— Ivan, in your opinion, can folk crafts be called an art with a touch of folklore or art with a special meaning?
— It’s simpler than it seems. Craft is a verbal noun, from the word «to trade», an activity in production and trade, small business. We need to remember the folk craft of furs, pine cones, honey and other things for earnings and existence. Today’s folk crafts are, first of all, an artistic industry of a greater or lesser volume, from a production association to a separate workshop. Accordingly, there is a classification of artistic crafts according to the material they are made from: ceramics, glass, metal, wood, straw, bone, textile, wool, leather…
The prefix «folk» to the arts and crafts in Russia indicates private mass production of luxury items and household decorations to imitate rare foreign items of decorative and applied art. The most obvious example is the Gzhel’ faience of the 18th century in the style of German Baroque, copying the tableware forms of the Meissen royal porcelain manufactory. But, in this connection, we can also recall Fedoskino — lacquer boxes also based on German models, but, in turn, imitating papier-mâché products with painting on lacquer from China.
— Does there exist any classification within folk crafts?
— Folk arts and crafts today are in limbo, torn between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Because today «crafts» are considered to be the art industry. I would give another example. The Dmitrovsky Porcelain Factory in Verbilki, Moscow Region, has two trademarks: «Gardner Manufactory» and «Verbilki Crafts». Is a porcelain factory a folk craft? No, it is not. Is it an art industry? – Yes, it is. Two supervising ministries give rise to two areas of activity. In addition, the desire to receive tax breaks and deductions under the program to support and preserve national culture. We can name it a business system.
— Should we preserve and support crafts? What is their aim?
— To my mind, we need to reformulate the question. Why does the professional community advocate for the preservation of folk art crafts in Russia? Because with the continuous industrialization of small art, industries were disappearing irretrievably in the USSR immediately after its formation in 1922 and it became obvious that the original folk crafts, the skill in which was passed from hand to hand from generation to generation, without science and textbooks would disappear as well. To protect and preserve the arts, in 1931 the Institute of Artistic Handicraft Industry was established in Moscow, it was renamed to the Scientific Research Institute of Artistic Industry in 1935. Thanks to the activities of the NIIHP, we received a phenomenon of national culture — art laboratories that united professional artists with self-taught craftsmen and made it possible to optimize handicrafts to the requirements of the technological process of factories, plants and factories. As a result, such brands as Gzhel’, Palekh, Fedoskino, Zhostovo, Semenovskaya Matryoshka, Dymkovo Igrushka, Vologda Lace and others appeared.
— Folk crafts must sell their products. Is it acceptable for them to be changed in accordance to market trends, or should the craft be unchangeable?
— Saving dying crafts after the mass death of the bearers of craft traditions during the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945) is the work of professionals. Artists and art historians came to the industry. The brand of modern white-and-blue Gzhel’ was established only in 1972, along with the formation of a production association headed by a chief artist. Personality determines the corporate style now. And therefore, both today and yesterday, crafts were multifaceted. They are being changed along with the evolution of the creativity of artists from the laboratory. The stagnation of modern artistic crafts as production cooperatives and joint-stock companies occurs precisely against the background of branding of stylistic features, the conservation of «tradition». The craft must be developed. The only question is in what direction should they develop.
— If we move away from theory, are the works of such industries in demand, do they fit into our lives?
— This is a catchy question. They are talking about a wide range of art production, but it all comes down to a narrow line of souvenirs. Russian folk crafts are in demand not only by foreign tourists, but also by compatriots who want to bring home a warm thing created by living hands, and not by a cold machine. Crafts today are a product of the «Handmade» class, sometimes with a corresponding price. Again, we need an example. A hand-painted box measuring 16x10x6 cm costs 19,500 rubles on the official website of the Fedoskino lacquer miniature factory. There, a box measuring 26x19x7 cm is valued at 453,440 rubles. The joy of acquiring a work of art has become more expensive, but has not lost its relevance.
— Maybe it is so that objects of folk art industry are so organic in our everyday life that we simply do not notice them?
