Wooden toy bears with hammers. Bogorodskaya wooden toy

Harvesting linden in the village of Bogorodskoye is a continuous process. After all, in order for high-quality blanks to come out of the trunk, the linden must dry in natural conditions for at least four years. That is why, after initial processing, linden trunks are put into huts or stacks and left for several years in special hangars.

The dried tree is sent for logging. On a lathe or manually with an ax, craftsmen outline the most general outlines future toy, cutting or sawing out the blank according to the template. Then the product is processed with a chisel and a special knife, the so-called “pike”, which are made especially for Bogorodsk carvings by hereditary village craftsmen.

The cut and carefully processed parts of the future movable wooden toy are sanded, then the rough edges are polished, making the wood absolutely smooth and velvety to the touch. The resulting parts are assembled into a moving composition, painted by hand if necessary, and several layers of varnish are applied.

The symbol of the craft is moving wooden toys.

The Bogorodsk craft of wooden carved toys is akin to Sergievo Posad. Carving school The Trinity-Sergius Lavra is the ancestor for both of these crafts and known since the 15th century. In the 18th century, fishing was a seasonal peasant production. From November to early April, as a rule, there is no work in the village, so in order to somehow occupy themselves and earn some money, the men took up knives and cut wooden toys from linden. They took finished products to Sergiev Posad to sell them.

By the middle of the 19th century, Bogorodsk carving became an independent handicraft that gained Russian and then world fame.

Gradually, the Bogorodsk toy moved from the category of handicraft peasant crafts to the direction folk art, has acquired its own unique features.

In 1913, the Bogorodsky Carver artel was organized in the village, which allowed the craftsmen to gain economic independence and bring samples of their craft to the international market. Distinctive feature By this time, the trade had become moving wooden toys, which sharply distanced the artel from the neighboring Sergievo Posad, which retained the traditional Russian nesting doll as a symbol and the main operating model.

The symbol of the Bogorodsk craft, known throughout the world, has become the toy “Blacksmiths,” which consists of wooden figures of a man and a bear alternately hitting an anvil with hammers. Blacksmiths usually do not paint the pieces cut from light linden wood, but simply cover them with several layers of colorless varnish.

The price of urbanization is the decline of folk crafts.

By 1960, under the influence of the so-called fabrication of folk crafts, an artistic carving factory was created on the territory of the village of Borogodskoye. The disappearance of the artel organization of labor gradually alienated craftsmen from each other, depriving them of the simplicity of rural communication so necessary for the development of the craft. Under the yoke of the universally imposed principles of a planned economy, village traditions languished, and the development of the village territory with panel high-rise buildings, deforestation and demolition of ancient carved wooden buildings gradually brought to naught the harvesting and drying of wood, which led to the need to purchase expensive third-party raw materials. High energy prices aggravated the already increased production costs; the master carvers who moved to the upper floors of new buildings finally lost touch with both each other and with folk roots, and traditional sales markets became inaccessible, because the price of Bogorodsk toys increased greatly, and the quality Unfortunately, it left much to be desired.

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Images of people and animals were in customs Eastern Slavs since ancient times. The figures had symbolic meaning: the bear is a symbol of power, the goat is the patron of the harvest, the ram and the cow are of fertility, the deer is of abundance. Thanks to the abundance of forests, wooden toys existed almost everywhere in Russia. The village of Bogorodskoye and Sergiev Posad are considered the center of production of wooden toys, and the time of their appearance in the form we are familiar with is the 15th century.

