All about the Bogorodskaya carving

Primitive artists portrayed people and animals. The need to recreate oneself, people and animalistic heroes is always relevant for naive art - it is born among the people and is expressed in different forms. To draw, sculpt, embroider, sculpt, finally, cut out of wood: a person in the process of his artistic development has evolved in the choice of means, forms, technologies. An example of such folk art that has become exemplary - Bogorodskaya carving.

The abundance of forests in Russia was the key to the fact that a wooden toy existed here for many centuries. A supple, warm tree developed the imagination of the masters, succumbed to their creative experiences, and whole directions appeared in the carving.

The main “scene” of the trade is a man and a bear; without exaggeration, she made the Bogorodskaya woodcarving recognizable. But the toy has one more peculiarity: its parts are mobile, and they are brought into action by a light spring movement. At first, the Bogorodskaya carving was considered a typical peasant craft, but from the second half of the 19th century whole sculptural groups appeared in production. These story productions were presented in realistic images of the world, people and animals, fairy-tale heroes.

At the end of the XVI century the village of Bogorodskoye began to belong to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, the peasants of the village from that time were monastic serfs.And their merit is that such a craft appeared: at that time the Bogorodskaya woodcarving was laid.

Therefore, it would be wrong to call the Bogorodskaya toy only a peasant craft, primitive and equal to many others. Even the royal children played with such crafts.

Sergiev Posad was considered the capital of Russian toys, in general, the craft was developed in many surrounding villages. But the most notable was the village of Bogorodskoye, and its name perpetuated an original craft. Who was the first carver is not known for certain.

According to some reports, it was Sergius of Radonezh himself, according to others, he was an ordinary resident of Sergiev Posad, who sold a doll of linden churak to a merchant who was trading at the Lavra. It is believed that a woman, a resident of the village of Bogorodskoye, began to make dolls, and she cut toys only for the sake of fun for her own children.

One way or another, the toys came to the merchants, and from there - to the sale, where the people noticed them. In the middle of the XIX century, fishing from the city moved all the way to the village.

But the whole family worked for the final product: the elder sons prepared the material itself, the younger ones were engaged in sanding the figures, did simple manipulations. Craftsmen were sitting, having a blank on their knees. There was a family specialization: the family did not engage in more than 1-2 types of toys. There were masters “skaters” (carved men from a tree), “animals” and “poultry houses”.

At the beginning of the last century, the artistic direction was going through difficult times. In short, the low cost of imported machine-made goods has displaced a hand-made toy from the market. And folk art could die, but professionals became its saviors. One of them, Nikolay Bartram, interested handicraftsmen in carving in the same folk style, however, following the patterns of professionals. The toy has acquired naturalism and significant detail.

Not done in the Bogorodsk creativity and without a period of politicization: such an idea was common at that time, all art was to serve the ideals of the party. Masters tried to get away from imposed ideals towards fabulous, and after that, historical themes. In the 60s, the artel became a factory of art products. And then there was a big decline: the settlement of the construction of the PSPP was justified not far. The roots of the industry, centuries-old and glorious, were dying. It was difficult in the 90s, but the factory, having passed the division and renaming, still survived and is functioning today. She is still there, in the village of Bogorodskoye, not far from Sergiev Posad.

The material of the Bogorodsk craftsmen is soft linden wood, alder and aspen are less commonly used. Harvesting of trees was carried out only in winter, because at this time in the material there is little moisture.

The trunk, ready to work, was sawn, and the round logs were divided into “humps” or triangular bars. How the master works with a tree:

• the specialist marks the resulting blanks according to the finished patterns, making a pencil outline of the template, and cuts the cuts with a hacksaw, making nicks with an ax (for contour markings);
• he removes the excess mass of wood with chisels, performs the thin part of the work with a small bogorodsky knife “pike”;
• linden waste is sent to the manufacture of small parts or stands for sculptural groups.

Each Bogorodsky master protects the material, each master tries to see new opportunities in the artistic processing of wood. Previously, the craftsmen even worked without sketches, with the fly, which became the reason for the new term “fly carving”.

A novice carver, falling into the workshop of a professional, is delighted with the number of tools. But almost all of them are acquired, and they begin to work with a basic set. And only then each master selects a new tool for himself.

What tools are needed:

• knife-jamb - has an elongated blade with a straight cutting edge;
• cutter for geometric carving - can give the canvas a basic shape, and at the same time can cut small parts;
• Bogorodsky knife on the tree "Tatyanka" - can perform the whole cycle of work, from roughing to the finest details;
• chisels for carving - there are different, straight, angular, semicircular, klukarzy, shtikheli;
• auxiliary tools - a planer or a rasp, an hatchet for roughing blanks, a hacksaw or an electric saw, a set of patterns, a drill, a grinding skin.

The kit can be complemented by individual preferences, but the tools presented are the standard choice of carvers.

Turning toys and carvings are assembled from separate parts. Smooth details of the future sculpture are processed with sandpaper until their surface becomes velvety. Many toys today are varnished, pre-painted.

In a sense, one can expect that fishing will soon catch a new wave of popularity: while compatriots are still mostly enjoying Scandi-style, new designers come and offer to replace Scandinavian decor with Russian.

And the Bogorodsk snowmen, Santa Claus for a New Year’s home decoration - a wonderful find. So with the rest of the sculptures that can make the house more comfortable and more beautiful. The main motives and plots of the early creations of carvers - elegant dolls (mistresses and hussars), of course, peasants, as well as interesting multi-figure compositions, cute carved miniatures.

Children are very fond of animalistic compositions with which you can play, and not just admire them. Carvers take all topics from life. They notice its beauty, everyday life, everyday life, and folklore in fairy tales and legends, and scenes symbolizing the joyful moments of the life of a Russian person. Humor and realism calmly combine in these works, falling in love thanks to the harmony and integrity of the artistic expression.

One of the most interesting bogorodsky toys are those that move. A button, springs, balance help a static figure become dynamic. Even the famous sculptor Rodin did not spare compliments for the Bogorodsky masters, and carefully kept the toy he presented. And this is true: to create a toy in motion, you must also have engineering and design thinking.

The Bogorodsky craft is part of a rich skarnbasket of folk art. Whether he lives today in archaic forms or moves forward, thanks to new ideas of modern masters, the main thing is that he is alive and the request for an excellent invention of ancestors is supported.

Watch a tour of the Bogorodsk Museum of Wooden Toys in the video.