Forgotten crafts of the Russian land. Forgotten crafts of the Russian land The concept of crafts

I want to talk about the crafts of our ancestors, which have long since sunk into oblivion. Nowadays there are many machines and tools that make work easier, but before everything was done with skillful calloused hands

Blacksmith.
Blacksmithing is one of the oldest crafts. The blacksmith, earlier than other craftsmen, had to stop doing other things (for example, simultaneously plowing, weaving, engaging in subsistence farming, and so on) and completely concentrate on his occupation, which required quite complex technological processes. This was not always clear to other peasants (or nomads) and seemed mysterious. In addition, due to the danger of fire, blacksmiths usually settled on the outskirts, which gave rise to additional mystery.

Cooper.
The cooper, using an ax and other carpentry tools, fits the rivets of the barrel one to the other, planes them, makes the folds (rebates) with a hammer, drives the bottom into them and ties everything together with wooden or iron hoops.

Shoemaker.
The profession of a shoemaker has given rise to many phenomena of modern culture, for example, the saying “A shoemaker without boots” (describing a situation when a professional in some field unnecessarily does not use his own skills for personal purposes). Shoemakers are also called shoe repairers.

Lapotnik
Lapti, or under another name “lychak”, were also common among Belarusians, Karelians, Mordovians, Tatars, Finns, Estonians, and Chuvash. A similar type of footwear was used by the Japanese, North American Indians, and even Australian aborigines.

Braider
An artisan who makes wicker products from wicker: household utensils and containers for various purposes, such as boxes, baskets, vases, etc., furniture (tables, chairs, chests, cradles), etc. By vine we mean any natural material of plant origin that can, under certain conditions, easy to bend, and under normal conditions keep its shape.

Carpenter.
A professional worker, a skilled craftsman, an artisan who works with wood, carves and produces wood products or products on a wooden base.

Potter.
At first, pottery was a craft used for preparing vessels for food or for preserving liquid and granular bodies; but over time it developed and was enriched with new items of manufacture, namely refractory bricks, stoneware, tiles, tiles, drainage pipes, architectural decorations and similar products.

Spoonman.
Wooden spoons in Russia in the 19th century. were produced in quantities of at least 150 million pieces (worth over a million rubles) per year. The materials for spoons are aspen, birch, partly alder and rowan, and occasionally only maple and palm (boxwood), and in the western provinces and the Caucasus - pear.

Toymaker.
A master who makes toys from various materials. In Rus', they were carved from wood, molded from clay or woven from straw.

Dyer.
An artisan who dyes yarn, fabrics, leather, etc.

Fuller.
Valenki are traditional footwear of the peoples of Eurasia, which are used for walking on dry snow. To slow down wear and tear, felt boots are hemmed with leather or rubber soles or worn with galoshes. Traditionally, felt boots come in brown, black, gray, and white, but in recent years, felt boots have been produced in a variety of colors. The prototype of felt boots were the traditional felt boots of the nomads of Eurasia (“pimas”), whose history goes back more than 1.5 thousand years.

Weaver.
Until 19-20 centuries. weaving was one of the most common household activities in the traditional cultures of the peoples of Russia and neighboring territories. It was used mainly in the manufacture of linen and hemp (so-called hemp) canvas for underwear, cloth for outerwear, as well as belts and finishing braid. Many beliefs and signs are associated with the weaving process, especially with the critical stages of starting and cutting the finished product (for example, a strip of canvas).

Embroiderer.
The passion for decorating oneself and one’s clothes in order to stand out from the environment is characteristic of human nature, even in its primitive, semi-wild state; for example, red Indians decorate blankets with various embroideries; The Laplanders embroider a wide variety of patterns on their deerskin clothes. Embroidery was known in ancient times, and, like many other branches of art and science, its cradle was the East. In Asia, this art flourished widely much earlier than it became known to the Greeks and Romans, although the Greeks attribute the invention of embroidery to Minerva, Pallas Athena.

Spinning wheel.
The spinning wheel accompanied the girl from birth to marriage. Among the Eastern Slavs, the umbilical cord of a newborn girl was cut on a spinning wheel or spindle; the newborn was handed over to the godmother through a spinning wheel; They put the spinning wheel in the girl's cradle. A personal, signed spinning wheel was not lent, otherwise, as it was believed, there would be a fire or the bees would die. In the Russian North, a guy who wrote his name on a girl’s spinning wheel was obliged to marry her. Usually the groom gave the girl a new spinning wheel, made and decorated with his own hands.

