What is birch bark, birch bark craft, who and what products are made from birch bark...
What is birch bark?
photo of the workpiece One of the most revered trees in Russia was and remains the birch. The wood of this tree is very dense, has a beautiful texture and is highly polished. It makes magnificent and very expensive furniture. The complexity of processing is more than compensated by the sophistication, originality and durability of the products. However, it was not its wood that brought birch worldwide fame, but the upper layer of bark, white on the outside and golden yellow on the inside - birch bark.
Birch bark is birch bark, photo of harvesting
Durable and waterproof, the bark, similar to cardboard, can be easily cut, folded and sewn, making it a valuable building, craft and writing material since prehistoric times, not only in Russia. For example, the Chinese made paper and paints for leather, fur and fabric from birch bark, and the Indians of North America made pies, canoes and wigwams.
Yurt (wigwam) made of birch bark, photo in the birch bark museum
From this convenient, beautiful material with amazing properties, Russian craftsmen still make elegant, elegant products - not only practical household items, but also works of traditional folk art.
By the way, what is the correct name: Birch bark or birch bark?
The Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language considers the variants “birch bark” and “birch barkA” to be equal, and the same recommendations are given by Reznichenko’s Dictionary of Stresses.
Options Birch bark, birch bark, birch bark, birch bark - all this is available now, in our days.
Shemogodskaya carving on birch bark
The silvery-white surface of birch bark is beautiful in itself, but sometimes it was also decorated with embossing or painting, and end-to-end ornaments were cut out on it.
The art of birch bark carving brought fame to the craftsmen of the Shemogodsky volost of the Veliky Ustyug district. Already in the 18th century. residents of the village of Kurovo-Navolok and its neighboring villages located along the Shemoksa River cut out openwork patterns on birch bark plates and stamped them. Over time, this type of skill turned into a trade. The famous Russian travel scientist P.I. Chelishchev wrote about birch bark products as a commodity in 1791.
According to the volost, the craft was called “Shemogodskaya” carving. This technique was used in the manufacture of caskets, boxes, teapots, pencil cases, cases, dishes, plates, and cigarette cases. Decorated with carved birch bark, they took on the appearance of elegant, skillfully made products. The openwork ornaments of Shemogod carvers were called “birch bark lace.”
The pattern usually consists of a creeping stem with elongated leaves and spirally twisted branches. At their tips there are round rosettes, berries, and trefoils. This ornament can include images of birds or animals, architectural motifs, and sometimes even scenes of walking in the garden and drinking tea. Another characteristic feature of Shemogod carvings are frames with geometric patterns surrounding the design.
The names of many talented craftsmen are associated with the history of the craft. The State Historical Museum has signed works by the Veliky Ustyug master Stepan Boch-rev. These are boxes and tavlinkas (snuff boxes) from the first half of the 19th century. with scenes based on Aesop's fables that were fashionable at that time, with images of animals and architectural structures. In the village of Kurovo-Navolok, an outstanding master of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. was Ivan Afanasyevich Veprev. He is considered the creator of the Shemogod ornament itself - the one that is based on a spiral-shaped curl with a round “berry”, reminiscent of carved rosettes on spinning wheels. On the lids and walls of boxes with secret locks, he placed hunting scenes and depicted various animals among the forest thickets. It was his works that were awarded a medal in 1882 at the All-Russian Exhibition in Moscow and a diploma at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900.
Domshinskaya birch bark
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.
The Domshinskaya birch bark craft became widely known - craftsmen wove a variety of household items from birch bark in a special, very durable way. First, the birch bark was steamed and all kinds of objects were woven from it: pesteri, boxes, tues, salt pans, baskets, goats, containers for cereals, etc. In this case, several layers of strips were used. The weaving could be either diagonal or straight. The craftsmen painted the finished products with red, yellow, blue, and sometimes green paint. The colors alternated in a checkerboard pattern, running along the stripes in stripes or individual spots. In addition to coloring, craftsmen applied incised and embossed patterns to the products. Embossing was done with special dies made from hard wood or bone. The design on the stamps could be different. Most often they cut out stars, round rosettes, diamonds and similar shapes. These simple elements were used to create various ornaments.
Bread box made of Domshin birch bark
Another typical way for Domsha craftsmen to decorate wicker objects was through perforation of the top layer of birch bark. The patterns consisted of geometric shapes: circles, triangles, rhombuses, hexagons, ovals, stars. The beauty of the design was given by colored foil placed under the slotted pattern. Later, at the beginning of the 20th century, they began to simply paint the second layer of birch bark under the slotted pattern. In expensive products, which, as a rule, were made to order, there is a combination of through and embossed patterns with coloring.
