Folk carved and painted wood 18th-19th centuries (P.3)
Of the wide range of artistically decorated household objects distaffs were given the greatest attention and were preserved with the greatest of care. The study of distaffs does, therefore, make it possible to establish local art centres and schools. Not everywhere were wooden objects decorated with carving and painting orna¬ment; and even then not everything was decorated. Linen garments were sewn by hand with the help of a shveika—an appliance similar to a pillar-like distaff in form. A shveika came in handy in every peasant home. While sewing, the women sat on the base—a long horizontal part of the shveika, stretching the cloth^ which was pinned to the top of the vertical part, in front of her. On the whole, it hardly ever happened that as much attention was paid to the decoration of the shveikas as to that of distaffs.
The wide range of artistically decorated household objects which were intended for use by peasant women in their everyday work in the nineteenth is really astonishing. For instance, when women washed their linen in the river, they used richly ornamented battledores. The ribbed batlet (rubel), which was used for rolling'and smoothing out the linen cloth completed, as it were, the laborious processes connected with the making and maintenance of peasant garments. It is similar in shape to the battledore, but it is twice as long and has a ribbed lower surface. According to the shape and decoration of the ribbed batlets, several centres of their production can be distinguished.
Great skill and astonishing inventiveness and artistic feeling were displayed by Russian craftsmen in the carving of the wooden stamps used for decorating honey cakes. By stylizing real-life animal and plant forms—flowers, leaves, fish, birds, horses, cockerels—and incorporating them in fanciful ornaments, Russsian craftsmen created a fairy-tale world on the surface of honey-cake stamps.
Shveika (sewing device). Late 19th century. Arkhangelsk Region
Battledores. 18th century (below - battledor of M.Shaposhnikov. 1786)
Rubel (ribbed batlet). Beginning of the 19th century. Arkhangelsk Region
Honey-cake stamps. 19th century
Some everyday articles were traditionally made of bast, such as boxes for all sorts of things, baskets for gathering berries (nabirukhi), bread-bins, etc. The smooth bright surface of the bast was particularly suitable for painting. In the Mezen Area bread-bins were decorated with a traditional design consisting of very simple elements—little circles, crosses and dashes. In the Northern Dvina Area, especially in Permogorye, famed for its white-background paintwork, bread-bins were painted in a very festive manner.
Bread-bins usually ranked as important items in a bride's dowry. The genre scenes that embellished certain household objects were always meaningful and relevant. For instance, it was customary in Permogorye to adorn cradles with colourful scenes from a man's life from his birth well into maturity, always portraying him as a strong, kind, industrious and happy person. Bast baskets were often decorated with a leaf design, bright red cranberries and gaily-coloured cockerels enframing the centre-piece of the composition—the fabulous sirin, a symbol of happiness.
Birch-bark basket and case for little spade. End of the 19-beginning of the 20-th centuries. Vologda and Kostroma Regions
‘Tuesok’ (birch-bark vessel) and ‘dupelishko’ (birch-bark vessel). End of 19th century. Arkhangel Region
Bread-box. 19th century. Arkhangel Region
“Nabirukhi” (baskets) for berries. 19th century. Arkhangel Region
In peasant families great importance was attached to the decoration of the table, especially, on festive occasions. It is but natural, then, that tableware also had the attention of the craftsman. The central place on the table was occupied by a salt-cellar. In many districts it was made of birch-bark or tree roots but more often than not of carved wood. In making a salt-cellar, the craftsman paid most attention to its shape. In the Volga Area, namely in the Gorky, Kostroma and Yaroslavl Regions, salt-cellars were often shaped like an arm-chair. To the North of the Volga duck-shaped salt-cellars were wide¬spread. Duck-shaped salt-cellars can be found in Northern Russian villages even today. On a festive table a prominent place was taken by wooden scoops for mead and beer.
Some of them have handles terminating in beautifully carved dragons' heads. Larger scoops called skopkars had two handles. Such vessels can still be found in the peasant homes of the Russian North. A skopkar was usually carved in the form of a duck whose body represented a large low bowl while the head and tail served as handles. The skopkar reproduced in the album was brought from the Northern Dvina Area. Its shape is accentuated with a typically Permogorye painted ornament, the proudly curving breast of the duck being adorned with a rosette and the rest of the body, with a foliate pattern.
Another vessel widely used in the nortern regions of Russia was the yendova. In its shape it resembles a very large loving cup (bratina) on the base. But since it was meant for pouring out the liquid it contained, it had a short spout too. Usually, a brightly painted design of simple composition ran round the vessel in a broad band.
Salt-cellar. End of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. Nizhniy Novgorod Region
Salt-cellar. End of the 19th century. Archangel Region
“Skopkar” (wooden bowl) and ęîâřč÷ĺę. First half XIX century the Archangel Region
Yendova (bowl with spout). 19th century. Northern Russia
