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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