History of the fishery
In the middle of the 15th century, the village of Bogorodskoye belonged to the Moscow boyar M.B. Pleshcheev (the first mention of Bogorodskoye dates back to August 1491 in the spiritual letter (will) of his son Andrei), in 1595 it became the property of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and the peasants became monastic serfs. It was they who laid the foundations of wood carving, which glorified the current “capital of the toy kingdom” throughout the world. The village of Bogorodskoye has become one of the centers of folk art and Russian applied art.
The largest feudal lord, the Trinity Monastery, around which the settlement was located, has played a role in public and political life countries. The monastery attracted pilgrims, and was also a fortress guarding the approaches to the capital, which contributed to its material well-being. In the 15th century, artisans began to unite around the monastery, which provided them with prosperity. Skilled icon painters, wood and bone carvers, and turners worked here. Posad not only sent skillfully made wooden products to the kings and patriarchs (“Trinity” gifts), but also received orders from almighty rulers. That is, the woodworking crafts of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery have long been highly valued, and not only peasant children, but also Russian princes played with Bogorodsk wooden toys. Sergiev Posad was called the “Russian toy capital”. In many surrounding villages they made toys (they were called “chip goods” and “axe goods”), and the village of Bogorodskoye became the most famous. Experts call the toy industries of Sergiev Posad and the village of Bogorodskoye two branches of one trunk.
At the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, crafts developed in Russia, this is due to the formation of a centralized Russian state and the development of the market, which created conditions for the sale of household products (trade is a form of existence when a craft serves as a means of subsistence for a family or an entire village, and entire areas are occupied manufacturing a certain type of product).
It is unknown who made the first wooden toy, which marked the beginning of folk art, but for more than 300 years the legend of Sergius of Radonezh, who carved dolls from wood and gave it to children, has been told by word of mouth. There are other legends. According to one of them, a resident of Sergiev Posad sold a 9-inch (40 cm) linden block doll to a merchant who traded near the Lavra. He placed it as decoration in the shop. The toy was immediately purchased. According to another story, in the village of Bogorodskoye, a mother made toys for them to amuse her children. Cloth dolls were torn and straw dolls scattered. Then the woman carved a toy from wood. The children nicknamed her Auka, and when she got tired of her, her father took her to the fair. The third legend tells about the deaf-mute tradesman Tatyga, who carved a large doll from a linden tree and sold it to a merchant. All the stories are similar in that the linden doll was sold to a merchant, he placed a large order for toys, and, unable to cope with this, the master recruited students from the townspeople's children.

Since then, most residents of the village of Bogorodskoye have taken up the “toy” craft, and the doll began to be called “Bogorodskaya”. And by the beginning of the 19th century, Sergiev Posad turned into the Russian capital of the toy kingdom. The local bazaar amazed with the variety of wooden toys: turning, carpentry, carving.
At first, Bogorodsk craftsmen made only individual parts, from which the townspeople assembled entire toys. Then the Bogorodians began making toys completely “in linen” (unpainted wood), and in Sergiev Posad they were painted and sold. This economic dependence of the Bogorodsk craftsmen lasted for quite a long time; in addition, they often had to work to order and according to the models of the Sergiev toy makers. What ultimately formed unified system images and plots, which over the years have developed into an independent artistic style carvings, which formed a craft called “Bogorodskaya Toy”, which took an exceptional place in the Russian art industry. Wooden to this day carved toys often they are not painted, but only carefully finished, sometimes cleaned with “glass” paper.

Traditional Bogorodsk toys are unpainted figures of people, animals and birds made of linden, and entire compositions from the life of a Russian peasant. The symbol of the craft is still considered to be “a man and a bear,” and the main difference between Bogorodsk toys and all others is the moving parts, driven by a slight movement of the spring.

The fishery, which developed towards the end of the 18th century, was initially a typical peasant production. The first figurines of people, animals and birds were single, unpainted, and their beauty was enhanced by patterned carvings.

From the second half of the 19th century century, carvers began to make sculptural groups of several figures on a common base in various plot settings.
The craftsmen, working with a primitive tool, were able to create from wood true, realistic images of the surrounding reality, animals and people, characters from folk life, fables and fairy tales.

From the middle of the 19th century, the craft completely moved from Sergiev Posad to Bogorodskoye, and during the same period the Bogorodsk carved handicraft industry flourished. Carving in the village was mainly done by men, since in addition to skill, physical strength and free time were needed, because they worked 14-16 hours a day (nowadays most carvers are women). But often the whole family participated in the work: the eldest sons prepared the material and cut out the basic shape with a hatchet without preliminary sketches. The younger children sanded the finished figures and performed other simple operations. They worked while sitting, holding the workpiece on their knees (the leg was tightly wrapped with a rag to protect it from cuts). Each family specialized in only one or two types of toys. The masters were divided into “skaters” (cutting little men), “animalists” and “poultry keepers”.