Lace craftswoman
In Rus', lace was created using bobbins using three different technology methods, namely: numerical, paired and coupling. To make lace, you need equipment: bobbins on which the thread is wound, a roller (“cushion”, “tambourine”) and a stand; for weaving coupling lace, in addition to traditional pins, a hook is also required. Most often, lace is woven according to a pre-drawn pattern - a splinter. Modern fashion designers use the traditions of Russian lace making in their collections.

Handicraftsman.
Handicraft production is small-scale production of products using manual labor. The artisanal production method has been used by people since ancient times. Initially, handicraftsmen set out to satisfy the needs of their own economy, but with the development of commodity-money relations, an increasing number of goods produced by them began to be supplied to the market. Mostly these were household products: dishes, furniture, jewelry, souvenirs, clothes, shoes. However, over time, other goods began to go on sale, such as weapons.

Plowman.
A plowman is a person who plows the land for agricultural purposes.

The emergence of craft occurs at the beginning of human production activities. The beginnings have been known since ancient times

Concept of crafts

Craft is a production activity based on the production of industrial objects using small manual labor, which prevailed before the development of machine production and remained there.

A person who makes objects professionally is called an artisan.

What is folk craft

Folk craft refers to objects that are made using ordinary available materials and simple designs. Folk crafts are diverse in their creative activity; products are made by hand and most often from natural materials or close to them (wood, fabric, metal, etc.). This type of activity was formed from home crafts, when necessary household items were made. Like art, folk crafts developed depending on culture, religion and sometimes political views.

History of the craft

The craft has a long history. Primitive communities most often engaged in home crafts, making objects from stone, bone, clay, wood, etc. Home craft is the production of products necessary for running a household. In some places, even today, this activity is of great importance.

Later, people began to lead the emergence of artisans. Many artisans worked on the farm lands of kings, temples, monasteries and slave owners (Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece and the countries of Mesopotamia). Initially, the artisan worked alone, but since this gave little income, the craftsmen began to unite in groups. These groups were called artels and took orders from the population. Some of the masters walked around cities and villages, while others lived and worked in one place. Trades and crafts to order gave rise to the emergence and development of cities as centers of craft work and trade. To this day, in many settlements, street names have been preserved, indicating the place of work of a particular master. For example, Goncharnaya - production was organized there; Tanning - leather processing, production of leather products, shoe repair; Brick - production of bricks.

A form of professional craft appeared. A new social stratum has appeared in the cities - urban artisans. The main branches of urban crafts were: the production of metal objects, cloth making, the production of glass products, etc. Urban craftsmen had such privileges as city law, craft workshops, and their own freedom.

With the advent, many types of crafts lost their primacy in production, and machines began to be used in factories and factories. Today, artisans survive in industries that serve the personal needs of clients and in the production of expensive artistic products (shoemakers, tailors, jewelers, artists, etc.).

History of the development of crafts in Russia

The population of Russian cities mainly consisted of artisans. Most of them were engaged in blacksmithing. Later, metalsmithing evolved from blacksmithing. His products were in great demand in Europe. The production of weapons singled out craftsmen for making bows, guns, quivers, etc. The armor of Russian artisans was considered an order of magnitude higher than Turkish, Syrian and Italian.

According to information from the chronicle, in 1382 there were already cannons in Rus'. In the 14th century, foundry (bell casting) was formed. With the invasion of the Mongols, production fell into decline.

Jewelry craftsmanship served the needs of the aristocracy. The surviving products (icons, gold belts, dishes, book bindings) testify to the high professionalism of jewelry craftsmen in the field of engraving, artistic casting, forging, niello and minting. In the 14th century, it began in several Russian principalities, which formed the monetary craft. Leather, shoemaking and pottery crafts were designed for the market and a wide range of customers. A variety of dishes, toys and building materials were made from clay. In addition, in Moscow and other cities, stone churches were built (mostly from white stone) and tower clocks were installed with strikes.

The works of the masters made a great contribution to the restoration of destruction after the Tatar-Mongol conquests. Russian crafts influenced the preparation of economic prerequisites for the creation of a Russian centralized state.

Since 1917, the number of artisans in Russia has sharply decreased; they united in industrial cooperation. However, even now Russian crafts include several world-famous folk arts and crafts.

Various types and kinds of crafts

Types of crafts are formed from the material from which the item is made. For a long time, people have known crafts such as:

blacksmith craft

This is one of the first occupations to appear in Rus'. People were always surprised when watching a blacksmith work. They could not understand how the master made such amazing objects from gray metal. For many peoples, blacksmiths were considered almost wizards.

