armchairs, and even a Rigonda radiogram.

«In the future, I want to make this shop a mini-version of a Soviet apartment. At the entrance, put a dressing table with vintage costume jewelry, perfume, a hanger with vintage clothing. Further — a kitchen area with a refrigerator, stove, kitchen table, and dishware. A living room where there will be these armchairs, a table, a bookshelf, a Soviet »wall unit« with crystal and various knick-knacks. I want people to be able to open any drawer or the same refrigerator, and inside — items of Soviet everyday life,» shares Alexander«s plans.

According to his idea, the shop should become a place where people as if travel back in time and find themselves in a typical Soviet apartment.

Alexander Agafonov notes that the vintage shop is most popular precisely with young people, although older generations are not rare guests. But if more adult buyers often ask for dishware «to add to,» meaning they want to supplement the sets they have at home, then young people enthusiastically take both individual saucers or cups and entire sets.

«Soviet dishware is now experiencing a new wave of popularity. I connect this with the fact that young people who were born in the late nineties — early two-thousands grew up with modern dishware. Around that time, people started replacing their Soviet sets with something more modern; for example, »Luminarc« was popular. These children saw retro dishware, if they were lucky, at their grandparents», so they want to touch all this again,« reasons the Irkutsk resident.

Therefore, young people happily buy products from the Khaitinsky Porcelain Factory. There is a lot of it in the vintage shop. Alexander says that Khaitinsky clay is one of the purest; it had no harmful impurities, salts, or metals. Therefore, it is considered safe and eco-friendly. The highlight is added by the fact that the Khaitinsky Factory no longer exists, so the supply of such dishware is essentially limited.

Also on the shelves is dishware made at the Tulun Glass Factory. These are various salad bowls, fruit bowls, vases, and glasses. They are interesting because the glass is colored. Even now, such items look dignified and modern.

Also in the shop, you can find scarce Czechoslovak crystal. The price for it is higher because such finds are rarer and owners often sell them much more expensive.

«Besides the dishware itself, we also have accompanying vintage goods because many are interested in them too. Men come, ask about equipment. Some are interested in books and all sorts of trinkets: stamps, badges, postcards. For installation, we even have products, for example, a pack of cereal, peppercorns, white meat sauce. There is soldier»s soap, dry shampoo, cotton wool, and many interesting things,« tells Alexander.

The value of all items in the shop, according to the Irkutsk resident, is not that the things have some special quality or are very rare. No, much of the assortment was produced in large batches, as they are consumer goods. The real value is different.

Alexander says that vintage integrates perfectly into modern interiors. At his home, only the appliances are modern. Almost all furniture and dishware are restored and refurbished retro items.

«In all this, there is some warmth and soul,» believes Alexander.