— It depends on the way of life. Some families go to have dinner at “Vkusno — I tochka”. Other houses set the table with a linen tablecloth with embroidery from “Krestetskaya strochka” and serve majolica dishes from the “Gzhel’skaya Goncharnya” workshop. Someone decorates the New Year tree with plastic Chinese balls for the holiday, others buy glass toys and balls from the Klin factory “Yolochka” from year to year. Those who appreciate traditional handicrafts notice everything and bring more and more of it into their lives.
— Ivan, are there objects of such kind of applied art in your life? And what is your favorite craft?
—I am an expert in porcelain — industrial art, by the nature of my professional activity. The only center of porcelain folk craft is Gzhel’. In my everyday life, in surroundings and in my routine life, every year there are more and more original works from the workshops of Gzhel’ artists — white and blue porcelain in exquisite graphic painting by Valentin Rozanov and Irina Korshunova, picturesque and popular-kind majolica by Valentina Cheprasova, Anastasia Kovshareva and Nikolai Turkin. These things make me happy and warm, give me a sense of life in art.
Northern Niello: Veliky Ustyug is Famous Not Only for Santa Claus
Our country is home to more than 160 nationalities. It goes without saying, a multilingual, multicultural country is rich in folk crafts. Folk art preserves the culture of past generations, the code of its ancestors. The aesthetics, forms, color combinations and symbolism of the ornament of such art have been developed over centuries, because many crafts are already several hundred years old.
Veliky Ustyug is famous for such an ancient and unique craft. This art of blackening on silver, is called northern niello. Today, the traditions of the craft are continued by the Veliky Ustyug plant «Northern niello».
Historical background
The Russian art of silver niello is quite old — over a thousand years. In the 10th century, it was widespread in all principalities, from Kyiv to Veliky Novgorod. This technique was born in the East — in Syria, Byzantium, Iran.
According to the chronicle, such work with silver was already practiced in Veliky Ustyug in 1683. The craft developed thanks to trade: trade routes were developed from Siberia to the Moscow Principality and abroad passed through Ustyug. As commerce grew, the city itself and its crafts flourished. Northern niello reached its greatest prosperity in the 18th century.
Silver niello was practiced by home-based craftsmen and artisans; there was no single enterprise. The secrets of craftsmanship were passed down from father to son within the family. All craftsmen were hereditary. In the 18th century, artisans created a school for teaching the art of metal niello.
In the 19th century, production began to decline. The main trade routes began to go through the Baltic with the foundation of St. Petersburg. The 20th century with its revolution and impoverishment of the people led to the fact that only one hereditary master remained in the city — Mikhail Pavlovich Chirkov. He was taught the craft by his grandfather — Mikhail Ivanovich Koshkov, a famous master of the 19th century from Veliky Ustyug, who carried out orders for Empress Maria Alexandrovna and Emperor Alexander III. Koshkov’s works were famous outside of Russia.
The grandfather taught his grandson for eight years. And Mikhail Pavlovich was the last master in Veliky Ustyug who knew the secrets of all stages of production. Now there are no such masters: the production process is divided into stages, and each master does only his own work.
It was difficult to continue blackening silver after 1917. The main customers were the church and merchants, with the advent of Soviet power, buyers vanished. Chirkov could take the secret of craftsmanship to the grave, or he could pass it on to the state. His choice was the second one – to pass it to the state.
Mikhail Ivanovich forwarded the samples of his work to Moscow and asked for financial support to restore the production. In 1929, after the allocation of funds, the export workshop «Severnaya Chern’» was launched. It employed six people only on request. The jewelry of this workshop was exported. However, the enterprise grew and in 1933 it became an artel. From this moment, the modern plant «Severnaya Chern’» traces its history. The artel carried out large government orders, expanded its range, improved the artistic level of its products and participated in international exhibitions. The first success came in 1937 at the international exhibition Expo-37 in Paris, where a large gold medal was awarded to a table set based on Pushkin’s poetry for the 100th anniversary of the poet. This was the work of Evstafy Pavlovich Shilnikovsky, the artistic director of the enterprise. In 1960, «Severnaya Chern’» received the status of a factory. And in 1973 it became a plant.
