Bright magnificent flowers: roses, peonies, daisies, forget-me-nots, chrysanthemums and lilies of the valley (it is impossible to list them all), skillfully scattered by the artist's skillful hand on a dark glossy metal surface, is a traditional Zhostovo painting on trays. Unique unparalleled!

The history of the ancient Russian craft dates back almost 2 centuries, and during this time the products of the Zhostovo masters not only have not lost their popularity and beauty, but, on the contrary, have gained even greater fame throughout the world and have been enriched by the innovative ideas of today's young painters.

The origin of the Zhostovo crafts

Today, any modern housewife will be happy to receive a real Zhostovo tray as a gift, which can be used not only for its direct utilitarian purpose, but also as an original decoration of the kitchen interior. In the same way, women rejoiced at the beginning of the 19th century when they were presented with such beauty.

But Art began to take shape in Russia at the end of the 18th century. The first trays, caskets, snuffboxes, cigarette cases, all kinds of boxes, etc., painted in the technique of lacquer miniature, which were made in the villages of the Moscow district: Ostashkovo, Troitskoye, Novosiltsevo, Sorokino and Zhostovo, belong to that time.

Gradually, the production of trays stood out in a separate channel, and the village of Zhostovo firmly occupied the leading role in their manufacture. By the way, the first trays were made exclusively from papier-mâché. Now it is already difficult for us to imagine a Zhostovo tray made of such a material.

Further development of Zhostov's art

In 1825, the workshop of Osip Filippovich Vishnyakov was opened in Zhostovo. It is from this event that the chronology of the existence of individual folk gesture crafts is conducted. Of course, this workshop was not the only one. Gradually, other artels were organized: Yegor Vishnyakov in the neighboring village of Ostashkovo, A. A. Zaitsev in Troitskoye village. The popularity of their products was huge! The Zhostovo tray sold well in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities.

In 1830, several workshops were opened in Zhostovo and neighboring villages, the founders of which were E. F. Belyaev, T. M. Belyaev, F. V. Shapkin, V. L. Leontiev and I. S. Kolomenskoy. Gradually, production grew, products for painting began to be made not from papier-mâché, but from a more durable and modern material - iron.

Legendary artists of Zhostovo

Gradually, a new Zhostovo tray, familiar to all of us, was born. The history preserved in the regional chronicles tells how more and more local talented peasants gradually became involved in the work of art workshops. It is surprising how many talents turned out to be among ordinary, uneducated serfs. The first master mentioned in the historical document of 1839 was the serf of Count Sheremetyev - Veshnyakov Philip Nikitin, he was engaged in painting trays together with his son. This is how artistic dynasties were born in Zhostovo.

The most famous masters of Zhostovo trays: O. E. Burbyshev (there are legends about this artist in Zhostovo, he was such a virtuoso master), N. M. Tsaplagin, A. E. Vishnyakov, K. V. Gribkov, I. S. Leontiev , D. S. Kledov, P. S. Kurzin, I. A. Saveliev, M. R. Mitrofanov, A. P. Gogin, I. P. Plakhov, B. V. Grafov. All these masters and many others left a deep mark on the art of Zhostov, it was they who created the wonderful works of the Zhostovo miniature, which were included in the golden fund of crafts.

Zhostovo tray - manufacturing technology

The original technology for the production of Zhostovo trays has been polished over many years. The masters have many secrets of the craft, which they are not going to share with anyone. So about the technology of manufacturing Zhostov's products can only be described in general terms.

As mentioned above, modern trays are made of iron. They can have the most bizarre shape, it all depends on the original intention of the artist. Before painting, the tray must be carefully sanded and covered with a double layer of primer prepared on the basis of soot and kaolin. After that, the workpiece is again polished and covered with several layers of colored varnish. Moreover, each layer must be well dried and also ideally polished.

Further, the manufacture of Zhostovo trays proceeds to the next stage. After all preparatory work the product is ready for painting, and the master artist starts further work on it. Zhostovo trays are traditionally painted with oil paints. After its completion, the product is again varnished in several layers, followed by drying and polishing to give the finished tray an almost mirror shine.

Artistic techniques and features of Zhostovo painting

Zhostovo painting originates from traditional Russian lacquer miniatures, but, of course, they have their own characteristics. The basis can, perhaps, be called a drawing with bright colors on a dark background and the design of the composition with a golden ornament. The background of Zhostovo trays is not necessarily black, it can be of any color: red, brown, green, blue and ocher. Sometimes there are even compositions made on gilding (imitation of gold), mother-of-pearl or a light, almost white background, but this is rather a deviation from the rules dictated by the artist's imagination.

