Bogorodskaya toy history of creation and interesting facts. Bogorodskaya carving

30.06.2020

Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences L. REZANOV, technology teacher at Education Center No. 1828 “Saburovo” (Moscow).

From the history of the fishery

Science and life // Illustrations

Blacksmiths Mishka and Muzhik are a symbol of the Bogorodsk craft.

Toy with a balance ball.

The old building of the main educational building of the Bogorodsk vocational school. Photo from 1958.

Hereditary carver S.I. Balaev shows students of the Children's Academy of Russian Culture of the Saburovo Education Center how to make a pendulum toy.

The work of a master on a moving toy is no longer likened to the art of a sculptor, but of a designer who assembles a composition from various parts.

Pupils of the Children's Academy of Russian Culture in the home workshop of the hereditary carver V. G. Eroshkin (sitting on the right).

Handcrafting a toy takes quite a lot of time. First, the workpiece is cut out with an ax, then they begin to process it with chisels and special Bogorodsk knives.

Science and life // Illustrations

The village of Bogorodskoye is located on the high bank of the Kunya River, not far from Sergiev Posad. The toy craft originated here in the 17th century under the influence of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery - at that time one of the largest centers of artistic crafts in Moscow Rus'. Local craftsmen carved figures of people and animals from wood. Often such figures had symbolic meaning. The bear, a character in many folk tales, was a symbol of power according to pagan beliefs. The goat personified good power and patronized the harvest. The ram and cow symbolized fertility, the deer - abundance, a successful marriage.

The first figurines of people, animals and birds were single and, as usual, unpainted. The beauty was created with patterned carvings. From the second half of the 19th century, carvers began to make sculptural groups of several figures on a common basis: “Peasant Farm”, “Troika”, “Cavalry”, “Tea Party”, etc. “The Man and the Bear” in various plot settings became the symbol of the craft.

In 1911, local residents decided to organize training workshops. In 1913, the Main Directorate of Agriculture and Land Management created an Educational and Demonstration Workshop with an instructor class in carving. The methodology of the educational process was first invented and introduced into the school by master Andrei Yakovlevich Chushkin. Children were taught drawing, woodworking technology and wood carving.

At the same time, craftsmen founded an artel - a small joint production, where they jointly solved the problems of acquiring material, improving the quality of tools, marketing products, etc. The creators of the artel are considered to be A. Ya. Chushkin and F. S. Balaev. The enterprise was called: “Handicraft and Toy Artel.” It included 19 talented carvers. They worked according to the charter approved by the Vladimir Governor-General I. N. Sazonov.

In 1914, a dormitory for 10 students who were on full government boarding appeared at the Educational and Demonstration Workshop. In 1922, the workshop was renamed the Vocational School, which in 1990 became the Bogorodsk Art and Industrial School.

The artel in 1923 received the name “Bogorodsky Carver”. Since 1961, it has been the Bogorodsk factory of artistic carvings. In 1993, the name “Bogorodsky Carver” was returned to the factory.

The chronicle of the craft includes many generations of famous master carvers: the Boblovkins, Barashkovs, Bardenkovs, Eroshkins, Zinins, Puchkovs, Stulovs, Ustratovs, Chushkins, Shishkins, etc. These names are the embodiment of brilliant performance skills and creative thought.

Toy manufacturing technology

Before a toy hits the shelf, it goes through a long journey. First you need to find a linden tree with fewer knots. Knots look bad on products, so they are either bypassed or cut out. You can remove a linden tree from its roots only in winter, when all the sap has gone into the ground and there is less moisture left in the tree. Why are toys made from linden? Yes, because it is the softest for the carver, pliable, and easier to work with. After removing the bark, the linden tree is dried for two to three years in the air under a canopy. The bark is left only on the edges of the log in the form of rings so that the wood does not crack when it dries. The dried log is sawn into “churaki”, that is, short trunks. And only after this the master begins the planned work.

Bogorodsk products are made both by hand and on lathes. Manual work is much more difficult. The workpiece is first cut down with an ax, the so-called notching is performed, and cuts are made with a hacksaw. These operations give the product an overall outline. Then they begin processing with chisels. The finished unpainted toy is called “linen”.

Dynamic, expressive, funny...

Bogorodsk toys are kind, funny, instructive, “alive”. You pull the string of the smiling Teddy Bear, and he will spread his paws to the sides, greeting us. Blacksmiths Mishka and Muzhik - the main characters of the Bogorodsk craft - hit the anvil with hammers if you move the bars one by one. The toy “Soldiers on Divorce” was made using the same principle. You move the wooden slats apart and the soldiers move apart; when you move the slats, they converge into orderly ranks. The Nutcracker chews hazelnuts when he touches the lever behind his back. “Chickens on a circle” peck grains thanks to a spinning ball-balance. And there are toys that work on a spring mechanism hidden in a block-bedside table. When you press a button connected to a spring, the figures begin to move. The bear rocks the cradle, washes clothes, and can even iron them. To enliven genre scenes, carvers introduce into the composition images of trees with oscillating leaves attached to thin wire springs.

