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Russian Traditional Toys

Dymkovskaya Toys

The toy-making trade was in a deep crisis in the first years after the establishment of the Soviet regime in Russia. The demand for toys sharply dropped during the years of revolutionary upheavals and the civil war. At the same time, the toys handmade by craftsmen were intensely pushed out from the market by the factory-made dolls and the mass-produced metal toys.

Luka Kotikov, the renowned toy craftsmen from the village of Fedoseevo (Nizhegorodskaya oblast), made a defiant demonstration of his unhappiness with the state of the toy trade by staging a comical "funeral" of himself. He declared that he had "nothing to live for if toys are no longer needed". After a symbolically staged funeral of himself at a cemetery that was almost across the road from his house he erected on his "grave" a monument with the inscription that L.V. Kotikov was buried there. The monument was a toy wind rural regions. In the Soviet period that started in 1917 and ended in the late eighties the handmade toy trade prospered largely at the centers of folk arts and crafts. The privately owned toy workshops and independent craftsmen manufacturing traditional toys were obliged to join folk arts and crafts cooperatives or state-owned enterprises under the Soviet regime.

The village of Bogorodskoe in the Moscow region became a major center of manufacturing of the carved wooden toys. The "Bogorodskoe Wood Carver" cooperative was set up in the village in 1923 and the school of wood carving art was established there where the students were trained by the best craftsmen in whose families the skills were passed on from one generation to another. The Bogorodskoe wood carving traditions, style, and motifs were preserved in their totality as an art. The Soviet government allowed the trade to live and develop for several decades because the folk art was rooted in the peasant environment. The Bogorodskoe toys depicting wild animals, cattle, and scenes of rural life presented no ideological threat to the regime. Such toys as "Blacksmiths", "Tea drinkers", "Cattle herd", "Three horses",mill with images of the characters from children's fairy tales on its vanes.

With time there was a gradual renewal of the interest in the toys, in particular, toys from the "Firewood sawing", etc. are still manufactured by the Bogorodskoe craftsmen.

In the Soviet period the most popular Bogorodskoe toys were the so-called "motion" toys (operated by balances and counterbalances, springs, strings, etc.) and decorative figurines. New toy motifs and images taken from classical Russian lit piano, cello, or a balalaika. The contemporary Bogorodskaya toy makers M.I. Smirnov, M.Ya. Dvor-nikov, M.N. Orlov, and S.A. Pautov are still employing the traditional wood carving style and use the old motion mechanisms.

The most important center of wooden toy manufacturing in the 19th century was Sergiev Posad, a typical ancient Russian town near Moscow. The only reminders of the past glory of the Sergiev toy-making art are the exquisite figurines of noble ladies, hussars, monks, nuns, and nursemaids, and many other fine toys of carved and painted wood exhibited in various museums where experts often compare them to the Tanagra terra-cotta figurines. The primary reason for the decline of the toy trade in Sergiev Posad was that the Soviet government was intent on obstructing production of religious articles by the toy workshops in town which were associated with the Troitse-Sergiev Monastery. Some of the toys also had religious associations or were related to the "undesirable" aspects of the pre-Communist urban life. The important center of wooden toy production was gradually losing its central position. Some attempts had been made, though, to revive the tradition of manufacturing splendidly colorful toys. For instance, the craftsman I. Berkutov designed a toy "merry-go-round" carrying numerous painted figurines. The handle in the base of the toy was turned to rotate the entire toy. The innovative toys designed by I. Berkutov initially had aroused heated debates among toy experts and toy makers but owing to their novelty and highly decorative appearance they earned recognition in Russia and were even acquired by many foreign collectors.

Another innovation in toy making made by S. Ulasevich was to start shaping a wooden figurine by turning and to finish it with subsequent hand carving. In this approach many of the forgotten skills of the Sergiev craftsmen were revived. Initially the Bogorodskaya toy makers intensely deplored the innovating techniques introduced by Berkutov and Ulasevich to painting of wooden toys. The toys designed by the contemporary toy craftsmen, such as the "Toy-maker" figurine madeerature, fairly tales and everyday life were added to the traditional ones. Starting from 1960s the majority of toys involved an image of the bear who is the principal character in many Russian legends, fairy tales, and folk songs. In ancient Russian mythology bear was regarded as a special beast which was the closest in character to humans. It was not accidental that the most popular Bogorodskaya toy known as the "blacksmiths" features the counterbalanced figures of a bear and a man striking alternately an anvil with a hammer. The modern Bogorodskaya toys often feature the bear in "human" situations. After the Russian cosmonaut became the first man to make a space flight in 1961 the Bogorodskaya craftsmen made a toy presenting a bear navigating a spaceship. In more recent Bogorodskaya toys bears are featured sawing firewood, operating a computer, playing chess, piano, cello, or a balalaika. The contemporary Bogorodskaya toy makers M.I. Smirnov, M.Ya. Dvornikov, M.N. Orlov, and S.A. Pautov are still employing the traditional wood carving style and use the old motion mechanisms.

The most important center of wooden toy manufacturing in the 19th century was Sergiev Posad, a typical ancient Russian town near Moscow. The only reminders of the past glory of the Sergiev toy-making art are the exquisite figurines of noble ladies, hussars, monks, nuns, and nursemaids, and many other fine toys of carved and painted wood exhibited in various museums where experts often compare them to the Tanagra terra-cotta figurines. The primary reason for the decline of the toy trade in Sergiev Posad was that the Soviet government was intent on obstructing production of religious articles by the toy workshops in town which were associated with the Troitse-Sergiev Monastery. Some of the toys also had religious associations or were related to the "undesirable" aspects of the pre-Communist urban life. The important center of wooden toy production was gradually losing its central position. Some attempts had been made, though, to revive the tradition of manufacturing splendidly colorful toys. For instance, the craftsman I. Berkutov designed a toy "merry-go-round" carrying numerous painted figurines. The handle in the base of the toy was turned to rotate the entire toy. The innovative toys designed by I. Berkutov initially had aroused heated debates among toy experts and toy makers but owing to their novelty and highly decorative appearance they earned recognition in Russia and were even acquired by many foreign collectors.

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