Marvellous wooden and clay toys are a bright
phenomenon in Russian folk art. Nizhny Novgorod oblast has several centres of
toymaking, each having its own artistic style and special techniques.
One of the centres of wooden toys is the village of Fedoseyevo situated close to the town of Semyonov. The trade developed there at the end of 17th century. These toys are tenderly called "balyasy" meaning "gay, funny, made by a wit or a joker". The masters are so skilled that they make these toys using only two tools: the knife and the axe. The toys are made of smooth boards, firmly nailed together, and painted bright yellow with simple ornament of thin twigs with scarlet flowers and green leaves.
Masters can make up to 70 kinds of toys. Their images are evoked by real impressions. The images of horsemen, horses harnessed to carts, village sleighs, wooden peasant axes and hammers are rooted in ancient times. Later, mills, merry-go-rounds, houses, furniture, board sawyers appeared. The technology progress at the turn of the 20th century gave us the images of the steamer, the aeroplane, the motor-car, the tram, etc. The toys are very interesting to play with. If you draw a string, the mill will rotate its sails, the sawyers and blacksmiths will move, showing the process of hard work, the horses on the merry-go-round will gallop, the motor- car will open its doors, inviting the child to get in.
The toys are usually made in a small workshop beside the house, with women helping the men in accessory work and painting. Yakov Alexandrov is considered to be the pioneer of Fedoseyevo toys. He could make the toy image simple and extraordinary expressive. The traditions of the craft were followed by Zotei Kokurin, who, at the age of 80, could make 30 kinds of toys, and Efim Mordashov, who used to come to fairs and festivals with a bast-box full of funny toys. There are whole dynasties of toy-makers: the Shesterikovs, the Pachuyevs, the Poluektovs and others.
From the earliest times the centre of
the lathed toy in Nizhny Novgorod oblast has been the villages, situated
close to Semyonov along the forest banks of the river Kerzhenetz.
Craftsmen lathed wooden pyramids, apples, buckets, mushrooms, pears,
push-toys and, even, toy samovars with tea-sets and other toys inside of
them. At the beginning of the 20th century, a master from the village of
Merinovo Arsenti Mayorov turned and painted the first matryoshka.
Everybody admired it at once because it image reflected the people's idea
of a beautiful Russian woman-mother.
Now the traditions of the lathered
toys are being carried on in the "Semyonov Painting" enterprise in the
town of Semyonov. Semyonov matryoshka has gained special popularity in the
world. It's a beautiful souvenir, representing the folk art of Russia. The
originality of the design, the laconism of the form and the brightness of
floral painting are combined in it. It is made of lime-wood, aspen or
birch, which were dried in the open air for several years. The process of
making this seeming very simple toy is rather complicated.
The piece of wood undergoes fifteen operations before it becomes a really beautiful
toy. It is turned in a lathe, primed, dried and painted by hand. Painting
consists of several stages: outlining the contour of the face and the
clothes, colouring the face, the kerchief and the apron. Semyonov toy is
noted for its skilfully painted large bouquet of flowers: roses, tulips,
poppies, bluebells, etc. The finished article is lacquered. Talented
masters can make a one-piece matryoshka and matryoshka-sets consisting of
up to 18 pieces. There are also unique works: 40-, 50- and even 72-piece
sets.