The history of wood carving in Russia briefly. Presentation on the topic: "The history of wood carving in Russia. Wood carving is one of the oldest forms of art. Wood carving has existed since ancient times.

History of woodcarving is many thousands of years old. Since the appearance of wooden architecture, which is one of the oldest methods of housing construction, it has been counting and history of carving on wood. The eternal human desire for beauty and decoration of their homes and household items has resulted in an amazing ability to make any piece of wood a unique work of art. Wood carvings were used to decorate door and window architraves, wooden spoons and other utensils, musical instruments and many more items. Using the wood carving method, craftsmen could make a fairly reliable and very ingenious wooden lock. Some of these crafts have survived to this day, they can be seen in local history and historical museums.

The history of the development of woodcarving is inextricably linked with the history of the development of culture and the worldview of society, which is why in each country woodcarving is completely different, there are different techniques and styles. The most ancient type of carving - geometric carving - has been used since time immemorial not only to decorate household utensils, but also to compose magical amulets and protective spells, since each element of the carving symbolized phenomena, objects or elements that a person wanted to protect himself from or to which, on the contrary , ran for help. Amulets were carved from wood - protective symbols that were supposed to bring good luck and protect from troubles. Such amulets were covered with special carvings and for many years became the guardians of the house.

In a later period, the decoration of the house and household items with wood carvings lost its mystical meaning and became purely decorative. In the 16th-18th centuries, woodcarving became a nationwide industry, large carving workshops and artels were created, many woodcarving masters adorned the palace ensembles of St. Petersburg and Moscow with their art. However, already in the 19th century, carving craftsmanship was thoroughly forgotten, since the development of carving craft was no longer supported by the state.

But the history of woodcarving did not end there - in our time, ancient craftsmanship is being revived, whole schools and groups of arts and crafts appear. Wood carving is becoming a popular form of folk art and gaining an increasing number of admirers.

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"The Slavs were wild, they didn't know how to do anything..."

Woodcarving in Ancient Russia

The craft of woodcarving has been used in Russia since ancient times. True, only a few samples have survived to our time. This was due to their low cost and the fragility of the very material from which they are composed. From wood, craftsmen and ordinary people made figures of animals, birds, various amulets, which were passed down from generation to generation. The inhabitants of that time believed that the tree was the link between the sun and the common man.

But very often, wood products were of a purely practical nature or were cult items that were used by almost the entire family.

According to some written sources that have survived to this day, we can judge the culture of the time when they were made. After all, the ancient Slavs, who inhabited the territory of the modern European part of Russia, were engaged in the manufacture of these products. Since the craftsmen were mainly engaged in the manufacture of such items, the tree acquired, as it were, a second life.

Furniture, dishes, toys and other items were decorated with wooden carvings. Indeed, at that time the tree was a very popular material. Wood carving was widely used in the wooden architecture of that time, giving us many monuments of architectural art. Wood craftsmen in Ancient Russia had great knowledge in this area of art, an excellent sense of beauty, a rich imagination and a sense of beauty. All this allowed them to create real works of art among wooden toys and architectural structures.

Artifacts found in Novgorod during archaeological excavations were weighty evidence. Of particular interest is a fragment of a wooden column, which belongs to the 11th century AD by modern scientists. It is decorated along its entire length with a pattern that does not repeat along its entire length.

By the way, such patterns prove the fact that the development of creativity was even earlier than this period at a fairly high level among the inhabitants of that era. Already by those items that were found much later than their use, modern scientists can judge the development of the culture of that time. It was they who contributed the missing part, which helped modern historians to recreate the general picture of the life of that era.

Wooden decoration can also be judged by the way wooden buildings were decorated four hundred years ago. This is reflected in numerous annals of those years. They vividly and vividly tell about the life of the people who lived at that time, their way of life, both cultural and religious. These architectural monuments of that time and household items contributed a lot of information to the history of our country.

wood carving

modern carving

It does not have a strict classification, since different types of thread can be combined in the same product.

It is conditionally possible to distinguish the types of thread:

through thread (this includes saw and slotted thread)
blind thread (all subspecies of embossed and flat notched thread)
sculptural carving
house carving (it is a separate direction, since it can combine all three of the above types).
Chainsaw carving (Performing mostly sculptural carving with only a chainsaw.)

The conditional classification of thread types is as follows:

through thread

Walnut

through thread is divided into proper end-to-end And consignment note, has two subspecies:

slotted carving - (through sections are cut with chisels and chisels)
Propilnaya carving (actually the same, but such sections are cut with a saw or jigsaw).

A slotted or sawn thread with a relief ornament is called openwork.

