The destruction of communal-clan relations and the emergence of specialists in narrow industries — it was these changes that characterized Ancient Russia in the eighth and ninth centuries. Crafts give rise to cities, separating part of the population from work on the land. This is due to the appearance of the first specialists - masters in certain types of crafts, which were concentrated in tribal centers - cities.
Cities - Craft Centers
They tried to build the city in such a way that its geographical position would allow it to trade as best as possible and at the same time successfully defend itself from enemies. For example, in a place where two rivers merged, or around a hill. Representatives of the authorities settled in cities. Therefore, they were well guarded. Gradually, with the development of crafts, cities began to be not just military fortifications, but turned into shopping centers.
In the center of the city was the Kremlin, in which the prince settled. This part was surrounded by a fortress wall and surrounded by an earthen rampart. In addition, a deep moat was dug around, which was filled with water. All these precautions were needed to protect against enemies. Outside around the Kremlin there were settlements of artisans, the so-called settlements. This part of the city was called Posad. In many settlements, this part was also surrounded by a defensive wall.
Life in the cities was in full swing, artisans created their goods, craft and trade of Ancient Rus actively developed. By the twelfth century, there were over sixty craft specialties. Masters specialized in the manufacture of clothing, dishes, tools that ancient Russia needed. Crafts of Ancient Russia developed rapidly and rapidly. Talented professionals of various fields lived and worked in the settlements: blacksmith, jewelry, pottery, shoemakers, tailors, weavers, stone-cutters, and other craftsmen. The hands of these craftsmen created the economic wealth and strength of the ancient Russian state, its high material and spiritual culture.
Without iron - nowhere
Professional discoverers were blacksmiths. Their work has become one of the most important areas into which the crafts of Ancient Russia of the 9-12th century were divided. This work is mentioned in the folk epos and folklore: epics, traditions and tales, where the blacksmith is always a model of strength, courage and kindness. In those days, iron was obtained by smelting from swamp ore. They mined it in the offseason, dried it and then delivered it to the workshops, where it was smelted using special furnaces. So it turned out metal. When excavating ancient Russian cities, modern archaeologists often found slags, which are the dregs of the metal smelting process, and energetically forged pieces of iron masses. The found remnants of the blacksmith workshops preserved parts of hearths and furnaces, near which artisans worked at one time.
There is a blacksmith's business: goods for warriors and plowmen
With the development of metal production, a new round of trade development begins, which the country living in subsistence farming did not previously know. Crafts of Ancient Russia, in particular blacksmithing, had a pronounced practical orientation. Products made by blacksmiths were required by everyone. The warriors who ordered weapons — arrowheads, battle axes, sabers, spears, swords — and protective clothing — chain mail and helmets — needed them. The production of weapons in ancient Russia has reached a special level of skill, which can be called real art. Unique armor was discovered in the burials and necropolises of Kiev, Chernigov and other cities.
The farmers needed the forged tools: without iron braids, sickles, openers, plowshares, it was impossible to imagine cultivating the land. In any household, needles, knives, saws, locks, keys and other household items made in the forge by talented craftsmen were required. Findings in the form of burials of masters of blacksmithing showed that even with the blacksmiths their working tools - hammers and anvils, chisels and pincers - were sent to the graves.
Historians believe that more than 150 types of metal products were known in the eleventh century, Ancient Russia. Crafts of Ancient Russia played an important role in the development of trade between settlements.
Craftsmanship
Blacksmithing craftsmen sometimes engaged in small work, creating small masterpieces - jewelry. Gradually, goldsmithing became a separate industry. So the jewelry craft appeared in Ancient Russia. The Russian masters were so skilled in the technique of making jewelry that they could only wonder how they succeeded. Skillful things that have survived to our times - amulets made of bronze, pendants, buckles, earrings and necklaces - are striking in their subtlety of manufacture. Jewelry was created using the technique of grains, and a pattern was soldered over them, the basis of which was a lot of metal balls. Another way to make jewelry was scan. This technique is characterized by the fact that the pattern was created with a thin wire that was soldered to a metal surface, the resulting gaps were filled with enamel of different colors. Jewelers and figured casting were mastered, as well as the technique of mobile, which required special art, when a pattern of silver plates was placed on a black background. Wonderful articles with gold and silver inlays on iron and copper have come down to our days. Such sophisticated techniques testify to the high level of craftsmanship in ancient Russia. So, with the hands of ancient Russian artisans created high-value jewelry made using the cloisonne enamel technique . This was a peculiar brand of Russian goldsmithing craft. The skill of Russian jewelers was a very complex technique, and their work was distributed around the world and at the same time everywhere it was highly appreciated and in great demand.
Both bricks and utensils were sculpted everywhere
The pottery of Ancient Russia stood out as an independent industry a bit later than the blacksmith. A potter’s wheel appeared in our ancestors in the eleventh century. This allowed the ancient craftsmen to create beautiful products. The design of the machine was simple, it rotated with the help of a foot drive, but the dishes that the potters of that time managed to create amazed with their mastery of creation and the variety of forms. Originally, making pottery was a feminine affair. However, in literary manuscripts of Kievan Rus there are only references to male potters.