Previously, blacksmithing required special knowledge and a specially equipped workshop with many tools. The metal was smelted from which it was mined in the spring and autumn. Old Russian blacksmiths made sickles, ploughshares, and scythes for farmers, and spears, swords, axes, and arrows for warriors. In addition, the household always needed knives, keys and locks, needles, etc.

Nowadays, technological progress has somewhat changed and improved the blacksmith's craft, but it is still in demand. Artistic forging is used to decorate offices, apartments, country houses, parks, public gardens, and is especially in demand in landscape design.

Jewelry craft

Jewelry craft is one of the most ancient in the history of mankind. Products made of gold, silver and precious stones have long been considered a sign of power and wealth of the aristocratic class. Back in the 10th and 11th centuries, jewelry craftsmen were famous for their talent throughout Europe. People have been passionate fans of jewelry since ancient times. Beads were made from precious metals or colored glass, pendants with various designs (usually animals), silver temple rings that were hung from a headdress or woven into a hairstyle, rings, kolta, etc.

In the 18th century, jewelry craftsmanship flourished in Russia. It was at this time that the profession of “gold and silversmith” began to be called “jeweler”. In the 19th century, Russian craftsmen developed their own style, thanks to which Russian jewelry remains unique today. The famous firms of the Grachev brothers, Ovchinnikov and Faberge began their work.

Nowadays, due to the growth of prosperity, the population is increasingly in need of highly artistic jewelry.

Pottery

It is known that since the 10th century, pottery has been produced in Rus'. This was done manually, and mostly by women's hands. To increase the strength and durability of the product, small shells, sand, quartz, granite, and sometimes plants and fragments of ceramics were mixed into the clay.

A little later they appeared, which made the potters’ work easier. The circle was set in motion by hand and then by feet. At the same time, men began to engage in pottery making.

Pottery reached industrial scale in the 18th century. Ceramic factories appeared in St. Petersburg, and a little later in Moscow.

The objects made by modern potters are still fascinating. Today, pottery is a popular activity in many regions of Russia, and the demand for handmade ceramic products is constantly increasing.

Blacksmithing came to us from ancient times, from the Stone Age. In those distant times, simultaneously with the processing of stone and wood, people learned the secrets of blacksmithing. Many museums around the world keep blacksmith tools from ancient times: small round stones with a ring belt - hammers, oval flat massive stones - anvils. Microscopic examination revealed traces of native metal on the surface of these stones. On the walls of ancient Egyptian temples there are reliefs depicting people working with stone hammers. For more than 10 thousand years, blacksmithing has turned into one of the most necessary and necessary industries, without which it is impossible to create a single machine or mechanism, not a single machine tool or spaceship. Today, the country's forges are equipped with the most powerful presses and hammers in the world, they are serviced by robots and manipulators controlled by computer.

In this article we will open one of the pages of blacksmithing art. We will introduce lovers of technical craftsmanship to the beauty of forged artistic metal, talk about the basic working techniques, tools and equipment.

Blacksmith tool

A - handbrake - the main tool of a blacksmith. B, C - war hammer (sledgehammer) - a hammer tool.

Blacksmithing involves fire, hot metal, and powerful hammer blows, so for convenient and safe work, you need to choose a suitable place for the forge, acquire reliable tools, purchase a canvas apron, mittens and safety glasses. It is advisable to carry out all blacksmith work outdoors; choose a place where you will not disturb others.

The basic tools of a blacksmith are a hammer, pliers, anvil, vice and forge. The hammer, or, as blacksmiths call it, the handbrake, bears the main impact load, and therefore it must be especially reliable. It is better to wedge the hammer handle using a metal “barbed” wedge. When working “with two hands,” that is, with a hammer, heavy war hammers or sledgehammers weighing up to 16 kg are used.

Forging tongs are used to remove heated workpieces from the forge and hold them during forging. The pliers should be light, with springy handles. To clamp the workpiece, a special ring - a spandrel - is sometimes put on the handles of the pliers. The jaws of the pliers must match the shape of the workpiece. Pliers with flat jaws are designed for flat sheet and strip workpieces, with cylindrical or angled jaws - for longitudinal gripping of round bars, with radius jaws - for gripping workpieces of complex shapes.

Most blacksmithing work is done on an anvil. There are several varieties of anvils, ranging from a rectangular steel bar to anvils with several horns, various technological protrusions and holes. The most convenient to use is a two-horned anvil weighing from 70 to 250 kg. On its front surface there are one or two round holes (12-15 mm in diameter) for punching holes in the forging and one square hole (35 X 35 mm), located in the tail area, into which a backing tool (nizhnyaki) is inserted.

