The history of Russian chest craft (19th – early 20th centuries). Collection of scientific articles
ornamentality, about which Vasiliy Voronov wrote: «These main artistic features… merging together in each individual artwork, give a solid and strong artistic foundation to the peasant everyday creativity, grant it an indisputable right to be called art»109.
Veliky Ustyug is one of the oldest cities in the Russian North. It is located 450 km northeast of Vologda on the banks of the Sukhona River. Since ancient times, Ustyug has been not only a large merchant city, but also a center of various crafts, including artistic ones. Ustyug niello (on silver), iron forging, «frozen» tin, carving and painting on birch bark are known far outside the city. Painted chests and caskets were also made here.
The long tradition of making chests here has been repeatedly mentioned in the literature. Even Flegont Arseniev in his «Essay on handicrafts», published in 1882, noted that «in Veliky Ustyug, from time immemorial, there has been the production of chests, all in one anciently established form …». He also wrote about the division of labor between carpentry and locksmith specialties. «For five pieces of wood (five pieces – one to one), Shemogodsk craftsmen charge a price according to the outer color of the chest: for colourfully painted ones from 1r. 20 k. – 1 p. 30 k., painted from 80 k. – 90 k. …, Ten independent craftsmen in Ustyug are engaged in upholstery and assembly of chests; they have up to 36 workers. Completely upholstered and folded chests are sold then. Colourfully painted cost 3 rubles, painted ones cost 2 rubles. 60k. Chests are sold on the local market in Ustyug and mainly to buyers in the counties of Yarensky, Totemsky, Velsky, Nikolsky, Kadnikovsky, Ustsysolsky and Vologda»110.
Ustyug chests decorated with comb painting (the essence of it was to apply a pattern on wet oil paint using a special device. It could be a comb or a special tool made of rubber.) are of medium size that is quite standard for this type of product. Their lid is sloping (consists of 3—4 boards), there are no legs or stands. On the sides there are molded handles, on the front there is a ring for opening the lid. The fastening of the chests is simple: they were upholstered with thin iron strips on all sides. Thus, the design of products came into conflict with their painting. The walls and lids of the chests were painted in advance and only later fastened with strips.
It should be noted that the prefabricated nature of these type of chest production is noticeable: sometimes the wavy stripes do not match the lid and sides. The painting, as a rule, consists of two or three colors. The locks on such chests have always been protected by metal plates of various shapes (today the locks are removed from most products). Sometimes additional plates were attached to the lid or corners to strengthen the chest.
Beautiful chests of this type are in the collection of the Totma Museum Association and the Veliky Ustyug State historical, architectural and Art Museum Reserve111. Let us consider two of them as an example. The first is in the collection of the Totma Museum112. Its shape and dimensions are typical for the products under consideration. The walls are fastened with iron strips, which were simply damaged during the life of the thing and disappeared from the side walls. But on the front wall they were cut off on purpose. A small ring attached to the lid makes it easier to open the chest. The lock is protected by a trapezoidal iron plate.
The painting consists of several wavy stripes of brown and light green colors, formed by wavy lines (chests with a similar painting are kept in the Dionysius Fresco Museum113). The sonorous major scale is built on the use of bright local colors. The master applied the drawing on wet paint with precise movements. The ease of performance, the clarity and confidence of movements testify to the great experience of the author of the painting. Composition with stripes arranged at an angle is often found in this type of chest. Due to this arrangement of the strips, the shape of the product is somewhat «blurred». In general, such a composition can be called universal, since it can be used for any three-dimensional object. In addition, it testifies to the inexhaustible wealth of options for comb painting. Although the starting point for the craftsmen was probably the texture of the wood, their creative imagination often took them far from this natural pattern. Using only a few colors and the simplest techniques, the author of this painting managed to achieve color harmony, clarity of the drawing and, in general, the expressiveness of the artistic solution.
The second chest is in the Veliky Ustyug Museum Reserve114. Its shape and dimensions are similar to other considered products. The differences include the location of the handle on the top surface of the lid but not on its front side. There are no handles for holding, usually located on the sides of such products. Perhaps, especially this chest most clearly characterizes one of the features of the production of such products, meaning its «prefabricated» nature.
Despite the very high level of performance of the painting, the master thought little about the general artistic solution of the thing. He mechanistically connected the walls. Therefore, the iron plate «hung» on the surface of the front side. Most likely, the chest was painted and assembled by different people. At the same time, as noted above, the painting is made at a high artistic level, it exposes the hand of a professional master. The painting is decorative and dynamic. This is achieved by the sonorous combination of colors and the wavy shape of the bands that form cells on the entire surface of the chest. Such a thing brought a bright emotional accent to the interior of a peasant hut. The artistic features of the painting in question are such that only technology makes it related to other works of this type.
An interesting example of the connection of the comb painting with the so-called «Shemogoda» painting represents a chest from the collection of the Kirillo-Belozersky historical, architectural and Art Museum Reserve115 (it should be noted that it also again proves the Ustyug origin of the chests in question). The design of the thing corresponds to the design of Veliky Ustyug products. The painting consists of wavy and straight stripes located at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. At the same time, the colors are typical for the «Shemogoda» painting. The hybrid of chest116 does not interfere with calling it a wonderful work of folk art, with its own artistic merits.
In addition to Sizma and Veliky Ustyug, chests with comb painting were made in the Kharovsky district. While considering the paintings of Kharovsk the Vologda researcher Angelina Glebova first mentioned the existence of such a type of painting as imitation «like a tree»117. However, there are too few chests with comb painting in this area today. The main motive in this region is the continuous covering of the entire surface of the chest with such a pattern. The names of the craftsmen are known, for example, Nikolai Alexandrovich Skorodumov, originally from a farmstead outside the village of Yesyunikha in Leshchevskaya volost, born on July 12, 1919. He most often used «waves» in his works.
As an example of Kharovsky products, we can cite a chest decorated with a painting, which consists of hinge-shaped motifs in a dark brown background.Th118e chest is a box with walls connected by a dovetail mount. The lid is hinged and flat. The clear, confident nature of the work, based on improvisation, testifies to the great experience of the master (he may had been left-handed). Several rows of «waves» completely cover all the walls of the chest. However, neither the carpet-like filling (without any voids) of large surfaces with painting, nor its dynamism «conceal» the shape of the product.
Comb painting is typical not only for medium-sized chests discussed in this article, but also for small items119. However, the principles of their decoration are almost the same, so they remained outside the scope of the work.
As for the origin of the comb painting on the chests, several conclusions are possible to make today.
1.