Production technology
The technology of silver blackening has hardly changed during its existence. Almost all stages of production are done manually, the basic techniques of old masters are observed and preserved.
The first stage of production is the molding of future jewelry blanks from silver plates. The machines are used only there to cut blanks from the plate.
Then the product is shaped according to the desired design. If assembly is required, the product is assembled and the necessary parts are soldered. They are soldered manually using a gas burner. Previously, instead of such a burner, they used a kettle with inserted wick, filled with kerosene.
Then the master transfers the desired pattern or ornament to the object. After this, the master engraver begins his work, manually cutting out the pattern conceived by the artist with a special chisel.
At the next stage, the pattern is filled with niello. Niello is a special alloy of dark gray metals, has been aged for two years. The silver product is covered with niello on a layer. The places that should not be painted are covered with clay. Then the product is burnt in the fire, the niello melts and fills all the holes made by the engraver.
Afterwards, the excess niello is scraped off so that only a clear pattern remains on the silver. And the last stage is polishing the product to a mirror shine, which is also done by hand.
Life of the craft today
Products of «Northern niello» have no analogues in the jewelry world today. The craft itself is the official brand of the Vologda region.
It is gratifying that the ancient jewelry business has not sunk into oblivion, but is alive and developing. It goes without saying, the main task is to preserve the traditional technology, to pass on to descendants the cultural code hidden in the plant ornaments and patterns of Ustyug silver products. The status of a folk art craft allows the plant to be competitive and work continuously, because it produces valuable exclusive products. The craft attracts attention to Veliky Ustyug and makes the city a popular tourist destination. In addition, the Russian government actively supports folk crafts in the form of subsidies, tax breaks, as well as the opportunity to participate in fairs and exhibitions. The legendary «Pushkin Collection» and the «Khmel’» coffee set can be called the company’s calling card. These sets have been loved for decades.
But the craft lives and yet, while preserving its essence, has been changing. New products appear, the forms of old products change, joint products with other enterprises, made in collaboration, are being developed and put on the market. The plant does not stand still but follows current trends within the framework of its tasks. And this allows the products to be in demand. After all, in order to survive, the products of «Severnaya Chern’» ought to be sold.
The Common Root of Folk Crafts and Russian Avant-garde
Art is used to being divided into academic and decorative and applied art. But does this division exist in reality and how do not only museum workers and art historians perceive it, but artists themselves, view it? This is exactly what our conversation with Maria Suvorova, artist, teacher, winner of the Triumph Prize and participant of the Biennale of Contemporary Art in Moscow in 2019, was about.
— Maria, today we will talk about the connection between decorative, folk art and academic art. But is there such a connection?
Sure. Folklore, from which folk art grows, is built on archetypal images that accumulate centuries of cultural experience. We constantly come across these images in everyday life, but in a different form. In the work of any artist, there are also these images, but even more interpreted. Sometimes they take on a different, non-obvious form, but the root remains the same.
Let’s take the image of a red horse. It is in Petrov-Vodkin, Chagall, in Mezen painting and in Gorodets painting. Red horses are everywhere. And this image is obvious to us. It is a symbol of the victory of good over evil, fearlessness, courage.
Not only the image is symbolic, but also the color. Black, red and white are colors that have been significant since ancient times. Their meaning then does not coincide with the modern one. So, earlier, not black and white were opposed, but black and red. The first chess was red and black.
Black was not emotionally colored negatively. We simplify everything, and in ancient times there were several blacks, among which was sablis. This color was not the color of grief, it was an attribute of a rich life, since it was difficult and expensive to achieve this shade when dyeing fabric.
— Does art somehow influence a person’s life, the person himself? Everyone or not everyone?
— I can’t be objective. My circle of friends implies people of art, the same concerns friends and relatives. I go only to theaters, museums and workshops. Sometimes I visit an educational institution where I can meet people of art, only younger.
But I think there is a practical need for art. It allows us to be smart, subtle, and it also makes our life more sophisticated.
Precisely more difficult, because it inserts a special lens into our eyes. And with it we see more colors, experience more emotions and interpret events differently. And this same lens allows us to find consolation in the beautiful.
