Pottery

Subject / Art/Art trades and crafts
POTTERY. Before XX c. pottery in Russia was connected with household use and therefore it was widely spread. Centres of pottery usually appeared near trade routes and were based on the fields of high quality pottery or fire clay. Masters preserved main technological methods of making pottery and traditional shapes of kitchen utensils, which were worked out in the past. So called "Krestianskaya Keramika" ("Peasant Pottery") (pots, jugs, bowls, bottles, washstands, milk pails "nosak" (with a long nose), barrels, flower stands, mugs, butterdishes, teapots, stew pans) as a rule were made on the potter's wheel of red or grey clay. Numerous pottery centres existed on the territory of modern Leningrad Oblast. In Lodeynoye Pole Uezd, Olonets Gubernia - Oyat (named after the Oyat River) pottery was widely known. Pottery existed in the villages situated in the area of the Oyat River middle course and on the banks of the Syas River. There masters made different kinds of tableware. In Yavosma pottery centre, which situated on the banks of the Yavosma and Pasha Rivers (modern Tikhvin District), tableware was made on potter's wheels with the help of the old method of surface treatment – scalding (a pot was put into flax seeds liquor). The wares were distinguished for their elongate oval bodies, high bottoms and huge round sealing rings. As a rule they were not decorated (sometimes masters made 2-3 deep cuts under the sealing rings). In Vyskatka Volost of Gdov Uezd potteries as well as bricks were produced. In Russian and Finnish villages of Lisino Volost, Tsarskoye Selo Uezd and also in Gaychina Town and Taytsi Village except potteries people made toys and penny whistles. In Tarantaev Volost, Tikhvin Uezd Karelian potters made milk and stove pots. In the beginning of the XXc. in Izhora and Russian villages of Stremleniye Volost, Yamburg Uezd 60 people produced potteries. Pottery also existed in Perechitsi and Pava Volosts of Luga Uezd, in Koporye and Vovashev Volosts of Peterhof Uezd and other places. Every pottery centre had its own school and special features of pottery shapes and decoration. Potteries usually satisfied the requirements of the local people, they were sold at all markets and fairs and delivered to villages. Part of production was taken to St.Petersburg. Closeness to the capital made pottery meet the needs and tastes of the citizens. Peasant pottery was rather popular in village household use up to 1950s. Except village pottery in St.Petersburg Gubernia plain and scalded potteries, made of local clay, were produced by pottery factories. Significant collections of peasant pottery are kept in the funds of Staraya Ladoga history, architecture and archeology culture preserve, Tikhvin Town history memorial architecture and arts museum, Lodeynoye Pole Town local history museum and some others. Gorb, Dina Alekseyevna
Leningrad Oblast, the/Gatchina District/Gatchina Town
Historical Toponyms/Saint Petersburg Gubernia, the/Gdov Uyezd
Historical Toponyms/Olonets Gubernia (Province)/Lodeynoye Pole Uyezd
Historical Toponyms/Saint Petersburg Gubernia, the/Luga Uyezd
Topographical landmarks/Oyat River, the
Topographical landmarks/Pasha River, the
Historical Toponyms/Saint Petersburg Gubernia, the/Peterhof Uyezd
Topographical landmarks/Syas River, the
Historical Toponyms/Saint Petersburg Gubernia, the/Taytsi
Leningrad Oblast, the/Tikhvin District
Historical Toponyms/Novgorod Gubernia (Province)/Tikhvin Uyezd
Historical Toponyms/Saint Petersburg Gubernia, the/Tsarskoye Selo Uyezd
Historical Toponyms/Saint Petersburg Gubernia, the/Yamburg Uyezd
Topographical landmarks/Yavosma River, the
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Кузнецова И.А. О двух малоизвестных центрах традиционной глиняной игрушки Ленинградской области // Из истории собирания и изучения произведений народного искусства: Сб. научных трудов. Л., 1991.
Lodeynoye Pole Museum of the Local History, the
Staraya Ladoga Historical and Architectural and Archaeological Museum-reserve, the
The Tikhvin Historical, Memorial, Architectural and Arts Museum, the