Traditional ornamental techniques in the products of the Fedoskin lacquer miniature of the Soviet period

Lavrov Dmitrii Evgen'evich ORCID: 0000-0002-2607-7220 PhD in Art History Senior Educator, the department of Museology, Saint Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, g. Saint Petersburg, nab. Universitetskaya, 7-9, aud. 91 agitlak@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The Lukutinskaya factory, which worked in the XIX century in the village of Danilkovo near Moscow (now the village of Fedoskino in the Mytishchi urban district of the Moscow region), is the most famous Russian lacquer production of the pre–revolutionary period. In the 1830s and 1840s, ornamental and pictorial techniques that glorified this craft appeared in Lukutin products ^{[17, p. 118]}. So, during this period, at the factory, led by Pyotr Vasilyevich Lukutin, the lining of mother-of-pearl plates, the painting of the surface "under the turtle", "tartan" begins to be used; "through-through writing" appears ^{[6, p. 25]} (a method of applying transparent coating paints to the base), as well as "scan" (the original Fedoskin technique of inlaying the surface with metal plates) ^{[23, pp. 13-14]}. Later, in the 1840s, the painting of lacquer products with iridescent tones, supplemented with miniature inserts, began to be used ^{[18, p. 19, 21]}. The ornament on the Lukutin products was applied by a special group of craftsmen – "sweepers" who created commercial (i.e. mass) products, along with landscape painters, portraitists and "triples" (i.e. those who specialized in writing horse triples). Thus, in the Fedoskinsky craft of the XIX century, rich traditions of ornamental design of products were accumulated, gradually, however, lost due to the extinction of the craft (for example, after 1898, the admission of students to the factory was discontinued ^{[5, p. 51]}) and the closure of production in 1904 ^{[23, p. 29]} Despite the that in 1910 some former masters of the Lukutinsky factory (S. N. Kuznetsov, I. P. Lavrov, A. A. Kruglikov and others) were able to organize a new business by creating the Fedoskinsky Labor artel ^{[7, p. 239]}, these ornamental techniques were practically not used in its products; numerous shocks of the First World and Civil Wars also they could not contribute to the restoration of lost traditions and technologies of fishing.  

At the end of the 1920s, ignoring their own original artistic and ornamental techniques of the past (the use of mother-of-pearl, through-writing, painting "under a turtle", "tartan" and others) was already one of the most acute problems of the Fedoskino labor artel ^{[23, p. 51]}. An important reason for this state of affairs was the fact that most of the miniaturists of the artel were middle-aged or elderly (which created certain difficulties in changing their worldview: the masters were already accustomed to copying easel paintings and ordinary Lukutin plots: threes, tea parties and others), as well as the lack of great artistic training among the masters ^{[21, p. 68]}. The latter circumstance was even strengthened in 1928, when the Fedoskinsky labor artel (in order to expand production) accepted into its ranks the artists of the former varnishing workshop O. F. Vishnyakov (Z. T. Burbyshev, V. M. Bolshakov, N. P. Tsybin, F. S. Platonov – more than 10 people in total) ^{[13, p. 47]}, in pre-revolutionary times, it was known for the lower artistic quality of its products (for example, the craft artist M. S. Chizhov writes in his memoirs that the Fedoskin masters themselves did not want to accept "Vishnyakovites" into their artel for a long time precisely because of their weak artistic training ^{[21, p. 69]}).

Another, even more serious reason for inattention at the turn of the 1920s - 1930s to the original techniques of the past were the financial difficulties of the artel and the higher organizations engaged in the sale of its products – the handicraft and art export department of the Moscow City Trade, as well as the export-import department of the All–Russian Union of Industrial Cooperation (Vsekopromsoyuz). The lack of necessary resources for the Fedoskino labor artel is eloquently evidenced by official documents of those years. During this period, Mosgortorg and Vsekopromsoyuz repeatedly send documents to various organizations (the All-Union Western Chamber of Commerce, Kustexport, the Central Scientific Experimental and Demonstration Station at the Supreme Council of the National Economy), the essence of which is reduced to attempts to minimize prices for products of the Fedoskino Artel due to difficulties in its implementation. Such, for example, is the attitude of the All-Union Union to the All-Union Western Chamber of Commerce (dated June 25, 1928), in which the All-Union Union indicated to set maximum discounts on goods sold, and the discount on the products of the Fedoskinsky Artel was as much as 40% (for comparison: a similar discount on products of the Palekh craft was only 25%) ^{[11, p. 112]}. The difficulties of sales explain the fact that at the turn of the 1920s - 1930s there were no students in the Fedoskino artel, the daily earnings of a member of the artel was only 1.5–2.0 rubles a day, and the artel itself experienced great difficulties with the supply of absolutely necessary materials, such as paints, cardboard, varnish and even sponges for polishing ^{[2, p. 12]}. It is obvious that in such conditions it would be difficult to talk about the purchase of a trial batch of mother-of-pearl plates or about the release of money for experimental work on the introduction of old artistic techniques into handicrafts.