Products were made from autumn to spring (a break in agricultural work). Already at the first stage of the development of the craft, works appeared that are considered today masterpieces of folk art. Although the craft arose in a purely peasant environment, it developed under strong pressure from the townspeople type of culture (a symbiosis of urban and peasant traditions coupled with the influence of porcelain sculpture, book illustration, popular prints and works of professional painters).
The next stage in the development of the toy business in Bogorodskoye is associated with the activities of the Moscow provincial zemstvo (1890-1900), which sought to revive the best traditions of the Bogorodsk craft. By the beginning of the 20th century, the fishery was going through difficult times. The influx of cheap foreign machine-made goods led to the rapid displacement of traditional handmade products. The artistic level of toys has decreased, and some of their types have completely disappeared. The craftsmen were helped to expand the range of products and organized their sales. With the support of S.T. Morozov, the Moscow Handicraft Museum was opened, later - a workshop that combined research activities, educational institution, sale of toys in Russia and abroad. It was a whole movement that revived and supported the national basis in fading folk art.
Professional artist, collector, founder and first director State Museum toys (now the Art and Pedagogical Museum of Toys) Nikolai Dmitrievich Bartram was one of the first to try to preserve and revive ancient traditions. Realizing that old works did not captivate artisans, he reoriented them to carvings in the folk style, but according to the samples of professional artists (popular images, motifs from paintings and ancient engravings), which brought a naturalistic interpretation and excessive detail to the toy.

The idea also had opponents (for example, the artist and collector A. Benoit), who considered such a rescue of the fishery to be artificial. There is still a debate as to whether the intervention of professional artists in folk craft brought more harm or benefit. Bartram was looking for a “toy” form, close to children’s perception, and in the late 1900s he moved from a three-dimensional image to a silhouette, believing that “the silhouette of a figure serves as the beginning fine arts at the child."

In addition, in his moving toys the elements did not move equally rhythmically, but slowly and discordantly, so that each figure attracted attention. However, Bartram abandoned silhouette toys, noticing that children prefer a three-dimensional form, and developed educational series for group play: egg toys, architectural toys and ethnographic complex toys.

N.D. Bartram encouraged the creation of unique sculptural compositions dedicated to folklore and historical themes. What was in keeping with tradition: Bogorodsk masters always responded to what was happening. The military victories of the Russian army in the 19th century, the difficult era of the Civil War and the First World War, collectivization are depicted in sculptural compositions: sets of soldiers, figures in military uniforms, horsemen, and genre compositions on the theme of the Russian-Turkish campaign appeared. Foreign samples of toys with movement, creatively interpreted by local carvers, were also used as samples.

In 1911, local residents decided to organize an artel and training workshops, and in 1913, the Main Directorate of Agriculture and Land Management created an exemplary workshop with full board for students from 7 years old and an instructor class in carving under the guidance of a graduate of the Imperial Academy of Arts K.E. Lindblat (his place was later taken by G.S. Serebryakov, who actively introduced foreign samples, mainly from Germany and Switzerland, which left an indelible mark on the history of fishing traditions). The teaching method was developed and introduced by master Andrei Yakovlevich Chushkin. Children were taught drawing, woodworking technology and wood carving. At the same time, the artisans founded the “Handicraft and Toy Artel” - a small joint production, where they jointly solved the problems of acquiring material, improving the quality of tools, marketing products, etc. (creators A.Ya. Chushkin and F.S. Balaev), it included 19 talented carvers who worked according to the charter approved by the Vladimir Governor-General I.N. Sazonov. The artel gave the craftsmen complete economic independence from the Sergiev Posad buyers. The First World War (1914-1918) and its aftermath economic crisis led to the decline of the fishery. Although in the first decade after October Revolution in Bogorodskoye, old zemstvo samples were preserved, sold for export; with the arrival of the Bolsheviks, the Bogorodsk craft began to serve the cause of the world revolution - craftsmen carved carts, security officers, revolutionaries, heroes of the struggle for the dominance of the world proletariat.

In 1923, with the arrival of new craftsmen, the organization was transformed into the Bogorodsky Carver artel, under which the school operated. But the bulk of the carvers were families who passed on knowledge from generation to generation. After all, any industry rests on dynasties. Along with traditional products, masters created unique works for various exhibitions on the themes of the new Soviet life.

Changing social structures stimulated craftsmen to search for new forms and artistic solutions. However, it was precisely at that time that the problem of “easel painting”, which had emerged during the zemstvo period, became acute. In the 1930s, the so-called sculpture toy appeared, and for the next two decades, professional artists and critics (mainly employees of the Scientific Research Institute of the Art Industry (NIIHP)) intervened in the craft.

Not only in Bogorodskoye, but also in other crafts, overt politicization began: themes that were alien to peasant nature and the popular understanding of beauty were imposed on the masters, including forms forcibly changed and stylized under the influence of the small plastic arts of the masters of Gzhel, Gardner porcelain and other crafts.

