Beaded jewelry design, Ankars jewelry, tatting patterns on Beadsky.com
 

Bead info

AddThis Social Bookmark Button
PATTERNS
ONLINE TEACHING
ON SALE
GALLERY
PERSONALITIES
LINKS
INTERACTION
OTHER

 
   
From the History of Beads

Beads and handworks in the History of Russia. Old Russian Bead work.

The history of the bead work in Russia keeps a lot of information interesting for the lovers of the applied arts. The technique of these makes is extremely varied: embroidery, crocheting and knitting, wicker-work, weaving and mosaic on wax. Because the beads are exceptionally long-live, they haven't undergone any changes in the course of time. Antique bead - makes stand out for the fact that their colors didn't fade in time and that they have carried the idea of the needlewomen to us almost with no distortions.

Surprisingly many models of the vanished art of the embroidery with beads have reached our times. They startle by their technical perfection, the beauty of the unfading colors, by fantastic variety of shapes and topics. Different Russian collectors were engaged in collecting beads, but a lot of collections of the bead heritage didn't last till our days and were sold by parts.

In the second half of the XVIII and till the beginning of the XIX century serfdom was a part of Russia 's culture. Small workshops were present in many manor-houses, there serf women used to do different kinds of needlework. Usually the serf girls aged between 8 and 10 were sent to study needlework to some well known for its high level workshop. Having finished the training, the girl came back to her landowner being a skilful needlewoman, who could do complicated works and teach others her art. With it all needlewomen often stayed illiterate. Presence of the free serf manpower in a certain extent was a condition of the extremely high standard of the Russian bead embroideries. Indeed, rich landowners didn't have to solve the problem of the economic expediency for doing this or that work... The description of the bride's dowry from the story by S.N.Terpigorev is a striking example of this attitude to the serf needlewomen.

«Granny has sent for the head overseer of the lace-makers. Shortly after they began bringing the innumerable amount of dowry to the terrace.

Examination lasted for a long time… The enormous amount of lingerie has been seen and everything was embroidered… At the end of the examination a peignoir was shown. It was amazing! There was no spot on it, which wasn't embroidered!..

-So how long, aunty, have you been embroidering it?

-Two years, mon ami… Twelve wenches were embroidering it… Three of them went blind...»

But not only serf peasants and conventual's lay sisters were studying needlework. Rich and splendid ladies of high life-and even the Russian empress-were lovers of the needlework and embroidery. “Laziness, - the empress used to say, - is a mother of all vices”, for this reason needlework was a medicine for idleness and a pleasant way of spending time back in those times. One could also happen to find servicemen and governors with tambours in hands. An interesting case is known from the old newspaper notices: one jaunty hussar cornet Solonitsin has mastered needlework. It was decided at the family council, where it was discussed whether it was decent for a young man to embroider on the tambour, that this work is much more decent than getting drunk and sitting up all night playing cards. As a result Solonitsin was provided with nice tambour, silks and patterns.

There were also funny accidents. The favorite occupation of A.I.Korsakov also was needlework. This marvelous art of his has once become a cause of an amusing misunderstanding. Korsakov presented the empress Maria Fyodorovna with a embroidered picture of his, which could be called a marvel of art and patience. The empress, who didn't think that such an outstanding embroidery could be made by a man- especially of such age-, took that picture for a gift of one of Korsakov's relative women. For the goodness of heart she kindly sent him diamond earrings as a sign of her pleasure.

Embroidery with beads was mainly done on ready patterns, which were issued in Russia and abroad as supplements to the magazines and handbooks for embroidery.

What was the technique of making bead works?

Embroidery was far from the only, but without any doubt the most widespread kind of bead work. The earlier works were done by stitches, when the thread, with the stringed beads on it, was fastened to the material by the other thread. Later they came to the embroidery with beads on checks, which is analogous to the embroidery by crosses. To make the embroidery with beads one had to begin by choosing a small canvas and selecting very thin needles. Beads are sewed on the checks of the canvas in accordance with the picture by color. This is a secret of this needlework, which requires extreme attention, endless time and patience.

The main problem of all bead works was stringing the beads on the thread, as far as the diameter of the hole in antique beads was no larger than 0.2 – 0.3 mm. Special thin needles of English and German firms were produced for working with such beads. Nevertheless, there were still kinds of small beads, for which even special needles were too thick. In this case they often waxed the end of the thread, then put the needle on it, made the stitch. They took off the needle and repeated the whole process again.

There was one more difficulty to get over when embroidering with beads – the impossibility to depict smooth curve. Witty Gogol noted this defect describing “a pillow, on which a knight was embroidered in such way that his nose looked like a staircase and his lips – like quadrangles”. Needlewomen were trying to correct this defect by embroidering faces and hands with threads or painting them, then they had to stick the face and hands in the embroidered picture. Usually sackcloth was used for embroidery, and later it became fashionable to use paper canvas with round holes. Such embroideries are not long-live, which is a big defect.

Besides embroidery with beads, crocheting and knitting was widely used. Crocheting with beads was the most popular. Beads were stringed on the thread in a strict accordance with the pattern, then all the beads were led out to the right side of the make in the process of crocheting. When crocheting - single crochet were used, and in knitting – stocking knitting. As compared with the makes, with were crocheted, the makes done by knitting needles are not as thick and are more elastic.

Wicker-work with beads was used exceptionally for making national bead adornments and national dresses. Much rarely one can find pictures done by the weaving technique. The pattern distorts because of the irregular shape of the beads – which is the distinguishing peculiarity of this technique.

A much more rare kind of bead needlework is a picture made with beads, which were sticked in the wax base.

Among the bead makes one can often find embroidered or crocheted (knitted) with beads bags, purses, wallets, covers, walking-sticks, belts, tobacco-cases and other wickered objects. Among the rarities – men braces, embroidered with beads.

In old times embroidery used to be an unchanged and usual occupation for women, but in the course of time the appearance of professional machines forced out the amateur hand embroidery. Embroidery with beads has become an exotic occupation in our time.

From the book Å.S. Yurova "Old Russian Bead work " Moscow. Istoky. 1995.

 

 
language
we recommend


 
newsletter
Present for submitters - "Electronical Bead Encyclopedia in illustrations"