Pump and spin, pull and push, push and slide - these universal elements of moving mechanical toys serve to develop dexterity in children and develop fine motor skills of the fingers. For kids, such fun is the best.

Home workshop tour

Together with the students of the Children's Academy of Russian Culture of the Saburovo Education Center, I had the opportunity to visit Bogorodskoye more than once. Our last ethnographic expedition to these regions took place in February of this year. Moscow schoolchildren observed the work and worked themselves in the home workshops of V. G. Eroshkin and S. I. Balaev.

On the facade of the house of Sergei Ivanovich Balaev, whose grandfather stood at the origins of the creation of the artel, there are white painted carved figures of birds and animals. As you pass by, you can’t help but stare.

Sergei Ivanovich invited us to visit. Everything in his house reminds of the traditional way of life of a kind and strong peasant family. A large whitewashed stove, a red corner with icons, a high bed with numerous pillows, an old chest of drawers, black and white photographs on the walls. Of course, there is also a workbench. It is located near the window, where there is more natural light, so that the eyes are less strained. The tool is in the cells of a rag folding bag, which is easily laid out on a workbench and just as easily rolled up without taking up much space. The incisors in such a bag do not become dull and will not hurt anyone. On the front side of the workbench there is a short stop board, all pitted with cutters that jump off during work. Thanks to this board, which can be easily replaced with a new one, the workbench does not deteriorate. Above the workbench are hung the carpenter's tools and cardboard templates for various products. The template is applied to the workpiece and outlined with a pencil.

Next to the workbench there must be a stump on which the workpiece is hacked or cut out with a hacksaw. Only after this does the processing of the product begin with chisels and sharp Bogorodsk knives. The carver prepares the tool and material in advance. To prevent the wood from drying out, in winter it is stored in a plastic bag, and sometimes even wrapped in a damp cloth and placed in a bag. Dried material is more difficult to cut.

Professionals do not have large waste of linden in their work. They value every piece and use it for all sorts of little things. And only shavings and knotty trimmings go into the stove.

Sergei Ivanovich gladly showed us how he makes the pendulum toy “A Boy Holding the Firebird by the Tail” using the simplest tools - an ax, a knife, chisels and chisels.

How to become a toy maker

You can master the technique of carving and obtain the profession of an artist-master of a unique Russian folk craft at the Bogorodsk Art and Industrial School. Entrance exams for applicants in grades 9-11 are held annually in August. During the period of study (four incomplete years), students master academic drawing, sculpture, painting, and design graphics.

Teachers develop students' powers of observation and creative initiative and make a lot of effort to ensure that students can participate in various competitions and exhibitions. Every year, students’ works are exhibited at the Moscow Fair of Russian Folk Art Crafts “Ladya”, in the “City of Masters” at the All-Russian Exhibition Center, at the All-Russian Exhibition “Young Talents of Russia” and often take prizes.

Over the 95 years of its existence, the Bogorodsk Art and Industrial School has produced hundreds of carvers, many of whom have become high-class artists. The museum of samples and diploma works of school graduates complements the huge collection of exhibits from the museum of the Bogorodsky Carver factory. Both collections preserve the history and heritage of the Bogorodsk craft.

Products of Bogorodsk craftsmen are exhibited in the State Historical Museum, the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Arts, the Toy Museum and the Historical and Artistic State Museum-Reserve of Sergiev Posad and in many other cultural centers of the country. They are also known abroad. Bogorodsk toys and sculptures were widely presented this fall at an exhibition in the Stroganov Palace, one of the branches of the Russian Museum (St. Petersburg).

The article is illustrated with photographs provided by the teaching staff of the Bogorodsk Art and Industrial School.

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 tree must dry in natural conditions for at least four years. That is why, after initial processing, linden trunks are placed in huts or stacks and left for several years in special hangars.

The dried tree is sent for logging. On a lathe or by hand, with an ax, craftsmen outline the most general contours of the future toy, cutting out or sawing out the workpiece according to a 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 into the direction of folk art, acquiring 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. By this time, moving wooden toys had become a distinctive feature of the craft, 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.

Bogorodskaya toy from the manufacturer. High quality and reasonable price.

Located in the Sergiev Posad district, the production of the online store for souvenirs and gifts “Golden Grail” has united masters of various areas of folk art crafts. A carefully created and carefully preserved reputation, low prices and consistently high quality of products have made our company the undisputed leader in the production and sale of Russian souvenirs.