They used clay for their products, which they specially processed by wetting with water and actively kneading. Of the greatest demand from all the pottery, pots and other vessels were used, which were made of different sizes and were used for different purposes, it was possible to pour water in them or store food, berries. Pots were placed in an oven and cooked food. Such dishes have survived to the present day.
What were the Old Russian masters famous for?
Describing the crafts of Ancient Russia from the 9th-12th centuries, we briefly note that Russian Slavs of the pre-Christian period were able to mint, made ceramics, knew the art of fine embroidery, and were famous for the skill in making enamels. The work of Kiev artists has survived to this day. These are unique examples of bone carving, blackening, and metal engraving. Ancient Russian glass-making masters and their tiles were famous all over the world.
Ancient Russia mastered various crafts, but the most skillful of them was wood processing. From this material, farm buildings, dwellings, gates and bridges, fortresses and walls were built. The boats were wooden; all household utensils were generously decorated with wood carvings. It’s not a secret for anyone that the main souvenir that embodies the art craft in Ancient Russia is a nesting doll - a colorfully painted wooden doll with a void inside. The same beauties come out of it one after another, and each is slightly smaller in size than the previous one.
Art painting
The decorative and applied crafts of Ancient Russia were famous far beyond its borders. Since ancient times, our ancestors delighted the whole world with their art of painting. A variety of patterned motifs in Russian ornamentation led to the emergence of different schools and directions of this folk craft. Each of them was characterized by its own colors and lines.
Gzhel
The bright blue-and-blue cobalt painting on a white background of porcelain was called Gzhel, which came from the name of the town near Moscow, where this direction originated. It was first mentioned in a letter of Ivan Kalita. At first, the craftsmen made dishes and toys, later, with the development of production, the range expanded significantly. Fireplace tiles were especially popular. Gzhel ceramics became popular around the world. Other paintings of our ancestors also received names from places of their creation and distribution.
Bright colors against a dark background
Zhostovo painting is an art craft in Ancient Russia that came in the eighteenth century from a village of the same name near Moscow. It is an oil painting on metal trays. It is easy to recognize her by bright colorful flowers, fruits, birds, located on a dark background. The applied patterns are then coated with a special varnish, so they have such a brilliant appearance. The technique of this painting is quite complicated, the image is created in several stages.
Very cheerful shades are pleasing to the eye, so the trays were very popular in Russia and are still a decorative element in many homes and institutions.
Palekh
Palekh miniature came from the district center in the Ivanovo region . This type of craft is a painting on varnished products. Drawn over a black background, colorful folklore, everyday, religious subjects adorn caskets, caskets and other things. It is believed that the Palekh lacquer miniature appeared in the fifteenth century, when Ancient Russia was distinguished by the flourishing of cities and trade. Crafts originated in many ways. For example, such a direction of ancient craft as Palekh miniature was created by ancient Russian icon painters. Skilled artists lived in Palekh, who received invitations from all Russian regions for painting in temples and churches. It was they who began to paint the caskets with all sorts of fabulous and historical subjects. All images were applied with bright tempera paints over a black background.
The technology of this type of craft is quite complex, the process of creating thumbnails is laborious and multi-stage. You need to study and master it for a long time, but as a result, an ordinary dark box turns into a thing unique in beauty.
Khokhloma
Another type of hand-painted woodwork is Khokhloma, which appeared more than three hundred years ago. Crockery and household items, painted with fiery scarlet flowers, attract attention with their unusualness. Patterns that form in the most beautiful ornaments are pleasing to the eye today. There is a secret in the creation of Khokhloma products, which consists in the fact that they are varnished several times, and then hardened in a furnace. As a result of firing, the coating turns yellow, and products made of wood seem to be gilded with precious utensils. In addition, the dishes as a result of such processing becomes durable. Its coating allows you to use Khokhloma cups, bowls, spoons for their intended purpose - for storing food, for eating.
Popular prints
Lubok is another type of folk art representing the crafts of Ancient Russia. This lesson was creating a print on paper using a wooden cliche. Such folk pictures were common in the fair trade in the seventeenth century and until the beginning of the twentieth century were the most widespread and widespread type of Russian fine art. The plots displayed by the pub are very diverse: religious and moral topics, folk epos and fairy tales, historical and medical information, which were always accompanied by a small text that could be instructive or humorous and told about the customs and life of its time with the wisdom inherent in the people.
Crafts of Ancient Russia, 18th century: Russian samovar
We have the right to be proud of the skill of our Russian craftsmen. Today, their work can be seen not only in museums, but also in our own homes. Some types of crafts in Ancient Russia were especially popular. For example, Tula samovar is found throughout our country to this day. In the eighteenth century, there were more than two hundred different types of these products. Nowadays, in the city of Tula, there is even a museum of samovars.
Who were the first masters that Ancient Russia was so famous for? Crafts, unfortunately, did not retain the names of their creators. But things are said to us that have come down to us from the depths of centuries. Among them there are unique rare objects and household utensils, but in each product you can feel the skill and experience of an old Russian craftsman.