In Bogorodskoye, the reaction to ideological pressure was the development of a fairy-tale theme, which was facilitated by the conventionality of the shapes of the figures and the brightness of memorable images. But also fairy tale themes were considered as a decorative sculpture, not as a toy

The historical topic at this time lost its relevance, but was revived during the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War, temporarily relegating work on the toy to the background. Although even here it was necessary, for example, to carve not an ordinary soldier, but a Red Army soldier, dressed according to the regulations with full detail of insignia, to create complex sculptural compositions with serious patriotic pathos, to develop themes of the exploits of partisans and scouts, and the participation of animals in hostilities. This turned a children's toy into an easel sculpture, destroying the image and purpose of the doll. Since the late 1950s, it was necessary to reflect space exploration, new construction, and sports.

In 1960, on the eve of the 300th anniversary of the birth of folk crafts, the artel was transformed into an artistic carving factory. This period is assessed in different ways. On the one hand, the traditional artel labor organization was eliminated and replaced by a factory one. After this “fabrication”, the craft slowly died under the pressure of the artistic (local) industry, plan, rampart and other concepts alien to folk art. On the other hand, there was a clear surge of new interest in folk culture. Artists and craftsmen carefully studied and creatively mastered the traditions of Bogorodsk carving, developed samples of products dedicated to subjects of Russian history and national folklore. In addition, NIIHP not only dictated the range, themes and plots to the craftsmen, but also saved folk crafts from destruction (which nevertheless overtook them with the advent of the free market in the post-perestroika period). But it became increasingly difficult for the craftsmen to work. In the 1970s, a gigantic Soviet-scale construction project - a pumped storage power station - began near the village. Here they founded a settlement for pumped storage power plant builders, built new roads, built apartment buildings, for which they destroyed villages, demolishing log houses with lace trim, cut down gardens, and with them went traditional gatherings and the simplicity of rural communication. The new residents had not even heard of the local art carving craft, and the chief architect believed that the village was of no architectural value and had outlived its usefulness. The long-term roots of the Bogorodsk craft were dying off. A few huts remained from their former life, craftsmen moved to multi-storey buildings, and practicing traditional crafts became increasingly problematic. Back in 1984, G.L. Dine wrote in the magazine " decorative arts USSR”, that next to the new buildings the village becomes small and miserable, which even the security zone will not save, the way of life of people, their spiritual and moral image will change, which means Bogorodsk art.
In the 1970s-1980s, at the Bogorodsk artistic carving factory, master artists developed designs that were embodied by master performers. After 1980, the Olympic bear replaced the Bogorodsk wooden bear, and the cessation of demand for the factory’s products brought it to the brink of closure.
The best examples of products at that time were produced only through the efforts of homeworkers who worked outside the plan and chose the subject to their liking. And during the period of perestroika, the deplorable situation worsened significantly. In the early 1990s, the country was moving to market relations, the Bogorodskaya factory was privatized and transformed into two enterprises: CJSC Bogorodsky Carver and CJSC Bogorodskaya Factory of Artistic Wood Carving. Currently, the Bogorodsk fishery is struggling for survival. The best masters They leave the “official craft”, but at home they continue to create high-class things, although most of the young craftsmen follow the lead of the market, performing work that is far from folk tradition.
At the Bogorodsk Art and Industrial College, a solid foundation is laid, on the basis of which skills are further built, developed, and improved: students master academic drawing, painting, sculpture, and design graphics. Teachers develop students' powers of observation and creative initiative, and encourage participation in various competitions and exhibitions. The school produced hundreds of carvers, many of whom became high-class artists. The museum of samples and diploma works of graduates complements the huge collection of exhibits from the museum of the Bogorodsky Carver factory. But, having learned the secrets and nuances of the Bogorodsk style, graduates often work in their own individual style, which largely returns to the problem of “easelism” - a toy ceases to be a doll for children and turns into an easel sculpture for collecting. The second important problem is the influx of students from federal subjects, distant regions and republics, which nullifies the classical tradition, since graduates do not stay to work in the factory, but return to places where the famous Russian wooden toy is not needed.