The gesture tray is usually painted in such a way that in the center of the composition (flower bouquet) there are the largest and brightest flowers, which are the main focus. Closer to the edges, the elements of the bouquet become smaller and darker, as if they merge with the background. This achieves visual depth and volume of painting. Zhostovo flowers are not painted from life, most often they are conditional, much in their image depends on the creative imagination of the master.

Main motives and plots

The main motifs of Zhostovo painting, of course, are all kinds of floral motifs, the variety of which is innumerable! Zhostovo painting adheres to several traditional types of composition. Flowers can be collected in large bouquets, consisting of 3-5 inflorescences, depicted in baskets, or arranged in garlands around the entire perimeter of the tray.

Sometimes the painting can be supplemented with images of berries, fruits or birds. There are examples of Zhostovo painting, similar to ancient precious ones. Despite the fact that the drawing of plants is rather conditional, there are all the signs of a careful study of details, a general color, and free improvisation.

Zhostovo trays: how to draw in stages

The whole process of painting a tray can be divided into 4 stages. First, the so-called "painting" is done: on the product, as it were, a generalized silhouette of the future drawing, the location of the main spots, is thrown with bleached paints.

Next come the "shadow" and "laying": the application of transparent shadows and the designation of the lightest places with dense colors. After that, the shape of flowers and leaves becomes more defined.

The third stage is glare: applying quick whitening strokes. With their help, all volumes are specified.

And finally, the final 4th stage follows, at which the "drawing" and "binding" are performed. With the help of the thinnest brush, the master outlines the contour of each leaf and petal with elastic flexible lines, draws small twigs and details, which are called binding.

Prospects for the development of fisheries

Currently, Zhostovo art crafts are going through hard times. Until the 90s of the last century, the workshops were under the care and funding of the state, after perestroika and collapse Soviet Union The factory has gone into private hands. Now profit has become the cornerstone, but not the preservation of traditions and crafts.

The number of artists at the enterprise was significantly reduced. Many masters began to work independently, at home. Many private orders are carried out, tailored not only for the Zhostovo tray. Modern masters often work on painting a variety of items: from refrigerators and mobile phones to bottles of expensive collection wine. The influx of talented youth - graduates of the Fedoskino School of Lacquer Miniatures in recent times decreased. But nevertheless, the enterprise still lives, works with dedication and faith in the future.

How to get to Zhostovo?

For everyone who wants to get acquainted with the history and art of Zhostov, the enterprise organizes interesting 5-hour excursions with master classes. A store is constantly working at the factory, where you can buy handicrafts, as they say, "hot, hot".

Getting from Moscow to Zhostovo is not difficult. It is necessary to overcome only 50 km along the Ostashkovsky highway towards the Mytishchi region. You can also easily get there by train or bus. Another option: bus number 438 runs constantly from the Medvedkovo metro station to Zhostovo.

Zhostovo hand-painted - trays. | A bit of history.

The craft of painted metal trays arose in the middle of the 18th century. in the Urals,
where the metallurgical plants of the Demidovs were located (Nizhny Tagil,
Nevyansk, Verkh-Neyvinsk), and only in the first half of the 19th century
trays began to be made in the villages of the Moscow province - Zhostov,
Troitsky, Novoseltsevo, etc.

The history of the Zhostovo craft dates back to the beginning of the 19th century, when in several villages and villages near Moscow - Zhostovo, Ostashkov, Khlebnikov and others - workshops for the manufacture of painted papier-mâché lacquerware appeared.

In 1825 the miniaturist O.F. Vishnyakov, the son of the owner of a Moscow factory for the manufacture of metal painted trays, founded a workshop in Zhostovo, where they created trays with plot and flower painting.

The Vishnyakovs' price list read: "The Vishnyakov brothers' establishment of lacquered metal trays, biscuits, pallets, papier-mâché boxes, cigarette cases, tea caddies, albums, etc. has existed since 1825."

At the beginning of the 20th century, the demand for products of Zhostovo craftsmen decreased, which led to the decline of the craft. In 1928, all small artels merged into a specialized artel "Metalpodnos" with a center in the village of Zhostovo. The main motif of Zhostovo painting is a flower bouquet mainly on a black or red background. Much less often, other colors serve as a background.

A traditional feature of the painting is the improvisational performance of each individual composition. The artist paints not from life and not according to models, but focusing on his imagination and compositional techniques, so there are no two identical trays. There are several established types of compositions. Flowers can be arranged in garlands around the perimeter of the tray, collected in bouquets of three or five flowers, depicted in baskets. Flowers often accompany images of fruits, berries or birds.