Flat serrated thread

Flat carving is characterized by the fact that its basis is a flat background, and the elements of the thread go deep into it, that is, the lower level of the carved elements lies below the background level. There are several subspecies of such a thread:

contour thread- the simplest, its only element is a groove. Such grooves-grooves create a pattern on a flat background. Depending on the chosen chisel, the groove can be semicircular or triangular. The semicircular one is cut with a semicircular chisel, and the triangular one is cut with a corner cutter, an angular chisel or an ordinary knife in two steps.
bracketed (nail-like) carving- the main element is a bracket (outwardly it looks like a trace left by a fingernail when pressed on any soft material, hence the name nail-like) - a semicircular notch on a flat background. Such a notch is made with a semicircular chisel in two steps: first, the chisel is deepened into the tree perpendicular to the surface, and then at an angle at some distance from the first notch. The result is the so-called bracket. A set of such brackets of different sizes and directions creates a picture or its individual elements.
geometric (trihedral, trihedral) carving- has two main elements: a peg and a pyramid (a three-sided pyramid buried inside). Carving is carried out in two stages: tattooing and trimming. First, they prick (mark) the sectors that need to be cut with a cutter, and then cut them. Perform all the elements with a knife-jamb. Repeated use of pyramids and a peg at different distances and at different angles gives a great variety of geometric shapes, among which there are: rhombuses, viteiki, honeycombs, chains, lights, etc.
black-gloss carving- the background is a flat surface covered with black varnish or paint. How grooves are cut in the contour carving on the background, from which the drawing is built. different depths of the grooves and their different profiles give an interesting play of chiaroscuro and contrast between the black background and light cut grooves.

relief carving

Relief carving is characterized by the fact that the carving elements are above the background or on the same level with it. As a rule, all carved panels are made in this technique. There are several subspecies of such a thread:

relief carving with a pillow background - can be compared with contour carving, but all the edges of the grooves oval, and sometimes with varying degrees of steepness (more sharply from the side of the picture, gradually, gently sloping from the side of the background). Due to such oval contours, the background seems to be made of pillows, hence the name. The background is on the same level as the drawing.
relief carving with a selected background - the same carving, but only the background is selected with chisels one level lower. The contours of the picture are also oval.
Abramtsevo-Kudrinskaya carving (Kudrinskaya)- originated in the Abramtsevo estate near Moscow, in the village of Kudrino. Vasily Vornoskov is considered the author. The carving is distinguished by a characteristic "curly" ornament - curly garlands of petals and flowers. The same characteristic images of birds and animals are often used. As well as flat-relief, it happens with a pillow and a selected background.
carving "Tatyanka"- this type of carving appeared in the 90s of the XX century. The author (Shamil Sasykov) named this emerging style after his wife and patented it. As a rule, such a carving contains a floral ornament. A characteristic feature is the absence of a background as such - one carved element gradually passes into another or is superimposed on it, thus filling the entire space.

sculptural carving

Below are sections of artistic woodcarving of the Guide to Russian Crafts.

Wood

Wood is one of the materials that have received the greatest use for the manufacture of many items that are necessary for a person in his daily life.

Possessing universal qualities, this material allows you to make large-sized structures, such as a peasant house or a multi-domed temple in Kizhi, use its smallest pieces, roots and birch bark to create various household utensils, dishes, toys.

Carving as an early form of woodworking

As an earlier type of wood processing, carving was received, because it is closely connected with the process of forming the structure of any thing, whether it be a chest, a bench, a cradle for a child or a box.

Such and similar objects are not always decorated with carved ornaments, but in the very form of the product, its proportions, silhouette, the aesthetic properties of the thing appeared. for example, a dugout bowl or a ladle carved from a monolithic piece of wood in soybean plastic has already been an example of a sculptural solution made by means of carving. However, in most cases, an artistic object made of wood is decorated with carvings. Its types and techniques provide the master with a wide choice of means for decorating a utilitarian object.

Thread types

It does not have a strict classification, since different types of thread can be combined in the same product.

It is conditionally possible to distinguish the types of thread:

through thread(this includes sawn and slotted threads)
blind thread(all subspecies of embossed and flat notched threads)
sculptural carving
house carving(it is a separate direction, since it can combine all three of the above types)
chainsaw carving(performing mainly sculptural carving using only a chainsaw)

The conditional classification of thread types is as follows:

through thread

through thread is subdivided into proper through and consignment note, has two subspecies:

slotted thread- (through sections are cut with chisels and chisels)
Saw thread(actually the same, but such sections are cut with a saw or a jigsaw).

A slotted or sawn thread with a relief ornament is called openwork.