Thread technology
The material for carving is soft linden wood, less often aspen and alder. Wood can only be harvested in winter, when there is less moisture in the wood. Young trees have loose, inelastic wood; trees aged 50-70 years are suitable for carving. After removing the bark, the linden tree is dried for 2 to 4 years in the air under a canopy. Leave the bark only on the edges of the log in the form of rings so that the wood does not crack when drying. (The old masters accelerated drying by steaming the wood in a Russian oven in free heat - after removing the coals. They put a log in cast iron, poured a little water on the bottom, covered it and put it in a hot, empty oven until the morning, then dried the log for several days at room temperature.) Then the trunk is sawn, the logs are divided into round logs - “humps” (often I use part of the cut) for horizontally oriented figures, or cut into triangular bars for vertical dolls. The original triangular shape is always visible in the finished product. There should be as few knots as possible - they don’t look good on the products, so they are bypassed or cut out, they also try not to include the core of the trunk in the workpiece, the array should have frequently spaced growth rings, without loose spots and spots. The master marks the resulting blanks according to the pattern, outlining the template with a pencil, makes cuts with a hacksaw, then notches with an ax, outlining the general contours of the figure. The excess mass of wood is removed with chisels; the delicate work is performed with a special short and sharp Bogorodsk knife with a beveled blade (“pike”). The master must treat the material with care, admire the beauty of the wood and extract artistic effects from it. Carvers have long carried out carvings without preliminary sketches - swipe, hence the name “fly carving” (only professionals who studied at the school are accustomed to drawing sketches and making samples from clay or plasticine). Linden waste (chips) is used for small parts or stands for compositions.

Turned and carved toys, consisting of several parts, are assembled from individual parts. The smooth parts of the sculpture are sanded until smooth. Although the old masters did without sandpaper (which was called “glass”), all operations were performed only with a knife and a chisel. Now some toys are coated with colorless varnish or painted.

Classic Bogorodsk toys are not painted (linen), they do not have coatings; for finishing, various small chisels are used to apply so-called “painting” with shallow cuts - grooves imitating thick wool, soft leather, bird plumage, horse manes and tails, folds of human clothing, grass etc. Thanks to the textured processing of the wood surface, the products are distinguished by the clarity and rhythmic clarity of silhouettes, the play of light and shade, the elaboration of the smallest details, and the combination of ornamental fine carvings with a smooth surface.

Product range
Most early works Bogorodsk carvers, preserved in museum collections, date back to the end of the 18th – beginning of the 19th century. These are elegant dolls in the costumes of hussars and ladies, peasants and peasant women, multi-figure sculptural compositions, carved miniatures (“Chinese trifle” - painted three-centimeter figures; some sources claim that they were sold in glasses (5-6 figures each) for a penny - money according to those at times considerable.) and many other characters. These toys can be used to create a variety of genre scenes.

The subjects of modern Bogorodsk wooden toys are funny hussars and ladies, horsemen and dancers, ladies and nannies, nurses with children, soldiers and shepherdesses, men and fishermen, woodcutters and musicians, peasants and baroques, monks and nuns, horses and teams, bears and chickens , hares and foxes. All characters are distinguished by a combination of realism and humor, a characteristic rendering of poses and gestures, multi-figure sculptural compositions tell about peasant everyday life, holidays, festivities, tea parties, and the animals look humanized.

Toys with movement (twitches) are especially interesting: with a twist (the figures are attached to sliding bars), with a button, with a spring, with a balance (the parts are attached by a string to a ball). Once you press the button, pull the bar, swing the ball, the figure comes to life. Simple, but interesting in design mechanisms make the toy lively, expressive and especially attractive, and the sound enhances the dynamics of the toy. When working on a mobile toy, the designer’s thinking is important. Reviving genre scenes, leaves attached to thin wires sway on the trees. Children played with moving “Chickens” back in the times of Pushkin and Lermontov. And the “Blacksmiths,” usually depicting a man and a bear, became a symbol of the craft and the village itself, becoming part of its flag. They say that at the end of the 19th century, at the World Exhibition in Paris, the famous French sculptor Rodin called the “blacksmiths” a brilliant work of folk art, and having received such a toy as a gift, he carefully kept it.

In addition to traditional toys (carved, turned, painted, movable), the craftsmen of the Bogorodsk factory make custom carved furniture, wooden wall panels with three-dimensional images of people and animals, large sculptures and watch cases, iconostases, platbands, and engage in restoration of any complexity.