— And what is the role of decorative objects in a person’s life? How important is it to have a beautiful cup or at least one beautiful chair?
—It is really important. A beautiful chair allows you not to feel like an impostor, not to be Khlestakov. With such a chair, everything takes on a personal interest. It connects us with the past, and we no longer feel like a fragment, we are a part of something huge.
— Maria, one can come across the opinion that decorative and applied art is lower in status than academic art. What is your attitude towards decorative and applied arts?
— It’s all art. It can’t be divided into fragments. For example, let’s take icon painting. If we remove the religious layer, we’ll have high-rated, professional art. If we take a porcelain cup, we’ll have a pearl. Its shape was revealed by the best masters, and the painting is abstract painting. It’s a highly intellectual piece of art.
— While an artist is creating, he creates his own philosophy. You have a cycle about the Solntsev sisters, which touches on the philosophy of the memory of generations, there is a cycle where architecture is considered to be an idol. Do items of applied art have a philosophy?
— Yes, they do. I really like it, I want to perceive the philosophy of the master of the cup or chair. In general, we discover this philosophy when choosing a thing. We bring this or that object into our lives because it resonates with us. We want to be influenced by beautiful things.
And this is not only about folk crafts. Applied art is broader in general. Let’s move to the study of William Morris, who rejected the mass production of things and advocated a return to manual craftsmanship. He believed that a hand-made object is a masterpiece.
I would like to be surrounded by such works of art. It is a luxury to communicate with such objects: to touch them, to sit on them, to eat from them.
— Is folk art symbolic?
— Definitely. Everything means something. All these circles, triangles, dots have meaning. Surprisingly, in Russian ornamentation you always find echoes of the Russian avant-garde of the 20th century. Folk art and avant-garde are an ideal plastic solution without a hint of vanity. The everyday layer is removed, the essence itself is left.
— How do beautiful objects influence you personally?
— I get more pleasure from life. Firstly, they protect me from worries and sorrows. Secondly, they awaken the desire to learn more. I have rebellious brains that always wants to get new knowledge. And a beautiful piece of art gives me exciting information. Thirdly, my heart is deeply pleased with it.
Interestingly, things last longer than people. They live longer than us. It is absurd, but embroidery or fine porcelain can last for several generations.
— And does folk art influence the artist’s work?
— Of course. And not only mine. We have a very good tradition of classical art education. For example, students of the Surikov Institute go on an internship in the summer and live in a village for two months. And this village and everyday things influence us all.
My summer internship always took place in a village of Ferapontovo. And my master Nikolai Ivanovich Andronov in his works showed some kind of biblical view of the village. Not a popular one, but a deep one. After all, in the village everything is frank and close: the sky, the earth, birth, death. Everything is exposed there, there are no city decorations. For me, such a view and interest in the village was surprising.
— Do you consider folk art symbolic?
— Definitely yes. Everything has a special meaning. All these circles, triangles, dots have meaning. Surprisingly, in Russian ornament you always find echoes of the Russian avant-garde of the 20th century. Folk art and avant-garde are an ideal plastic solution without a hint of vanity. The everyday layer is removed, the very essence is left.
— It turns out that the people came to the essence long ago. Did they know earlier what we are trying to find out now?
— I suppose, not the people themselves, but the artists of that time.
— I am still for the people. Let’s take pre-Petrine embroidery. Almost the entire female population of the country did embroidery. Everyone embroidered. Rich and poor. Peasants, nuns and boyars. And they all read the ornamental symbols, which only a few can do today.
— We are too arrogant. It is from ignorance. It seems to me that people were more artistically educated then. They had better motor skills. They knew more symbols. In fact, they were artists because they did it. For example, every woman was an artist. It’s just that these artists are nameless to us.
— Is there a place for folk art in modern life?
— I want to repeat that; I have a specific social circle. I go from house to house, where everything is done in pseudo-Russian style. I think it is widespread. We see the perfect combination of such objects with modern ones. And even if you do not have any sacred things inherited, you can create such a story from scratch. And these things will have a special meaning for your children.
