Russia, with its birch bark baskets, nesting dolls, and gilded icons, may seem exotic, even strange, to Westerners. Though the Iron Curtain has lengthy since fallen, many American collectors remain unfamiliar with her large number of crafts and treasures.
For centuries on finish, wood, so ample in this land of dense forests, was commonly fashioned into utilitarian, domestic objects. Each 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 lengthy 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, skilled craftsmen in Khokhloma (pronounce this by clearing your throat twice, then rhyming with “coma”), a trading post within the Nizhny Novgorod region, alongside the mighty Volga River, had gained fame for creating a unique, ornamental wooden lacquer ware.
Perhaps khokhlomas, as Khokhloma’s creations themselves came to be known, were inspired by Russia’s traditional spiritual works of art.
According to some sources, khokhloma’s traditional color mixture, red, black, and gold, once held deep spiritual significance. In the Japanese Orthodox Church, they clarify, vivid shades of red representing beauty, black representing grief that cleanses the soul, and gold representing heavenly light once embellished sacred church vessels and icons. True, only clergy and wealthy the Aristocracy might afford to own 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. Though he possible ate from his plainer pieces every day, he most likely used his most interesting khokhlomas only on special events, like christenings, marriages, and religious holidays—if at all.
Creating khokhloma was, and still 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 several times with raw linseed oil until they turned glossy. Finally, they coated these things with special metallic powder, and fired them up but again. When khokhlomas emerged from the kiln, they glistened with golden (or occasionally silver) color like nice metal ware. Yet khokhlomas do not comprise a little bit of metal. To additional gild the lily, expert 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 20th century, curiosity in khokhloma had waned dramatically. Russia’s 1917 October Revolution, nevertheless, heralded a national revival of the country’s folk arts, including khokhloma. By the 1920s and ’30s, artisans banded collectively into cooperative associations, adopting fashionable tools and methods, like replacing tin with aluminum powder and changing linseed with artificial oil. Up to now, khokhlomas had easily cracked, crazed, chipped, or dulled by way of years of use. With immediately’s improvements, nonetheless, even delicate ones, once deemed suitable just for ornament or festive events, are durable sufficient to be used 12 months round.
Within the 1960s, the Soviets, to encourage production, founded khokhloma factories, one close to khokhloma patterns village and another in nearby Semyonov. Between them, 1,000 artisans protect this craft’s secret strategies and traditions for future generations, producing domestic items, furnishings, and souvenirs. Even today, crafting a khokhloma can take anywhere from two to 4 months, depending on the intricacy of its design and its size. Since each is hand painted, every is certainly 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 fashionable khokhlomas, to increase buyer attraction, function themes drawn from nature. Luscious-trying 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. Right this moment, khokhlomas come in a thousand sizes and shapes, including egg cups, honey pots, trinket boxes, mugs, goblets, slicing boards, and salt boxes.
As years go by, khokhloma continues to achieve in popularity. Few vacationers go away Russia without tucking a khokhloma souvenir or in their suitcases. Khokhloma designs adorn t-shirts, decorate world class racecars, and even grace the tails of several British Airways Boeing 757s. Units of widespread khokhloma spoons, inexpensive and broadly available even within the U.S., make uncommon items or placing ornamental accents for dining areas or kitchens. So do khokhloma trays, tea sets, spice units, serving dishes, and candle holders. Delicate keepsake boxes or fetching brooches make superb, relatively low cost personal gifts. All-inclusive dining sets, which embrace serving bowls and platters in various sizes, could, then again, command hundreds of dollars. Larger, more intricate items, like khokhloma swan-bowls, chairs, beds, benches, and children’s table and stool sets, naturally are even more costly.
Russians, true romanticists at coronary heart, embrace khokhloma’s magnificence and history as one. Practically each household in Russian boasts glassed cabinets filled 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 having fun with jam, and caviar sets, reflect typical Russian culture. There are even khokhloma toy balalaikas, beloved people stringed instruments, available on the market.