Today, as I promised, we will talk about toys, of which there can be a great variety made from birch bark, just use your imagination. In no case should my narrative be considered as any kind of classification or any kind of professional interpretation. This is purely my personal distribution of birch bark toys, this is how I imagine them and this makes it easier for me to talk about them. Let's start the story with products that our great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers could easily play with, and even great-great..., almost 100% played with just such toys.
Traditional: These are the toys that were made in the old days and most often they were horses.
Sometimes they were called “koniks”, differently in each area, but the koniki also had intertwined legs.
There was no time to really “have fun”, and there was no time to play either, so they tried to ensure that even a toy had a household role. And so that the children take care of it, they store the most precious thing in it, namely salt; in the old days it was very expensive, sometimes even more expensive than gold. This is almost the only utensil that could be played with at the dinner table without getting punched in the forehead. So, saltines:
Rattles had an almost mythical origin ; a thin line separated them from amulets; one can argue for a long time what happened first, the amulet or the rattle:
Rattle from the Novgorod province (Veliky Novgorod).
Modern options:
In general, any hollow toy that did not have a household purpose had peas, grains or seeds inside it, which made it make a rustling sound and immediately became a “sharkunk”, which in turn immediately made it a talisman. And any amulet that made a shuffling sound attracted the child’s attention and became his amusement. It was believed that the sound of rustling grains drove away evil spirits. Here's the bull:
Although, there were certain forms, such as a duck, a chicken or a bunny, which were made only one way and another and were considered amulets in their essence. But there will be a separate topic about them. Charms:
More recently, toys have begun to appear that are based on or “based on” traditional toys, but with modern motifs. Agree, it’s difficult to imagine a toy in the form of a car in the 17th century. And now - please:
The “Ivan-Ivanovich” samovar is, of course, not exactly a toy, but it’s a beautiful thing:
Modern toys , but the plots, which are increasingly found among different masters, may well lay claim to becoming traditional; in about 200 years they will be worthy of study and storage in museums. As a rule, these are animals, most often for some reason dogs and cats, and of course, “Ivan-Ivanovich”!
I personally invented this cat in some furry year two thousand, so he was awarded two photos:
Of all the fairy tales, “Turnip” is the most common and therefore almost traditional. Every self-respecting master embodied its plot at one stage or another of his work.
And toys that could be called truly author's , the plot or image of which came to someone alone and was not re-incarnated. Female figure:
Such a lady would hardly have been born even 100 years ago.
Grandfathers, by the way, play an ancient game of who will hit their opponent in the palm first.
Emelya is also a frequently encountered plot (but did not break the record of “Turnip”).
Here is a tribute to my favorite writer:
And again the theme of pets, cat and dog:
Our favorite crocodile Gena:
A stroller for little babies, but you can weave a bigger one if you try
And here is a tribute to Victory Day:
Harmonists, I find it difficult to even say what kind of “animals” they are:
Photo frames are more of a household item:
Here's a real masterpiece:
Often there are so-called “replicas”, exact copies of works made in the old days, here is a salt shaker and a shepherd:
Of course, dolls:
Staged compositions:
I couldn’t pass up this “positive pig”, although it has almost nothing to do with weaving - it’s a folding technique:
Again, I repeat, in my publication I did not even try to classify toys. And don’t think that you can limit yourself to these images and forms. Only your imagination can limit you. Birch bark is a very malleable and rewarding material, you can make anything from it! I saw the Snake-Gorynych and even the Aurora (ship).
Dare, weave, nothing is holding you back!
Thank you all for your attention!
Birch bark in a modern interior: Eco-trend
The fashion for birch bark did not come on its own, but as a consequence of the growing popularity of light, environmentally friendly interiors and the resumption of a forgotten past.
The less nature there is outside the window, the more you want to see it in the interior. Eco-style in the interior: birch bark makes beautiful lampshades, decorative panels, furniture facades, bags, paintings, accessories, decorations and floristry, as well as panels with a long service life of 25 years and a very diverse pattern created by nature itself.
Fresh flowers in a birch bark vase
Flowers (roses) from birch bark
Modern women's handbag made of birch bark
Tableware for tea drinking
Birch bark products in a modern interior
Birch bark wreath
Photo of a painting on birch bark
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Do-it-yourself birch bark tuesok
Before starting work, the white part of the bark must be separated. It peels off easily. To make a blank for the tueska, first take a ruler, pencil and scissors. Having outlined a smooth edge, cut off the excess bark.
The base is made of two layers of birch bark. When using sheet metal, they are tucked in and secured with clothespins on both sides, and the joint is stitched with a birch bark strip 5-7 mm wide.
You need to prepare tools for work:
- scissors;
- knife;
- scalpel;
- awl.
The upper and lower parts of the tuesk are braided with birch bark tape. To do this, using an awl or a thin scalpel, small incisions are made through which a thin strip of bark is pulled. You can use contrasting shades of birch bark to make the product look more decorative. Tuesok is a space for the master’s imagination.
