Antique Russian Kustar Pyrogravure & Painted Wood Tobacco Box

Antique, circa 1900 A.D. Russian Arts and Crafts” Kustar Art” Pyrogravure, hand painted, wood tobacco box of the Abramtsevo workshop. Lid depicts a peasant woman sitting in front of a traditional Russian country home. The sides decorated with chequered medallions within floral ornaments.

Arts and Crafts in Late Imperial Russia is the first account of the revival of Russia's kustar art industries peasant crafts of wood carving, toy production, lacemaking, embroidery, and weaving - from its origins in the populist debates and philanthropic impulses of the early 1870s to its climax in 1913, with the display of its achievements at the Second All-Russian Kustar Exhibition in St. Petersburg. Like every Western nation in the late nineteenth century Russia experienced a widespread movement to revive its traditional arts and crafts. This study uncovers the complex motivations that led a broad cross section of educated Russian society to devote their money, energy, and artistic skills to save kustar arts and crafts from extinction by adapting them to satisfy the tastes of a new, well-to-do urban consumer. Focusing on the four major centers of kustar art production, it also examines the role of the professional artist in the creative life of the peasant artist, the place of traditional culture in modern society, and the ways in which traditional gender roles affected the production of kustar crafts.

MEASUREMENTS: Diameter: 11 cm (4.33 inches). Height: 7.5 cm (2.95 inches).

CONDITION: In good condition and shape considering its age, with signs of age and usage, with old dark patina, minor wear.

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