Russia, with its birch bark baskets, nesting dolls, and gilded icons, could appear exotic, even strange, to Westerners. Although the Iron Curtain has long since fallen, many American collectors stay unfamiliar with her vast variety of crafts and treasures.
For centuries on end, wood, so considerable in this land of dense forests, was generally fashioned into utilitarian, home objects. Every winter, when bitter snows blanketed the fields and winds swept the woodlands, peasants traditionally exchanged their plows and lower-saws for blocks of wood and carving knives at their firesides. For long months, by the dim light of their smoky cabins, they patiently turned out wooden plates, bowls, spoons, and ladles. These with time and inclination may have painted their handicrafts.
By the mid-seventeenth century, professional craftsmen in Khokhloma (pronounce this by clearing your throat twice, then rhyming with “coma”), a trading post within the Nizhny Novgorod area, along the mighty Volga River, had gained fame for creating a novel, decorative wooden lacquer ware.
Perhaps khokhlomas, as Khokhloma’s creations themselves came to be identified, have been inspired by Russia’s traditional religious works of art.
According to some sources, khokhloma’s traditional colour combination, red, black, and gold, once held deep spiritual significance. Within the Jap Orthodox Church, they explain, vivid shades of red representing beauty, black representing grief that cleanses the soul, and gold representing heavenly light as soon as embellished sacred church vessels and icons. True, solely clergy and rich the Aristocracy may afford to personal such costly works of art, which featured gold-haloed saints set towards shimmering gold leaf backgrounds.
But because of their similarity, a woodsman or laborer, eyeing his first red, black, and golden khokhloma buy, must have felt as if he owned a bit of heaven. Although he possible ate from his plainer items each day, he most likely used his most interesting khokhlomas solely on special events, like christenings, marriages, and non secular holidays—if at all.
Creating khokhloma was, and nonetheless is, an intricate, time-consuming craft passed down from generation to generation. First, artisans seasoned blocks of linden, beech, or birch, then either carved them with knives or turned them on lathes to create traditional home items. After drying them in kilns, they primed them with liquid clay to seal their pores. Then they fired their creations again. Subsequent they hand rubbed them a number of occasions with uncooked linseed oil till they turned glossy. Finally, they coated these items with special metallic powder, and fired them up yet again. When khokhlomas emerged from the kiln, they glistened with golden (or occasionally silver) color like effective metal ware. Yet khokhlomas don’t comprise a bit of metal. To additional gild the lily, skilled artists then adorned these shiny implements with traditional red and black geometric patterns or highly stylized flowers. Then they completed them with coats of clear lacquer.
By the twentieth century, interest in khokhloma had waned dramatically. Russia’s 1917 October Revolution, nevertheless, heralded a nationwide revival of the country’s folks arts, together with khokhloma. Via the Twenties and ’30s, artisans banded together into cooperative associations, adopting trendy tools and methods, like changing tin with aluminum powder and replacing linseed with artificial oil. In the past, khokhlomas had simply cracked, crazed, chipped, or dulled via years of use. With today’s improvements, nonetheless, even delicate ones, once deemed suitable just for decoration or festive occasions, are durable sufficient for use year round.
In the Sixties, the Soviets, to encourage manufacturing, founded two khokhloma factories, one near khokhloma dishes village and one other in nearby Semyonov. Between them, 1,000 artisans preserve this craft’s secret strategies and traditions for future generations, producing domestic gadgets, furnishings, and souvenirs. Even at the moment, crafting a khokhloma can take wherever from two to 4 months, relying on the intricacy of its design and its size. Since each is hand painted, each is considered one of a kind. Because Russians hold master artists in high esteem, the Soviet Union, in 1979, issued postage stamp honoring khokhloma craftsmen and their art.
Most trendy khokhlomas, to increase buyer appeal, characteristic themes drawn from nature. Luscious-wanting strawberries, red and black currants, cherries, rowanberries, and raspberries, all a-swirl with grapevines are favourite choices. So are khokhlomas rich with gilded green leaves and orange berries, though they break with traditional colors. At present, khokhlomas are available a thousand sizes and styles, including egg cups, honey pots, trinket boxes, mugs, goblets, cutting boards, and salt boxes.
As years go by, khokhloma continues to achieve in popularity. Few tourists leave Russia with out tucking a khokhloma memento or of their suitcases. Khokhloma designs adorn t-shirts, decorate world class racecars, and even grace the tails of several British Airways Boeing 757s. Units of fashionable khokhloma spoons, cheap and broadly available even within the U.S., make uncommon presents or hanging decorative accents for eating areas or kitchens. So do khokhloma trays, tea sets, spice units, serving dishes, and candle holders. Delicate keepsake boxes or fetching brooches make tremendous, comparatively low value personal gifts. All-inclusive eating units, which embrace serving bowls and platters in various sizes, might, on the other hand, command hundreds of dollars. Bigger, more intricate items, like khokhloma swan-bowls, chairs, beds, benches, and children’s table and stool units, naturally are even more costly.
Russians, true romanticists at heart, embrace khokhloma’s magnificence and history as one. Almost each household in Russian boasts glassed cabinets crammed with khokhloma tea cups, saucers, and serving dishes. Lots of their treasures, like brightly lacquered borsch ladles, vodka shot glasses, bread basins, diminutive bowls and spoons for enjoying jam, and caviar sets, replicate typical Russian culture. There are even khokhloma toy balalaikas, beloved folk stringed instruments, available on the market.