Russian splendour

Wooden creations, similar to popular matioshka dolls (women opening like boxes and putting one into another forming a whole big woman), are one of the most characteristic Russian thimbles. I also have such a beautiful, old matrioshka doll. I was playing with it when I was a little child. One of molds is broken because of my passionate using.

Wooden, hand-painted thimbles are real works of art. Each one is different and perfectly painted . It is hard to find those beauties among other treasuers of Russian art. Passers-by are usually ignoring stands with Russian souvenirs, sick of baroque gildings and splendour.

   

The most popular thimble shape is matrioshka, which I have mentioned above. Those hand-painted, wooden dolls are made by machine turning. They have many different shapes and painters are using beautiful, rich colours (mat and opalescent as well) to decorate them (wooden thimble Turquoise barrel – Russia, wooden thimble Round pink pearl doll - Russia).

Besides the enormity of shapes and colours of matioshka thimbles there are also other forms – miniature paintings. These are usually painted on a higher, wooden forms. I have eight such thimbles in my collection. Two of them are decorated with Russian views, e.g. this one with orthodox church and cranes flying above (wooden thimble Crane – Russia). Six of my thimbles presents animals and personages, e.g. beautiful, green specimen with an old wanderer image (wooden thimble Green old man – Russia) or painted with a gold, lustrous colour thimble with a big, dignified peacock surrounded by wonderful flora (wooden thimble Peacock – Russia).

Apart from little pieces of art mentioned above, among hand-painted, wooden beauties, I also have eight thimbles with even more subtle patterns and more interesting shapes. They could be useful for creating a little theatre. These are such items as dwarf (shown last time) or with fairytale animals and personages. They also resemble those figures in their shape.

Porcelain thimbles made by Gzhel manufacture are painted in very characteristic technique. White porcelain is decorated with blue, subtly fuzzy ornaments (porcelain thimble Square, Gzhel – Russia, porcelain thimble Round, Gzhel – Russia).

The most outstanding Russian porcelan manufacture in Lomonosow, of course. I have seven thimbles from this factory in my collection. The most characteristic pattern made by Lomonosow artists is cobalt net (porcelain thimble Cobalt net, Lomonosow – Russia). This pattern appears on all products leaving this factory. Whole porcelain services are beeing decorated this way.

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