Meanwhile, during the same period, it was repeatedly said about the need to revive the traditions of decorative decoration of Fedoskinsky products. Thus, at the meeting of the Art Council of the export-import Department of the Supreme Council of the National Economy held on April 8, 1930 (convened on the occasion of the report of the All-Industrial Union on the state of affairs of artistic crafts), a strong decline in the artistic quality of all handicrafts, including the Fedoskinsky lacquer miniature, was noted with alarm, in respect of which, as a measure of assistance, it was proposed to return It is to the decorative techniques of the XIX century: "It is necessary to introduce a richer and more diverse, but now forgotten technique of inlay with mother of pearl, metal (meaning the technique of "scan" – D. L.), a technique already successfully tested by Lukutin" ^{[11, p. 157]}. The same recommendations to the craft were given in specialized periodical literature: such, for example, is the article by V. T. Vasilenko in the newsletter of the centers of the USSR's industrial cooperation "Export of handicraft and artistic products and carpets" for February 1932, in which the author, in particular, advises Fedoskin masters to revive the painting "under the turtle", considering that this technique is suitable for boxes with an oval image on the lid ^{[3, p. 10]}.

The result of such a turn in the management of the craft was the gradual transfer of creative initiative to the Fedoskin artist ^{[8, p. 43]} (although it was fully implemented already in the post-war period). So, already at the aforementioned meeting on April 8, 1930, in the Supreme Council of the National Economy, it was decided "in order to stimulate creative work" to establish bonuses for individual employees of the Fedoskino artel for "rationalization of production" and for "the best samples of export novelties" ^{[11, p. 158]} (with the results twice a year). Another positive change in the life of the artel can be considered the internal demand that appeared for Fedoskinsky products in the 1930s, which became another reason for the financial strengthening of the fishery ^{[23, p. 49]}. Finally, the Fedoskinsky artel also receives direct monetary subsidies for development in honor of its anniversaries: its 25th anniversary (in 1935) - from the All–Industrial Council ^{[23, p. 52]} and its 35th anniversary (in 1945) - from the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR ^{[16, p. 51]}.

As a consequence, in the Fedoskinsky products of the pre-war period, the "tartan" is already beginning to be used, sometimes the boxes could be painted in bright monochrome colors: yellow, red and blue ^{[1, p. 28]} (a similar technique was found in Lukutinsky products of the late XIX century ^{[19, p. 92]}). After the end of the Great Patriotic War, these searches were continued within the framework of a special experimental workshop at the Fedoskino Artel, established in 1945 by the Art Industry Research Institute. One of the most important tasks of this experimental workshop, whose head since 1947 was the famous Fedoskinsky artist Mikhail Stepanovich Chizhov, was the search and restoration of the lost decorative techniques of the Lukutinsky craft, as well as their creative processing in new products. In addition to M. S. Chizhov, the workshop included both masters of the older generation (I. S. Semenov, V. I. Ivanov (Lavrov), M. K. Popenov) and young miniature painters: S. N. Tardasov, V. V. Korsakov and Z. L. Tsar (Pashinina) ^{[23, p. 68]}, and gradually, all the artists of the Fedoskino labor artel who were engaged in creative (i.e. not copy) work began to engage in such experimental activities.

It was the activity of this experimental workshop (which became a laboratory in 1947 and received the status of a permanent branch of the artel) that eventually allowed the restoration of the lost decorative techniques of the Fedoskinsky craft. Of course, this work was often carried out by trial and error, which is inevitable in such cases. Thus, the technology of "multi-work" (i.e. with stripes of different widths and colors) tartan of the XIX century. without the use of a reisfeder in the 1940s, the hereditary Fedoskinsky miniaturist Vasily Ivanovich Ivanov (Lavrov) tried to revive ^{[21, p. 147]}. He, along with another old master Alexey Alekseevich Kruglikov, recalled that in the XIX century the ornament in the form of a tartan was created using a certain mechanism "with hooks". In the late 1940s, V. I. Ivanov tried to restore this instrument from memory, but the latter, in comparison with the reysfeder, still did not give impeccable cleanliness and speed of execution, so these experiments eventually had to be abandoned ^{[22, p. 238]}.