The anvil is placed on a massive wooden block-chair, which is buried in the ground and compacted well or filled with concrete. For small jobs, the anvil can be simply installed on the bench through a gasket made of thick sheet rubber. The good quality of the anvil is indicated by a high and clear sound when hitting it with a hammer. The surface of the anvil should be flat and smooth, and the edges should be free of creases and chips.

For small jobs, a shperak is used as a support tool, which is inserted with the shank into the square hole of the anvil.

Blacksmith chair vise is designed for clamping workpieces. The vice is made of steel (so, unlike cast iron, it can withstand impacts well) and is securely mounted on a special chair or on the main post of the workbench.

A blacksmith cannot do without a backing tool. It is placed under a handbrake or a war hammer when performing certain operations.

A blacksmith's chisel differs from a mechanic's chisel in that it has a hole (boring) for the handle. The working part of the chisel can be located parallel to the handle or perpendicular. In the first case, the chisel is used for transverse cutting, in the second - for longitudinal cutting. To chop workpieces without a hammer, a hook is used, which is installed in the anvil socket, and the workpiece is placed on it and chopped with handbrake blows.

The holes are punched using punches, the working part of which can be round, square or rectangular, depending on the shape of the holes being punched.

To level surfaces, trowels with flat or cylindrical working surfaces are used.

Crimpers are used as a pair of backing tools to give forgings the correct cylindrical or prismatic shapes, and tampers are used to speed up the drawing of metal. The upper part of the instrument (tops) has wooden handles. The lower part (lowers or undersides) is inserted with a tetrahedral tail into the square hole of the anvil. To plant the heads of bolts and nails, special boards with holes are used - nails.

To produce curls, meanders and curves from rods and strips, as well as parts from sheet material, a variety of shaped and profile mandrels, plates with holes for pins, grooves and cutouts are used.

The forge is the most complex tool of a blacksmith. Stationary forges are usually installed near the main wall or in the center of the room; they serve as the heart of the forge. The pedestal for the hearth is made of metal, brick or stone. In rural areas, it is often just a box with wooden, brick or stone walls, filled with compacted sand with clay and stones.

For work in the field, as well as for amateur purposes, you can make a simple portable forge. Another option is to place the fireplace in a hole in the ground. The air is supplied by a household electric fan, a vacuum cleaner or a foot-operated car pump. The fuel used is charcoal or coal, coke, peat, firewood and bark, as well as their mixtures. For small blacksmithing jobs, you can build a firebrick hearth using a blowtorch for heating.

Forged art products are usually made from low-carbon steel. It is not difficult to select such steel: it practically does not produce sparks on the emery wheel. Heat the workpiece over low heat until it turns light yellow (lemon) color, preventing the metal from burning. Stop forging when the light turns dark red.

Working methods

Forged metal requires a laconic, finished design. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully approach the selection of the composition, work it out in sketches or sculpt it from plasticine. It is advisable to make templates for all elements from wire and only after you are satisfied with the general design and composition of the product, start forging.

Let's consider the technology of work using the example of small decorative grilles (see Fig.), which cover radiators, windows, which are installed in summer cottages and gardens, etc.

The lattice consists of a frame into which two volutes (curls) are embedded. To make volutes, they take strip or rod material, chop off the required workpiece with a chisel or by undercutting, and then bend a figure of a given shape on a conical anvil horn or on a mandrel. The square frame is made from a strip, the ends are connected with rivets or forge welding. Holes in a thin (1-2 mm) strip can be punched with a punch without heating, and in a thick strip - with heating. The workpiece is placed on an anvil over a round hole, a punch is installed and hit with a war hammer, rivets are inserted into the holes and riveted.

To connect the ends of the frame by forge welding, the metal is heated under a layer of flux (quartz sand, borax or table salt) to a white-hot temperature, one end of the strip is placed on the other and welded with hammer blows.

Volutes are inserted into the finished frame and connected to the frame using rivets or interceptions (thin staples). To make the item look “antique,” ​​the ends of the volutes are finished with a tight ball or paw, and the joints are covered with interceptions.

The central pattern of the other lattice consists of eight identical C-shaped scrolls. Here, too, you must first make templates, bend the curls according to them, punch holes in them for rivets and assemble them into a frame.