— Maria, should we support the story about the trades?
– Of course. It is a good thing, but it will not withstand competition from cheap mass production. We cannot allow the crafts to disappear. This is a cryptogram of our history. We look at towels with Arkhangelsk embroidery and understand the people, their history.
— Can industries change over time or should they be somehow preserved?
— Life changes everything without our influence. But in this matter I take a conservative position. It won’t be possible to preserve it, but it’s important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. For example, I wouldn’t want anime to appear on Dulevo teacups. It’s necessary to preserve the classical conservative principle. It’s difficult.
The A.G. Popov factory was one of the leading Russian manufacturers of artistic porcelain of the 19th century. Excellent quality linen, exquisite shapes, beautiful painting – these are the words about Popov porcelain.
Unfortunately, this remarkable factory was completely unreasonably ignored by researchers.
The tableware forms made at the A.G. Popov factory are most fully presented in the publication «Anthology of Russian Porcelain of the 18th — early 20th centuries» «Flower and Ornamental Painting of Russian Porcelain» (in ten parts), «Vases of Private Factories».
The series of «Porcelain Sculpture of the A.G. Popov Factory» is the only publication on this topic to date that most fully demonstrates this line of products.
Porcelain of the A.G. Popov factory has been long in demand of a comprehensive study. I would like to hope that the large-scale publication of this previously virtually unknown material, started by the authors, and the developments obtained during the preparation of the books will serve as a basis for further work in this direction.
The Anthology of Russian Porcelain of the 18th — Early 20th Centuries examines the most important aspects of the development of Russian artistic porcelain production. The publication has a limited edition, non-commercial one, distributed only among the project participants and immediately acquires the status of a bibliographic rarity after it leaves the walls of the printing house. The publication has already found its admirers among art historians studying Russian art of the 18th — early 20th centuries, exhibition curators, collectors and collectors of porcelain, teachers and students of specialized educational institutions and even bibliophiles who replenish their collections with rare and limited editions of the highest printing level.
The idea and concept of this non-commercial publication were developed in 2007 by the curators of the project Mikhail Korablyov and Maria Sokolenko, and since then, along with leading foreign and Russian museum specialists and curators, a tremendous amount of work has been done. The Anthology attempts to collect, systematize, describe and analyze the maximum number of works of Russian porcelain art. Within the framework of the non-commercial project «Anthology of Russian Porcelain of the 18th — early 20th centuries» 52 volumes have been published. The goal of the project is scientific and educational, it includes the popularization of significant museum collections and private collections, the introduction of new works into scientific circulation. The great amount of published works of high porcelain art contributes to a relevant and comprehensive analysis of the evolution of porcelain culture and the mutual influence of its production centers, the interpolation of Russian porcelain into the European context.
As a part of the project, a series of lectures on the history of Russian artistic porcelain is being read.
In 2024, the curators of the project Mikhail Nikolaevich Korablyov and Maria Vladimirovna Sokolenko were awarded certificates of gratitude from the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation.
Fedoskino Lacquer Miniature: a Tale of a Phoenix Rising from the Ashes
Fedoskino lacquer miniature is a brilliant facet of Russian craft. It all began in 1795, during the development of lacquer production in Russia. For more than two hundred years, the art craft has preserved the traditions and quality of lacquer miniature painting.
The present building of the Fedoskino factory was built in the middle of the 20th century. The atmosphere here is authentic. The factory itself is an industrial heritage site. The oldest masters, dynasties, whose ancestors created the Fedoskino fairy tale back in the 19th century under the Lukutin merchants work over there.
Just like two centuries ago, wood cardboard is used in production, which is coated with paste, glued in layers onto a blank, dried for a long time, soaked in linseed oil, cut and polished using special technologies. And only after being processed during several months, the box gets to the artist’s table, where it is painted according to established canons. Gold leaf and mother-of-pearl are used in production.
Director General Ilya Ozolin talks about the realities of the work of the Fedoskinskaya factory.
— Ilya, tell us about the difficult moments in the factory’s history, about its revival.