Despite economic difficulties, the art of wood carving continues to develop. Craftsmen use a method of creative variation in the manufacture of each product. Enterprises regularly hold competitions, including thematic ones, to create new product designs.
Bogorodsk master artists participate in numerous exhibitions. All-Russian exhibitions held in huge halls (Bolshoi Manege, Central House of Artists) require an appropriate scale of works. This is how two-meter bears and huge spoons taller than a man appear. This means, on the one hand, large exhibitions help masters fit into the modern artistic environment; on the other hand, they alienate them from the traditions of folk crafts.
Modern Bogorodskaya carving diverse in subjects and forms of artistic expression. Sometimes it organically enters artistic culture, preserving the ancient traditions of the craft. Carvers find original forms that allow them to combine tradition and the realities of the 21st century, for example, a moving composition in which a Bogorodsk bear, carved according to all the canons, pounds a computer keyboard with its paw. Other masters work in a different way - they choose motifs and subjects that are not typical of the craft: angels and saints, Santa Claus and Pinocchio, plastically close either to mass cult or to stylized easel objects. Some artists, preserving traditions, continue to work in the archaic style characteristic of folk carving, recreating old ones and developing new ones, and some, in search of a solution to the plastic form, invent new versions of toys. As a result, deprived of their natural habitat, folk toy became for us a work of art, part of folk art, an artistic phenomenon. If people buy a Bogorodsk sculpture, it is not as a children’s doll, but only as a decoration for their home, often decorated in a modern style. Time will tell which trends will prevail and whether the fishery will remain viable in the face of their confrontation.

The history of Bogorodsk wooden toys goes back more than 350 years. The products are known all over the world, and in their time they were appreciated not only by children, but also by world-famous sculptors. A distinctive feature of the Bogorodsk toy is the absence of obvious details and strict carved forms in sculptural products. Thanks to this manufacturing method, the toy developed creativity and imagination in children, and did not bother them for a long time.

Movable toys were no less interesting. Their thoughtful design worked for a long time and did not break.

The Bogorodsk toy got its name from the village where craftsmen who made wooden blanks lived. The Bogorodsk toy became so firmly established in the life of the local population that one of the products became a symbol of the village and is depicted on its coat of arms. This is a moving toy with a man and a bear.

History of the fishery

The production of Bogorodsk toys began in the 15th – 16th centuries, in the village of the same name near Sergiev Posad, Moscow region. Initially, processing masters and artistic cutting trees worked according to orders from buyers. They prepared the base, which they then painted in Sergiev Posad.

Finally, as a craft, the production of Bogorodsk toys was formed at the end of the 18th - early XIX century, when the entire process of making toys was transferred to craftsmen from the village of Bogorodskoye. They developed them, determined the theme, made the bases and, if necessary, painted them.

At the beginning of the 20th century, an artel was organized in the same village, in which masters of cutting toys were trained, passing on to them the accumulated knowledge, techniques and skills. Due to the war and economic turmoil, the artel was temporarily closed, and after new strength started working already in Soviet times.

Bogorodsk wooden toys were actively exported to European countries. At first, the themes were presented by the life of the common people; later, after the end of World War II, the masters went into fairy-tale themes. In more later years The appearance of stories for making toys was influenced by events taking place in the country, for example, sending a man into space, popularizing sports, etc.

Types of Bogorodsk toys

Bogorodsk wooden toys were of two types:

1. Sculpture toy

2. Movable toy

The sculptural figures were distinguished by the absence of clearly defined features. In them, children, due to the development of their own imagination, could see a bear, a fox and other animals.

Bogorodsk craftsmen also carved toys with moving structures. The figurines were attached by craftsmen to dies that moved relative to each other; springs with buttons were also placed inside them, and another part of the toys consisted of figurines attached to a dies with a counterweight on threads.

The most famous Bogorodsk wooden toys are:

Blacksmiths, fixed on dies;

Dancing man with a spring inside;

Chickens pecking grains on a circle with a counterweight.

Episodes from ordinary life were chosen as subjects for making toys, and crafts and professions of that time were often highlighted. For example, a shoemaker was depicted at the moment of making boots, a spinner sat with a spindle at a spinning wheel, lumberjacks chopped wood, hussars sat on horses, young ladies were depicted with flowers in their hands. In later stories, bears accompanied by space satellites, vacuum cleaners, carpet cleaners, football players, etc. appeared.

Manufacturing technology

Traditionally, Bogorodsk wooden toys were carved from solid linden. Among all trees, this wood is the softest and most pliable.

At first, the harvested and dried trunks were sawed into logs and only after that they were sent to work by the craftsmen.