It is somewhat more difficult to make candlesticks and flower stands - here you need to combine several technological operations. For example, to make a three-arm candlestick, you need to forge 3 bent base brackets, 2 candle brackets, 3 plates and a central rod. For the central rod, take a square-section blank. One of its ends is clamped in a chair vice, a wrench or gas wrench is put on the other and twisted in the longitudinal direction. Cold metal has a larger pitch, hot metal has a smaller pitch. If you need to twist a large number of identical workpieces at the same angle, put a restrictive pipe on the workpiece and twist it until the knob rests on the pipe. To obtain a variable pitch, the heated metal is cooled with a wet cloth as it is twisted, or the workpiece is heated unevenly along its length. Finally, a small cylindrical tip is pulled back on the rod to attach the central plate.

To make plates for candles, flowers, rosettes, you need to cut the metal and cut it along the contour with shaped chisels. After this, using mandrels, hammers and chisels, the product is given the intended shape and a central hole is punched for fastening. A large number of identical rosettes can be made by stamping with an elastic tool (this method was known to the ancient Scythians in the 7th century BC). A blank of thin soft metal is placed on a stamp with some kind of relief, an elastic gasket (sheet lead or thick rubber) is installed on it, and a strong blow is applied to the gasket. To protect the lead from cracking, the edges are grabbed with a bandage made of a steel ring. The blank produces a reverse copy of the relief. In this way you can stamp flowers, rosettes, etc. The stamp is made of metal, stone and even hard wood. The final assembly of the candlestick is done using rivets or forge welding.

Making lights requires great skill. In the 18th-19th centuries, the light was one of the most common household items; they tried to decorate it in every possible way. The blacksmith who forged the light put all his soul and skill into the work. When forging lights, many techniques are used, ranging from bending to forge welding. The central, main rod, as a rule, has an axial curl; from below it is cut with a chisel, usually into four parts, and attached to a massive base ring. Often the rod is decorated with curls or snakes, which are riveted or welded. The greatest attention is paid to the “head” of the socialite. For splinters, splits are made by longitudinally cutting vertical rods, and for candles, a sleeve is forged.

Using approximately the same technology, you can make a modern table lamp or floor lamp. Beautiful forged racks are made from two or four rods cut along the axis and twisted. After cutting, the branches are expanded, forged, and then twisted at a small angle (see figure). An interesting twist can be obtained from several thin rods welded at the ends. During twisting, it is necessary to push the rods slightly along the axis with a hammer blow.

A cone of twisted metal is often made above the lampshade. Curling it is also not an easy task. First, the rod is pulled back, and then one part of the workpiece is rolled into three or four turns. The opposite end of the rod is secured in a vice and rolled in the same way. After that, two twisted figures are placed one above the other and after the next heating, the entire cone is stretched to a certain length using mandrels, a hammer and a chisel. The base of the lampshade can be made of cut metal. In Rus', valances were made from perforated metal to finish the eaves of roofs, the ridges of gables and drainage pipes. This work is not very difficult, although painstaking. A design is applied to the sheet blank, and then a notch is made using chisels on an anvil. In order not to spoil the faces of the anvil, a sheet of soft metal is placed under the workpiece. To punch a large number of shaped holes, special punches and dies are usually made.

To create identical patterns on sheet metal, you can also use embossing using matrix boards made by casting followed by engraving. This type of processing is called basma. A sheet of metal 0.2-0.3 mm thick is placed on the matrix board, then a cushion made of lead or sheet rubber is placed, and it is struck with a wooden hammer or clamped in a vice or press.

Wrought iron lanterns or lamps are often decorated with acanthus leaves and curls. They are made from sheet material. First, the product is unwrapped, then it is cut out along the contour. The given shape is given using special hammers and mandrels. The leaves are connected to the product using rivets or forge welding.

Forged metal can be used to decorate doors, gates and gates in an interesting way. The main decorative elements of doors and gates in Rus' were zhikovinas (a special type of hinge), door handles, overhead ax locks and locks.

Zhikovinas were forged from thick sheet material. At one end the bushing for the axle was bent, and at the other end a decorative finish was made in the form of reds or curls (see figure). To make curls, the main strip was cut into longitudinal strips, which were then unforged and shaped into curls. The surface of the zhikovins was decorated with notches, dots, circles and other ornamental elements. Forged surfaces were often “stuffed” - using smoothers and a hammer they were given a faceted surface.

The door ring, or knocker, is made by bending a round rod, and the bead in the middle of the ring is made by upsetting and then forging with crimps. The cover for the chime is cut out of sheet material and decorated with ornaments.

Ax locks look very impressive on wooden gates. The central part of the ax plates has a beautiful perforation, under which colored materials are placed - this decorates the gate. Caskets, chests and headrests were previously made with the same decorative perforated overlays.

In conclusion, we note that forged and perforated metal looks very good both independently and in combination with colored glass, ornamental stone, tinted wood and smooth fabrics.