— More than two years ago, a private investor came to the factory, and I represented the new team. The factory was in a difficult condition. There were periods when there was no heating in winter. Today, production is in order. We restored the Soviet equipment, which was made by a special order for the Fedoskino factory and it has no analogues. For example, the presses had to be repaired. We were honestly told that such presses cannot be found now.
In some time, a radical update is looking forward. Now a project for a large-scale reconstruction of the factory is being developed. It turns out that no one has worked on the brand for thirty years. Everyone knows what Zhostovo and Palekh are. Fedoskino is the birthplace of Russian lacquer miniatures. And we are often asked at exhibitions: «Oh, so you are like Palekh’s younger brother?» On the contrary, Fedoskino was the first factory.
— So, Palekh and other factories advertise themselves better?
— Our colleagues have done a lot of work. We are friends with everyone, we communicate and support each other. Fedoskino has great potential. We need to catch up, there are no problems with demand. We are increasing production, but we cannot do it suddenly, because each box is made in a single copy. Manual labor is 95%. We are limited by human productivity, so production is still lagging behind demand. Now we have a store in Moscow, we have partners. We might open a store in St. Petersburg, but the production volumes do not allow it yet.
— Tell me, are there any fake boxes? How to identify an genuine Fedoskino product?
— There are fakes. And there are two types. Of course, there are very cheap boxes. When you see them, you can immediately determine that they are fakes. There are fakes of fairly high quality as well that are sold for a lot of money. On the genuine product, there is a logo on the inside of the lid, also on the lid, where the painting is, the artist’s name, the serial number of the box and the inscription «Fedoskino village» are indicated.
You can always call the factory and confirm the authenticity. All our products are numbered. We can check when they were created. We will definitely make an electronic register. I was surprised, but there are inquiries from abroad. That is, people ask about boxes that they inherited.
We also launched a restoration workshop. This service is in demand. They bring us family heirlooms; we carefully restore them. And the craftsmen confirm the authenticity. But there are many fakes, it reaches the point of absurdity: friends send photos from souvenir shops at museums, where non-original boxes without a certificate are sold.
— How much time does it take to create one box, from cutting the cardboard to the polisher’s final touch?
— From three to six months for one box. This is in response to the question of “expensive.” At the same time, we immediately decided that Fedoskino boxes would be expensive. This is manual labor, and these are works of art.
There is a misconception that folk art enterprises need to produce cheap, mass-produced products to popularize them. No, we make expensive collectible items. At the same time, we welcome everyone to visit us; we have interesting excursions available to everyone. Our stores offer a wide choice of souvenirs. Everyone who comes to the factory can take something with them as a keepsake: a magnet for two hundred rubles, and other high-quality souvenirs with the Fedoskino DNA. And the Fedoskino box is a collectible item. And it cannot be cheap, because the artist alone works on it for more than a month.
We preserve the technology, on the other hand the path of simplification is followed and many people make boxes from MDF, it is faster. In our production we still make boxes from papier-m?ch?, we boil them in linseed oil, that is, we follow the same technology as two centuries ago. We believe that we must adhere to traditional technology. Otherwise, it will disappear.
— Are you expanding your product range, how do you react to the market? Do you have any interesting experience of cooperation?
— Of course, we react to the market. New products appear. Our task is to attract a young audience. No one has been involved with the brand for thirty years. Two generations of people have grown up who do not know what Fedoskino is. It is important to draw their attention to ourselves and tell them about Fedoskino, to captivate them. That is why, we are addressing young people.
For example, this year we participated in the fair of young contemporary art «Blazar» for the first time. We made a limited series of boxes in collaboration with the famous photo artist Natalie-Kate Pangilinan. All five boxes were sold out on the first day of the fair.
We also started depicting new architectural dominants — the country is changing. We were inspired by the construction of the Big Circle Line of the Moscow metro. The artist asked: «Can I paint the metro?» We allowed it. We also note a growing demand for socialist realism, for modern subjects.