Another example of an attempt to restore the lost Lukutin technologies was the actions to recreate the forgotten manufacturing technology of the "scan". In the late 1940s, the leadership of the Fedoskinsky artel invited the engraver V. V. Malyutin to the craft for this purpose, who taught the technique of "scanning" miniaturists M. S. Chizhov and S. P. Rogatov, who later created products with a scanned ornament (with the advice of the Art Council of the artel). However, initially the elements of such a scan were made of nickel silver (an alloy of silver, red copper and nickel), so the manufactured products had a rustic appearance (in the XIX century. the scanned ornament in Fedoskinsky products was made of a more expensive metal – silver ^{[15, p. 51]}). Meanwhile, it is obvious that, despite some miscalculations and obviously inevitable mistakes at first, it was such practical steps that allowed us to gradually come to a true understanding of the forgotten technologies of Fedoskin of the XIX century.   

As a result, thanks to the skillfully provided funding from the state, as well as the enthusiasm and selfless work of the Fedoskinsky artists themselves, at the turn of the 1940s - 1950s, the real flowering of ornamental motifs begins in the products of the artel (for the first time since the existence of the Fedoskinsky craft in Soviet times). It was during this period that the forgotten artistic techniques of decorative decoration of Fedoskinsky products were experimentally revived: "turtle", "tartan", "scan" ^{[10, p. 38]}, the filigree technique was also introduced (the latter was used to design the frames of Fedoskinsky products). The practice of simultaneous development of the design of the object and its ornamental design is introduced, in which the object is created in the creative community of the artist-miniaturist and the master of the semi-finished product: S. N. Tardasov's toilet device "Bolshoi Theater" 1951 from the collection of the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art (hereinafter – VMDPiNI), Moscow ^{[20, p. 148]}; a casket for an album (with an ornament on the sides) by V. D. Lipitsky "Scarlet Flower" in 1953 from the collection of VMDPiNI ^{[21, p. 187]}; a casket (with a painting on mother-of-pearl) by M. G. Pashinin "Snow Maiden" in 1954 from the collection of VMDPiNI ^{[14, p. 233]}.

One of the most prominent adherents of ornamental techniques in the post-war period in Fedoskin was Sergey Nikiforovich Tardasov (1921-1966) ^{[23, p. 87]}; in the 1960s, researchers even called him "the leading ornamentalist of the craft" ^{[22, p. 237]}. S. N. Tardasov, working as part of an experimental laboratory, developed the technique of working with aluminum and bronze powders, and also introduced silhouette compositions into production: such is, for example, the box "Queen of Spades" of the 1950s (VMDPiNI), made together with V. V. Korsakov (S. N. Tardasov made a silhouette composition, V. V. Korsakov - an ornament – "tartan") ^{[14, p. 268]}. At the turn of the 1940s - 1950s, all the unique works of the Fedoskinsky artel were made with the ornamental design of S. N. Tardasov (the "Jubilee" casket of 1950 from VMDPiNI ^{[12, p. 161]}; the casket "30 years of Soviet power" of 1947 from VMDPiNI ^{[20, p. 147]}). Another master of ornament in the Fedoskin craft was Vasily Vasilyevich Korsakov (1917-1983); it was he who was able to develop the "tartan" motif and introduce it into mass production ^{[22, p. 239]}, as well as – for the first time in the history of the Soviet Fedoskin – to restore (in 1947) the lost technique of painting with transparent paints of mother-of-pearl plates ^{[23, p. 149]} (box for the order "V. I. Lenin on the podium" 1950 from the collection of the VMDPiNI) ^{[23, p. 49]}. Finally, it was V. V. Korsakov who introduced into handicrafts such a peculiar ornamental technique as the inlay of small boxes and notebooks with mother-of-pearl crumbs (such is the notebook "Birch" from 1976 from a private collection). V. V. Korsakov's successors were numerous Fedoskinsky miniaturists of the following generations: in particular, in the 1970s, the motif of the "tartan" was actively developed by the artist A. N. Karapaeva (the needle "Tartan" from 1972 from the collection of the State Russian Museum ^{[4, p. 110]}). The technique of painting "through-through" mother-of-pearl plates, restored by V. V. Korsakov, became one of the most popular among Fedoskinsky artists as in the post-war period (Yu. V. Karapaev's box "Ivushka" 1975 ^{[14, p. 164]}, N. M. Soloninkin's box "Solovki" 1981 ^{[9, p. 147]}), and in our time (the box "Petersburg. The Tauride Palace" 1999 by Y. D. Bucinsky from a private collection ^{[20, p. 195]}, the box "The Hunchback Horse" 2015 by N. A. Zotov from a private collection ^{[20, p. 190]}).

         Thus, the activity of the experimental laboratory, organized in the post-war period, made it possible for the Fedoskinsky craft to restore and develop the famous ornamental techniques of the Lukutinsky production of the XIX century. An important role in this process was played by the Soviet state, which provided material and organizational assistance, as well as the ascetic work of Fedoskinsky miniature painters: M. S. Chizhov, V. V. Korsakov, S. N. Tardasov and many other masters. It was their technical discoveries and the numerous works created by them that caused a wide flourishing of ornamental techniques in Fedoskinsky products already in our time.