Sergievo Posad handmade nesting dolls, Bogorodsk toys, birch bark products, painted boxes, Gzhel and Khokhloma - this is not a complete set of souvenirs that you can buy. Our specialists are ready to answer any questions that may arise, provide guarantees of the authenticity of our products and give advice on the use and storage of souvenir products we produce.

Previously, it was in many kindergartens, and orders for production came even from above. Now it’s very difficult for the Bogorodskaya toy. The state doesn’t care about fishing. The craftsmen who work in the factory for pennies do not let her die completely. Even with private woodworking orders you can’t go far; they lift your spirits more than the job. Factory workers still remember how one day a new Russian came and asked to make a stupa for his mother-in-law as a gift. With a hint)

Today it is the Bogorodsk Toy Factory.
The toy is about 350 years old. Then, under the control of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, wood processing began to develop in the nearby village of Bogorodskoye. They carved iconostases, platbands, wooden sculptures and toys. Later, a school of master carvers and a professional artel, the current factory, appeared.

A more romantic version talks about a peasant whose children got tired of playing with a wooden doll and abandoned it. The peasant took the doll to the fair, where he was lucky - a merchant saw the toy and ordered a shipment. This is how the residents of Bogorodskoye began to engage in the “toy business.”

1. A toy is made from linden dried for 3-5 years. This soft wood is good for cutting

2. After drying, the tree is sent for cutting. The future toy is processed manually or on a lathe

3. The product blank is first cut out with an ax or sawed out using a hacksaw according to a template

4. Then they process it with tools - chisels and special very sharp Bogorodsk knives. Yes, the knives were also local. Once upon a time, while one part of the village was making toys, the second was preparing knives and chisels for their manufacture. Now craftsmen use imported tools or make them themselves, only the name remains

5. An experienced worker spends 15-20 minutes cutting one piece. However, the working day of the foreman at the factory is short - until lunch. Then many go home to private work or to fulfill factory orders. We arrived just in time for lunch, and all the craftsmen had already left. I had to show everything to the escort

6. According to the norm, 130-140 products are delivered per month. Cuts and abrasions are a common occurrence at work, but people do not lose heart

7. They work here. It smells like wood inside

9. After processing, the toy is assembled in parts

10. And these are the future Carlsons. Below will be colored

11. Although traditionally the toy was not painted, now this rule is sometimes deviated from. It turns out no worse)
They work with gouache and then cover it with a harmless oil varnish.

12. Previously, things were going well at the factory and several hundred people worked. Now there are fewer and fewer workers, some workshops are even empty. They say that in 12 years the team has shrunk by half and has aged a lot

13. However, the toy is still wonderful. Look how cool the Carlsons are

14. Kind and cheerful

15. Simply cool. The toy is held in the hands, the ball rotates - Carlson moves his hand and eats jam, a jar of which has not yet been assigned to him

16. But the spoon has already been given out

17. And he is happy)

18. There are toys with heroes of other fairy tales. Here the ball is spinning, and grandma and grandpa are baking buns

19.

There are different moving scenes - a cat catches fish, chickens peck grain. This toy develops imagination and hands.

20. An unpainted toy often depicts the life of a peasant, who is “helped” by animals. However, there are many plots, and what the heroes will do depends on the imagination of the master. There are also mobile ones, like this one - the most famous - “Blacksmiths”

21. Just toys with animals

22. Mostly with bears

23. Or a panel

24. In the museum at the factory you come across compositions on fairy-tale themes

25. Craftsmen also carve unique things, like this “Northern War” chess set. Peter and Charles XII with their queens

The factory's big problem is new personnel. After graduating from the local art school, young people either leave or take up private cutting. Otherwise, you won’t survive. So workshops are being created at home. Many workers also find it more profitable to work at home and receive a percentage of the factory’s order than to go to work for a ridiculous salary of several thousand.
The situation is also spoiled by the “masters” who sell fakes. According to the workers, there are many of them. Their quality is low, and the client can be easily deceived.
The Zagorskaya PSPP, located in Bogorodskoe, also helps the factory. The museum and some of its premises have been renovated, craft festivals are held, and traditions are not allowed to be completely forgotten.

In addition to toys, the factory’s craftsmen make custom-made carved furniture and wooden wall panels with three-dimensional images of people and animals. There are no problems with raw materials. In the village, traders sell linden from their cars. The prices are affordable - one cubic meter costs several thousand, and it will last for a year of work.

Some people say that the creation of a single factory ruined the fishery. Making a toy is a creative endeavor, and putting a craftsman in an office for a working day and demanding a monthly quota from him is a mockery. In such conditions, no one will remember about inspiration; you will have to work for the plan, and not for the soul. There is something truthful in this.

