Kargopol Clay Toys The old Russian town is

Kargopol Clay Toys

The old Russian town is situated on the bank of the Onega River only a few kilometres away from the beautiful Lache lake. It was founded by ancient Novgorodians in the 11th century. The historical centre of Kargopol is Sobornaya (Cathedral) Square, architecturally complete with the Christmas Cathedral, two churches and the bell-tower.

Visitors brought different souvenirs from Kargopol. They like clay toys especially. The Kargopol toy is one of the traditional Russian arts and crafts. The art of making clay toys in the town of Kargopol goes back to ancient times: some years ago archeologists dug up duck-shaped whistles which are 5 000 years old.

The most talented of the toy masters was Ulyana Babkina (1889 – 1977). Her works based on local traditions and characterized by poetic imagery represent scenes from everyday peasant life as well as wild and domestic animals.

The Kargopol toy is characteristic of conditional interpretation of an image’s shape, proportions and colouring. All the figurines are a little stocky, with short arms and legs, an oblong trunk, a thick and short neck and a rather big head. As for animals, they are depicted thick-legged and sometimes dynamic.

The toys are sculpted part by part. The basis of the figurine is the trunk, which is together with the head fixed to the pre-shaped skirt. For men’s figures cylinder-shaped legs and arms are fastened to. The modeled items are dried for a week or two and then baked in a stove. The toys are painted with tempera.

Apart from figurines of people Kargopol masters mold horses, cows, bears, deer, and characters of tales and bylinas (Russian heroic epics). One of the most popular characters was and still is the Polkan (the Russian version of Centaur) – half-horse and half-man – with a beard, medals and epaulets. Other fairy characters include the Lion, the Sirin Bird, a two-headed horse, etc.

The Kargopol toy also has compositions of several figures, such as a merry troika (coach-and-three) with passengers in the sledge, dancing figures, and boating figures, and many other scenes. Kargopol craftsmen also liked to depict animals, as well as plots from folk tales.

The modern Kargopol toy is less archaic. Preserving traditional forms, masters nowadays make it more refined. They avoid making it too motley. To enliven the toys artists add yellow, blue and orange colours. The main ornamental elements are combinations of crossed lines, circles, leafless twigs, herring-bones, dots and stripes.

The Shevelevs’ Museum There is a wonderful collection of clay toys by Dmitry and Klaudia Shevelevs in the Shevelevs’ Museum. It was opened in 2003. More then 10000 people have visited the museum.

The folk crafts centre “Bereginya” The Folk Crafts Centre “Bereginya” was founded in 1993. Visitors can learn about traditional northern crafts. They are given an opportunity to make toys themselves.

resources http://www.bereginy.kargopol.ru https://static12.insales.ru/files/1/2945/592769/original/Glinyanaya_svistulka_ptichka_-_kargopolskaya_igrushka.jpg http://turgo.info/wp-content/uploads/8WHrZwJGG6o-1024x500.jpg http://kargopol-toy.livejournal.com http://wikipedia.moesalih.com/Kargopol_toys http://en.rfwiki.org/wiki/Kargopol_toys https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kargopol_toys https://vk.com/club19710958