We even involve artificial intelligence in our creativity. I can’t reveal all the secrets, but next year Fedoskino will be 230 years old, and we are preparing limited editions of such experimental boxes for collectors. At the same time, we preserve traditions. Fedoskino is artistic and stylistic techniques. We do not run headlong after fashion trends. There will always be a dispute about what is better — a classic subject or something new. The truth is in the middle: we must preserve traditions and at the same time be interesting.
We like to repeat that you can study the history of the country using Fedoskino boxes. Traditional subjects have also changed over the more than two centuries of the factory’s existence. But now we have real artistic councils, with disputes, with emotions. This means that the creative process is underway. Each box goes through an artistic council at the factory. Then the best samples are passed to the regional and federal artistic councils to give these boxes the status of samples of recognized artistic merit. The creative process has begun — this is the main thing. Artists have started to come up with new plots again.
We traditionally make panels in addition to boxes, and they can be inlaid anywhere. We want Fedoskino craftsmen to participate in painting churches, and there is one project in Moscow, that gives us an opportunity to decorate with our panels the lower church.
We also have experience of working with jewelers. We made inserts with lacquer miniature painting for earrings from papier mache. These are limited collections which are sold immediately.
— Ilya, the factory is celebrating an anniversary quite soon. How are you preparing for the anniversary? In what way will you celebrate it?
— We want to make Fedoskino a point of attraction for creative people. Therefore, next year there will be held festivals and contests. We are working towards the appearance of the Fedoskino House in Moscow. Despite the fact that we are not far from Moscow and Muscovites can get to us, it is important to create a site in the capital, where we will hold our exhibitions, lectures, master classes.
An anniversary is always something static: we celebrated it and then went our separate ways. We want the anniversary to be a starting point. We plan to announce the launch of a large-scale reconstruction program. This concerns not only the renovation of the building and equipment, but also the creation of a tourist creative cluster in Fedoskino. In addition to the factory, Fedoskino has the Institute of Lacquer Miniature Painting, the Museum of Folk Art and Crafts, a caf? at the factory, and a restaurant in the neighboring building with adventures Russian cuisine. In the warm season, we organize holidays and plein airs. That is, today we have a full excursion program designed for the whole day.
— Ilya, thank you for the frank conversation. We wish Fedoskino success in all endeavors, because a fairy tale should never end!
Author Dmitry Goltsov.
Rostov enamel
Rostov the Great is a city known since 862. The city is almost three centuries older than Moscow and is famous for its Kremlin, founded as the residence of bishops, the third largest fair in the tsarist era, black-glazed ceramics and Rostov enamel. They say that Alyosha Popovich was born in here. The legendary Soviet movie «Ivan Vasilyevich Changes his Profession» was definitely shot in Rostov.
Enamel appeared on the Rostov land in the 18th century as an icon-painting craft. This is a picturesque enamel on a metal base — one of the oldest methods of artistic metal processing. The enamel that decorated the items was an alloy of glass, painted with metal oxides in different colors.
Ancient Egyptians used this technique, then it was used in Byzantium. And from Byzantium it came to Rus’. Good enamels were expensive, so they were used to decorate items made of precious metals — gold, silver and copper. And it was here that the name of finift’ was given to enamels. Today, this term refers to both painting with overglaze paints on enamel and working with the enamels themselves.
In Rostov, enameling originated at the beginning of the 18th century. According to documents, the work of the first workshop dates back to the 1760-1770s. Initially, the craftsmen worked for the needs of the Orthodox Church: they decorated the clothes of clergy and objects of worship, and also painted icons using this technique. As monks of the Rostov monasteries so assigned peasants were engaged in the craft. In the 18th century, there was definitely an enameling workshop at the Rostov bishop’s court and individual craftsmen. All of them carried out exclusively church orders; secular work appeared later, and in the 20th century, with the advent of Soviet power, the products changed radically. Initially, the art of enameling was taught to Rostovites by the masters of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, who were working in Rostov at that time, fulfilling the decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna from 1759. According to the decree, icons in all holy churches and monasteries had to be «skillfully made.» The unskilled icons had to be re-shipped. Fulfilling this requirement, Metropolitan Arseny (Matseevich) invited craftsmen from the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius to renew the iconostases in Rostov.