Craftsmen split the chocks themselves, with a couple of strokes, into four parts. It was this form of workpiece that was most convenient for work. The figures were cut out using special Bogorodsk knives and files. Expensive types of toys were made from a single piece, and simpler toys were made from the remaining chips.

When selecting logs, we tried to take those that had the smallest number of knots, since wood with knots is difficult to process for this type of fishing. Wood carvers were usually men.

Painting of Bogorodskaya toy

(Colored (painted) Bogorodsk toys)

After preparing all the elements of the toy, it was assembled and sent for painting. If the composition was not a single structure, but was assembled from many figures or wood chips, the elements were fastened together using PVA glue and wooden glazing beads.

Most often there were Bogorodsk toys that were not painted at all. They allowed children to develop their imagination. If the toys were painted, the paints used by the craftsmen were bright, rich and very rich. The toys showed elements of Khokhloma and Gorodets painting, but at the same time they were devoid of small details characteristic of these techniques, since the toys were designed for children.

In the Orthodox heart of Russia, not far from the city of Sergiev Posad, on a picturesque hill on the banks of the Kunya River, stands a village - the birthplace of the famous folk craft of carved wooden toys and sculptures.

Legend

No one knows exactly when the first toy was carved from linden in the village of Bogorodskoye, but there is a legend that the first “Auku” figurine was made by a mother for her children to amuse them. Later, the doll was sold to a merchant, and he put it in his shop for decoration, but the same toy was bought at a profit for the merchant.

Bogorodskoye

Bogorodskoye is an ancient village. Already in the 15th–16th centuries, local peasants, at that time serfs of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, laid the foundations for the artistic craft of woodworking that subsequently developed. The village became one of the centers of folk art in the history of Russian applied art.

Artel "Bogorodsky Carver"

In 1913, the craftsmen united into the Bogorodsky Carver artel, and a vocational school was opened, the main task of which was to train new personnel - masters of artistic wood carving.

In 1960, on the eve of the 300th anniversary of the birth of folk crafts, the artel was transformed into a factory.

Areas of activity

By 2001, the company had identified several areas of activity:

• a section of carved white toys,
• sculpture area,
• a section of turning painted toys with movement, based on ancient principles of assembly and painting,
• a section of mixed styles and trends, mainly wood chips and painted toys,
• matryoshka

Since 1999, the company, in collaboration with the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, has been reviving iconostasis carvings.

Fame

Bogorodsk toys can be found in shops, museums, exhibitions, and in many homes not only in our cities, but also abroad.

Far beyond the borders of the Moscow region, Bogorodsk master miracle workers are known: , N.I. Maksimov, M.A. Pronin, A.Ya. Chushkin, A.A. Ryzhov, I.K. Stulov, S.A. Pautov, I.M. Polsky, M.Ya. Dvornikov, .

Bogorodsk carvers took part in numerous exhibitions: their works were awarded gold medals at world exhibitions in Paris, New York, and Brussels.

The toy "The Peasant and the Chicken" is in Historical Museum Moscow, in the Russian Museum of St. Petersburg there is a permanent exhibition where the famous compositions “How Mice Buried a Cat”, “Miracle Yudo Fish-Whale” and many other works are exhibited.

Bogorodskaya factory - review

We have already seen the famous Bogorodsk toy at an exhibition at the Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts in Moscow. It's time to go to Bogorodskoye itself, near Moscow. There is a factory where these toys are made, and there is a museum next to it. It is quite easy to identify the factory: there are carved figures already above the gate.

A wooden sculpture greets us in the factory courtyard - we just have to look closely.

The museum is located in the factory complex itself. So, feel free to go inside, where “entrance” is written on the door - they will already explain to you what and how.
They will also explain that the tradition of wooden carving in Bogorodskoye is very old. It has long been used to decorate everyday things: rockers, spinning wheels and so on.

When did toys appear here? Often referred to as the 17th century. However, it is, of course, difficult to name an exact date. The museum at the factory - then still the Bogorodsky Carver artel - appeared more than a hundred years ago. Initially, as an assortment cabinet - that is, a collection of samples for internal use. But later it opened to the public. The works of Borogodsk masters from the 19th century to the present day are collected here - in total there are over three thousand exhibits in the collection.

The Bogorodsk toy began with characters and scenes of an everyday nature.

Of course, there are also soldiers here.

Early figurines were mostly small - the traditional toy was primarily aimed at children. And here the fact that the toy moves stands out - although it is unlikely that its first authors would have been able to scientifically discuss the benefits of developing micromotor skills.

