Sergiev
Posad Matryoshka
Author:
Tatyana Kostromskaya
For
ages has Russia been known as a country
rich in folk art. Sergiev Posad, a center
of Russian spiritual culture, is famous
throughout the world. Numerous tourists
come to the city to feast their eyes on
the old and majestic Saint Trinity Sergiy
Lavra, the pearl of the Golden Ring of
Russia. Another thing that attracts visitors
is the variety of local folk arts works,
among which matryoshka occupies a dominating
place. Matryoshka is a small painted toy.
Sergiev Posad artists claim it to be their
invention, brought into the world in the
19th century and initially manufactured
as a toy for peasant children. Nowadays,
matryoshka is both a popular souvenir
and a work of art.
The
process of matryoshka creating is a complex
one, requiring its manufacturers to possess
excellent skills, knowledge of the process
and of the traditions, and, of course,
patience. The piece of wood, used for
the turning of the blank doll, must be
cut during wintertime, when wood has little
sap in it. The trunk of the cut tree is
kept and worked in a warm, well-ventilated
room for a period of 2 years. A good wood
turner can tell the ready raw material
by its smell… The making of the blank
matryoshka starts from the bottom. Once
the bottom is ready the piece of wood
is left for a week and only then the rest
of the doll is made. The quality of the
turning work wholly depends on the craftsmanship
of the wood turner. A good (high-quality)
blank doll has a small (permissible) clearance,
and both of the pieces it consists of
fit easily together, closing tightly.
Before
the blank doll is painted is once again
sandpapered to the ideal shape and primed
with an egg mixture or a liquid paper
glue (PVA) dilute with water. After this
an artist drawn the main part of the painting
in pencil and then starts coloring it
with paint. Four kinds of pain are normally
used: gouache, watercolor, acrylic paint
or tempera. Dolls painted in gouache or
watercolor are normally coated with 3
to 10 layers of lacquer. Wood quickly
absorbs watercolor and acrylic paint,
and works drawn in watercolor or acrylic
paint are impossible to correct if mistakes
are made in the painting itself. Hence,
highly skilled, accomplished and precise
artists are required for such work.
The
quality of the matryoshka doll is judged
by clear layers of paint and the preciseness
of the painting itself.