It is a well-known fact that in 1751, the Trinity masters made the Gospel frame for the Metropolitan of Rostov — Arseny. Hierodeacon Clement, the icon painter from the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, worked in Rostov in 1763. And he not only renovated the iconostasis, but trained local masters, as well. At first, the skill was passed from father to son, from teacher to student. In the 1770s, a workshop of icon painters was organized in Rostov, which enamel masters were taught. But there were masters outside the workshop as well. In 1898, a special school was started in the city — Craft classes of drawing, icon painting, carving and gilding on wood. Enamel was introduced into the curriculum only in 1904. In 1911, the Educational and Demonstration Enamel School started, but closed in 1931. From 1937 to 1941, a vocational school for training enamel artists was opened, but it did not continue its activities after the Great Patriotic War. Further training of enamel masters took place in Fedoskino.
The development of enamel craftsmanship was initially facilitated by the support of the bishop’s house. Thus, Archbishop Arseny (Vereshchagin) can be considered as a popularizer of the Rostov enamel icon of the late 18th century. From the archbishop’s diaries we learn that he often blessed believers with enamel icons, and also presented people he personally knew with them. For example, such an icon was presented by Archbishop Arseny to Metropolitan Gabriel of Novgorod, Archbishop Innocent of Pskov, Archbishop Ireneus of Tver, Archbishop Ambrose of Kazan, Metropolitan Platon of Moscow, the imperial confessor Isidore, the court protodeacon Pyotr Ilyich and others.
The images varied. In the 18th century, the most common were Christ the Savior Almighty, the Mother of God, John the Baptist, and the Evangelists. They also painted selected saints, but much less frequently, with one exception: Saint Demetrius of Rostov. This saint was widely revered in those years, and his images were especially popular.
The history of the appearance of Rostov enamel and the history of the subsequent development of this art demonstrate that the craftsmanship was initially oriented toward the high art of miniature. Rostov enamel was an elite art from the moment of its birth, and only in the course of life did the level of elitism change, or rather differentiate.
Until 1917, the church direction was the leading one, but the quality of execution varied. The craftsmen made both high-class products and «souvenirs» for pilgrims. In the pilgrimage icon, the craftsmen depicted saints, famous cathedrals, and views of holy places. And these images laid the foundation for both spiritual and secular portraiture in enamel, as well as landscape painting.
Rostov enamel painting was presented both in professional and academic execution due to different tasks and pricing policies, and it significantly simplified one. Since the second half of the 19th century, secular works in enamel technique appeared, but icons of the «best writing» became a rarity. The main consumers of enamel at that time were people of average income. Finift’ had to compete with machine-made icons. All this led to a general decrease in the level of artistry, but icon painting still remained of good quality and was based on the traditions of the last century.
New themes were not an indicator of a departure from tradition. On the contrary, this is evidence of the development of skill, an indicator that the masters met the demands of the time and fully revealed the possibilities of their material, that is, enamel. After the revolution, the craft survived only because it reoriented itself to jewelry. It had to move away from its source — icon painting. But this was a way of survival.
Naturally, the main characteristic feature of Rostov enamel art was and is the copy principle. The master always worked from a model: icons, engravings, book and magazine illustrations, as well as photographs. Thanks to this, Rostov enamel had the features of easel painting.
Painting on enamel was performed on a previously applied design, which was transferred to the surface through tracing paper. Consequently, Rostov enamel was greatly influenced by professional miniatures and painting. National features appeared in this craft only in the 20-30s of the XIX century thanks to fashionable romanticism. This style forced artists to turn to Russian culture, to national features and to look for inspiration in them. But the basis is miniature painting.
All these features do not allow us to talk about Rostov enamel as an art that emerged from folk art. This type of art should be attributed to traditional icon painting on enamel, this is where the origins of this craft are. Only over time, portrait and landscape appeared in it. But both portrait and landscape were never able to substitute the icon, which is still produced in Rostov using this technique.
Rostov enamel is a painting that absorbed national features only in the process of its evolution. At the same time, the level of skill in many crafts shows that academic art should not be contrasted with applied art.
