Description of the attraction
The decorative ensemble "The Favorite Dog Chasing Four Ducks" was made of copper and is in good condition. This fountain is located in its former place - if you go around the western Voronikhinsky colonnade, then you will definitely come out to it. The unusual decoration of the fountain inadvertently attracts the attention of each of the guests of the Lower Park. In a deep round pool, 4 ducks are swimming quickly in a circle, and the Favorite dog is catching up with them. Jets of water burst out of the dog's mouth and open beaks of ducks.
The idea of the sculptural decoration of the fountain is explained in an explanatory note on the drawing of the 18th century: “A dog chases ducks on the water. Then the ducks told her this: you are in vain tormenting, you de force have to drive us, only you do not have the strength to catch."
In 1725, according to the project of the architect M. Zemtsov, the Favorit fountain was built. Figures of a dog and ducks were carved from oak by N. Pino. In 1726, according to his model, the figures were cast from copper.
The fountain had a rather complicated structure. Under the pool in the chamber was hidden a mechanism that set the figures in motion. The mechanism was a wheel that could rotate under the pressure of flowing water and, using a gear transmission, rotate a shaft with levers. It is on these levers that the Favorite and the ducks spin. In addition, the fountain had a sound design made by the bell and music master I. Foerster. When the figures moved, the ducks quacked and the dog barked. Also in the chamber under the pool were installed 2 forging bellows, which were set in motion by means of a filling wheel. From the bellows through the pipes, compressed air was supplied to the mouthpieces, which achieved imitation of the barking of a dog and the quack of ducks. But the dampness had a destructive effect on the sound mechanism of the fountain. In 1842, it was mentioned for the last time.
Fountain "Favorite" was called "machine fountain" because of the complexity of the device. He caused a lot of problems for the "fountain team". When the water pressure in the pipe became weak, the movement of the wheel and the rotation of the heroes often stopped. Once, on a summer day in 1733, Empress Anna Ioannovna "deigned to have fun with the cavaliers in the fountains." Approaching the Favorite fountain, she saw that it was not working. The Empress was very angry. After this event, Nikolai Skobelev, a fountain apprentice, was punished with "cats" (whipping) and sent to a smithy for six months to work with a hammer, while he was shackled.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Favorite fountain was destroyed, its sculptural decorations disappeared, with the exception of one duck, which was found in 1946 at the bottom of the Sea Canal during its cleaning. In 1957, under the direction of master A. P. Smirnov, the water supply of the fountain was reconstructed. Figures of ducks were made from copper punching out of the surviving sample. The Favorite dog was made according to the idea of the animal sculptor B. Vorobyov. Artist A. Vasilyeva painted the fountain's sculptural decoration.