Flat serrated thread

contour thread- the simplest, its only element is a groove. Such grooves-grooves create a pattern on a flat background. Depending on the chosen chisel, the groove can be semicircular or triangular. The semicircular one is cut with a semicircular chisel, and the triangular one is cut with a corner cutter, an angular chisel or a knife in two steps.
bracketed (nail-like) carving- the main element is a bracket (outwardly it looks like a trace left by a fingernail when pressed on any soft material, hence the name nail-like) - a semicircular notch on a flat background. Such a notch is made with a semicircular chisel in two steps: first, the chisel is deepened into the tree perpendicular to the surface, and then at an angle at some distance from the first notch. The result is the so-called bracket. A set of such brackets of different sizes and directions creates a picture or its individual elements.
geometric carving:
- trihedral thread
- two-sidedwashing thread
- four-sided washout thread
black-gloss carving- the background is a flat surface covered with black varnish or paint. As in contour carving, grooves are cut in the background, from which the pattern is built. The different depths of the grooves and their different profiles give an interesting play of chiaroscuro and contrast between the black background and light cut grooves.

relief carving

relief carving characterized by the fact that the elements of the thread are above the background or on the same level with it. As a rule, all carved panels are made in this technique. There are several subspecies of such a thread:

relief carving with a pillow background - can be compared with contour carving, but all the edges of the grooves oval, and sometimes with varying degrees of steepness (more sharply from the side of the picture, gradually, gently sloping from the side of the background). Due to such littered contours, the background seems to be made of pillows, hence the name. The background is on the same level as the drawing. Relief carving with selected background - the same carving, but only the background is selected with chisels one level lower. The contours of the picture are also oval.
Abramtsevo-Kudrinskaya carving (Kudrinskaya)- originated in the Abramtsevo estate near Moscow, in the village of Kudrino. Vasily Vornoskov is considered the author. The carving is distinguished by a characteristic "curly" ornament - curly garlands of petals and flowers. The same characteristic images of birds and animals are often used. As well as flat-relief, it happens with a pillow and a selected background.

sculptural carving

A distinctive feature is the presence of sculpture - images of individual figures (or groups of figures) of people, animals, birds or other objects. In fact, it is the most difficult type of carving, since it requires the carver to have a three-dimensional vision of the figure, a sense of perspective, and maintain proportions. It is considered a separate subspecies. Bogorodsk carving.

Chainsaw carving

Also, a kind of sculptural carving can be considered the art of carving with a chainsaw, which is becoming increasingly popular among both carvers and connoisseurs of beauty. The popularity is easy to explain.

Carving with a chainsaw is, first of all, an action, a performance, a show. Increasingly, festivals, competitions, demonstration performances by chainsaw carving masters at public events, presentations, and exhibitions began to be held. Unlike other genres of wood carving, the viewer not only sees the end result of the master's painstaking and long work, but also visually participates in the process of creating a sculpture.

Milling machines

Recently, the creation of sculptures on various copy-milling machines has also become increasingly popular, the most affordable of which is the Duplicarver.

Means range

Thus, the master has a wide range of means at his disposal: from the simplest lines and forms of geometric ornamentation to complex, subtle miniatures depicting human figures, architecture and landscape elements.

Certain carving techniques and motifs of images, the type and nature of the ornament over time became a hallmark of the art of individual centers and even entire regions. For example, in the Russian villages of the European North, it was typical to finish the roof of the house with a shard - an image of a horse's head, carved with an ax. In the rural dwellings of the peoples of the Caucasus, the top of the pillar-column holding the ceiling was decorated with thin flat-relief carvings.

The windows of rural and urban houses in many regions of Russia are still decorated with patterned architraves with sawn, laid on, volumetric threads. The unique architectural monuments of antiquity preserve amazing carvings of iconostasis, palace furniture, ritual and secular sculpture.

Considering that all these works were and are being carried out now with a simple tool (axe, saw, chisels and knives of various types), it becomes clear that the craft here manifests itself at the level of truly artistic creativity.

History of carving in Russia

Name

In Russia, woodcarving was called carving. The drawing is a sign, the words were also used: vyzorochye, patterned.

early carving

Carving on a flat surface in the form of braids and straight lines, cloves, gorodets and Kyoto residents, grooves, stars, poppy seeds, fungi, bugs, etc. An example of this ancient carving is the royal place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

At the end of the XV century. A monk of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra Ambrose combined eastern, western and traditional Russian ornaments in his works and had a great influence on the development of carving in the 15th-16th centuries.

Byzantine style

Ancient images of grass patterns - in the Byzantine style. Not earlier than the 16th century. fryashchina (fryazhsky herbs) appears - herbal decorations borrowed in Italy.

German carving

In the second half of the XVII century. in Russia, German carving appeared, curly, with Gothic motifs. In 1660, the royal dining room, designed by the German architect Dekenpin, was decorated with this carving.

New tools and German names and terms appeared: gzymzumb, sherhebel, sharheben, foundichtebl, etc. Cornices, gzymzy, splengers, krakshtyns (brackets), transoms, captels, tsyrotnye herbs, fruits, etc. appeared in carvings and furniture.

Craftsmen began to make carvings according to German master's face books - that is, according to samples and drawings.

Resi were painted with bright colors, sometimes covered with gold leaf.