I also remembered Masha recently walking around the Internet. It’s a pity, such producers are now better off than good industry

Photo from the Internet

The Bogorodsk toy was not included in the symbols of the Olympics in Sochi, it was not called beautiful at the top, but in fact an empty set of television words like “the pride of the region, with the help of which Russia continues to revive.” It is not given to foreigners at receptions. Today, the times of higher and mass orders are gone. But the toy is alive. The remaining masters, mostly women, are fans of their craft.

There is a store at the factory. Prices start from several hundred rubles, there is a choice. It will probably be more expensive in Moscow stores. And in general, is it possible to buy this toy in Moscow?

20.10.2010

Capital of Bogorodskaya Toy

The “Bogorodskaya toy” owes its birth to the village of Bogorodskoye, now located in the Sergiev Posad district of the Moscow region. In the 15th century, the village was owned by the famous Moscow boyar M.B. Pleshcheev, after whose death, the village along with the peasants was inherited by his eldest son Andrei, and then by his grandson Fedor.

Since 1595, the village of Bogorodskoye became the property of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and the peasants became monastery serfs. It was the peasants who laid the foundations of wood carving in the 16th-17th centuries, which glorified Bogorodskoye, the current “capital of the toy kingdom,” throughout the world.

Legends of the village of Bogorodskoye

Residents of the village of Bogorodskoye no longer remember which of the peasants carved the first wooden toy, which marked the beginning of folk art, but for more than 300 years two interesting legends have been passed down from mouth to mouth about this event.

The first legend says: “A peasant family lived in the village of Bogorodskoye. So the mother decided to amuse the children - she cut out a funny figure from a block of wood and called it “auka”. The kids played with the “auka” and threw it behind the stove. So the peasant woman’s husband went to the market, and took the “auka” with him to show the traders. “Auka” was immediately bought and more toys were ordered. They say that from then on the carving of wooden toys began and they began to be called “Borogodsky”.

The second legend tells how a resident of Sergiev Posad once carved a nine-inch doll from a linden block. He went to the Lavra, where the merchant Erofeev was trading, and sold it to him. The merchant decided to put a funny toy in the shop as a decoration. Before I had time to deliver it, the toy was immediately bought, and at a great profit for the merchant. The merchant found the peasant and ordered him a whole batch of the same toys. Since then, the Bogorodsk toy has become famous.

History of the development of folk art

According to historians, in the 17th century, peasants in many villages were engaged in wood carving, including in Sergiev Posad and Bogorodskoye. So both of the above legends are true.

At first, the carvers of the village of Bogorodskoye were dependent on the buyers of Sergiev Posad, fulfilling their orders. The Sergiev craft was based on the purchase from peasants of the so-called “gray goods”, which were then processed, dyed and sold. Around the middle of the 19th century, the center of folk crafts moved from Sergiev Posad to the village of Bogorodskoye, which by this time was “the personification of local woodcarving traditions.” According to researchers, the end of the 19th century saw the heyday of the Bogorodsk carving craft. Much credit for the formation of the “Bogorodsk style” of toys belongs to such oldest masters as A.N. Zinin. However, the close cooperation of Sergiev Posad and Bogorodsk carvers also had a great influence on the formation of a unified system of images and plots of toys.

In 1913, on the initiative of the oldest carvers F.S. Balaev and A.Ya. Chushkin, an artel was organized in the village of Bogorodskoye, which gave the Bogorodsk craftsmen complete economic independence from the Sergiev Posad buyers. In 1923, due to the addition of new craftsmen to the staff, the previously created artel was transformed into the “Bogorodsky Carver” artel, under which a school began to operate, teaching children, starting from the age of 7, the art of wood cutting. In 1960, the Bogorodsky Carver artel received the status of an artistic carving factory. This event was timed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the birth of folk art in Bogorodskoye.

How is the Bogorodskaya toy made?

Bogorodsk toys are traditionally made from soft wood - linden, aspen, alder, since soft wood is easier to work with. Harvested linden logs are dried using a special technology for at least 4 years, so harvesting linden is a continuous process. Dried logs are sawed and sent for logging. The master marks the resulting blanks according to the pattern and then cuts out the toy with a special Bogorodsk knife. A chisel is also used in the work of a carver. The finished toy parts are sent to the assembly shop, and at the final stage they are painted. Toys that cannot be painted are coated with colorless varnish.

Features of the “Bogorodsky style” toy

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

When the first toy was carved from linden in the village of Bogorodskoye, no one knows for sure, 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 has become 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.

Boy skiing with a dog. 1950-60 Guide to Russian Crafts, CC BY-SA 4.0

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

Activities

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

, CC BY-SA 4.0

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

Fame

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

, CC BY-SA 4.0

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 Hen” is located in the Historical Museum of Moscow; the Russian Museum of St. Petersburg has a permanent exhibition where the famous compositions “How the Mice Buried the Cat”, “Miracle Yudo the Fish-Whale” and many other works are exhibited.

Bogorodskaya factory - review