There are several technologies here. Here is a push-button toy - it starts to move when you press a button or key on the pedestal. Then the fox will try to grab Kolobok, and the bear will begin to chop the log.

The second kinetic technique is balance. To put such a toy into action, you need to swing the ball suspended from below. This is how the classic Bogorodsk “hens” work, pecking at grain.

A wide variety of characters and plots are also possible here.

Finally, the most classic - “slats”. This is how the famous “Man and the Bear” are constructed, which - if the bars are moved relative to each other - take turns hitting the anvil.

It is no coincidence that this particular toy became the emblem of the Bogorodsk factory and is displayed on its facade. And in the museum she is presented even in human size - little visitors can feel themselves in the role of one of the heroes.

Here is another version of the “plank” toy.

And a variation of the same technique - here the slats move according to the accordion principle.

There are also rarer ways to set toys in motion. Basically these are larger and more detailed compositions.

Here we are already moving on to the peculiar genre of “armchair sculpture”. Initially there were rural scenes, carriages, and “tea parties.” But sometimes historical characters too.

But still, the main character of Bogorodsk carvings has long been a bear. Sometimes on its own, sometimes together with a person.

But now we get to the shop windows of the Soviet period and we see completely different stories.

A man and a bear present us with the Soviet coat of arms. And the next scene is “Decree on Land”.

In general, there are quite a lot of Lenins in different variations and types. Although such things were not made in large numbers - they were mainly made to order as official gifts.

But these “three heroes” are actually Frunze, Budyonny and Kotovsky. And other Chapaevs and carts are also present.

But the same era gives us fairy-tale and literary subjects.

And here is young Pushkin with Arina Rodionovna.

What’s funny is that sculptures depicting politicians are sometimes commissioned from Bogorodsk craftsmen even today. They told me, in particular, the names of Putin and Luzhkov. It’s a pity, but their images are not presented in the museum exhibition.

But, of course, not only children's toys, still in great production, are presented (where now a hare can appear not only with a drum, but also with a laptop), but also cabinet sculpture. Mostly now it’s animal art.

There are also interesting variants of high reliefs.

Moreover, such an office sculpture may well reach the size of a park - to the full height of a bear.

Another recent innovation is the appearance of religious subjects (after all, Sergiev Posad is not far away).

And of course, the technology of hand carving itself is shown - of course, using the example of bears. The material is soft wood - mainly linden.

And here is the owner of the museum, Natalya Alexandrovna, who will tell you all these and many other details.

We go out into the street and once again look at the park sculptures installed there. The plots are mostly fairy tales. Well, or “bearish”.

But the trees stood so frost-covered on the road to Bogorodskoye. Well, I can’t promise a similar spectacle at any time - it depends on the weather.

In principle, the museum at the Bogorodsk factory is regularly open on weekdays, until 17:00. However, firstly, you can book a tour and even a master class on Saturdays - you just need to do this in advance.

Secondly, in May, here, on the territory of the factory, there will be a traditional festival- this is May 16-17-18, that is, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The festival is, of course, open to the public.

Well, and thirdly, the museum is seriously thinking about making Saturday an open excursion day. We will wait for information on this matter.

Now how to get there.

Firstly, get to Sergiev Posad one way or another. You can go by car (which is convenient, although it is fraught with traffic jams on the way out of Moscow). You can take the train (which, as it turned out, run in the direction of Sergiev Posad quite often - you most likely won’t have to wait more than half an hour at any time of the day).

Next for motorists: having entered Sergiev Posad and moving along the main road, do not miss the left turn to Uglich-Kalyazin shortly after the Lavra remains on the left. Further, according to the diagram presented on the museum’s website (or, more simply put, straight ahead all the time, right up to turning right at the huge sign “Zagorsk PSPP”).

For those who travel by public transport: there is a bus station directly opposite the railway station in Sergiev Posad. From where you can get to Bogorodskoye by bus or minibus with the same number 49. The minibus runs more often and goes faster. The bus is less frequent and on schedule (about once an hour). In general, it has an advantage, perhaps, only for regularly traveling local residents who have travel cards for it, but for a one-time trip, a minibus is still more convenient.

In any case, you need to go to the final stop. From which walk forward a little in the direction of travel (the reference point is a healthy red and white pipe). The official address of the factory is Bogorodskoye, 79 B (that’s right, no street).