For the production of Zhostovo trays, thin roofing steel is used: the sheets are stamped, then the trays are rolled to stiffen the sides. After that, the trays are primed, sanded and covered several times with oil varnish, usually black, with each layer drying in the oven.

Then the masters paint the trays by hand with oil paints without the use of stencils and samples, relying on their own imagination. The painting is usually done on a black background (sometimes on red, blue, green, silver), and the master works on several trays at once. The ornamental pattern is applied with "created" gold (gold powder diluted in transparent lacquer or turpentine) or gulfarba (white paint with lacquer), which is sprinkled with aluminum powder. The main motif of the painting is a floral bouquet of a simple composition, in which large garden and small wild flowers alternate.

First, painting is done (the main silhouettes of the bouquet), then dressing: shadows are superimposed, light places are prescribed, dense strokes, highlights are applied, with thin lines - veins of leaves, stamens, and then large flowers are associated with smaller elements of the pattern with herbs, stems, etc. ., lastly, an ornament located on the sides is applied (the so-called cleaning). After painting, the Zhostovo products are again coated three times with a colorless varnish, dried in an oven, and polished with a fine powder by hand to a mirror shine.

Over the course of its history, Zhostovo trays from a household item have become independent decorative items, and the craft has acquired the status of a unique type of Russian folk art. At present, the production of trays with lacquer painting is concentrated in the village of Zhostovo, Moscow Region, and in Nizhny Tagil.

Master class with step by step photo"Elements of Zhostovo painting"

Author of the work: Shakleina Irina Yuryevna, educator of MADOU CRR, d/s No. 110 Kaliningrad region Kaliningrad city.
This material will be useful for preschool educators in their work on acquaintance of older children. preschool age with Zhostovo painting, for parents.
Target: acquaintance of children with the features of the painting of the Zhostovo craft.
Tasks:
- to cultivate love and respect for folk craftsmen, pride in their people;
- allocate means of artistic expressiveness: pattern elements, color, composition;
- to fix the techniques of drawing with a brush: with the end of the brush, with the whole brush, perform a double stroke when depicting buds, flowers and leaves;

Materials and tools:
- landscape sheets tinted with black (blue, green) gouache or ink, or black (blue, green) paper from the Colored Paper set, or cardboard (the shape of the paper depends on what shape the trays will be - round, oval, rectangular );
- gouache;
- brushes for drawing (squirrel or kolinsky, No. 2, No. 4, 5);
- palette;
- jar for water;
- a rag for a brush;
- cotton buds.

Zhostovo painting is a Russian folk craft of artistic painting of forged metal (tin) trays, which has existed since 1825 in the village of Zhostovo, Mytishchi district, Moscow region. The tiny village of Zhostovo is world famous for its trays of gorgeous flower bouquets. Together with Khokhloma and Gzhel, trays with floral ornaments became a real calling card of our country, personifying Russian folk crafts, and recognizable far beyond the borders of Russia. By purpose, the trays are divided into two groups: for domestic purposes (for samovars, for serving food) and as decoration.
Painting is usually done on a black background (sometimes on red, blue, green, silver), painting is carried out without transferring the drawing to the surface.
The main motif of the painting is a flower bouquet, in which large garden and small wild flowers, leaves, buds and stems alternate. The center of the bouquet are images of large flowers: poppy, rose, dahlia or aster. Wildflowers are introduced into the drawing as elements that complement and enrich the composition.
The bouquet may be placed in the center of the tray, in which case one speaks of a collected bouquet.

If flowers and leaves are located along the edges of the tray, they talk about a wreath.

Elements of Zhostovo painting are depicted in several stages:
- painting (the beginning and basis of the composition of the future pattern, i.e. the silhouettes of flowers and leaves in accordance with their plan);
- tenezhka (the word "tenezhka" is consonant with the word "shadow". Flowers have volume, shady places of plants are indicated);
- laying (one of the most important stages of painting. The shape of the bouquet takes on flesh - many details are clarified, a contrasting or more harmonious structure of the entire composition is highlighted and realized);
- glare (imposition of glare reveals light and volume. The bouquet seems to be illuminated. Glare creates mood and color).
- drawing (this is the final part of the work. Using a special thin brush, the artist applies small but very significant strokes - veins and lacy edges on the leaves, "seeds" in the center of the cups of flowers);
- binding (with the help of thin stems, blades of grass and tendrils, the bouquet is formed into a single whole and connected with the background).
- cleaning the edges of the tray (decoration of the side of the tray, consisting of geometric or floral patterns. Cleaning can be modest, or it can compete with luxurious antique picture frames. Without cleaning, the product looks unfinished).
This is a very long and complicated process.
Acquaintance of preschoolers with Zhostovo painting takes place in the senior and preparatory groups. The whole process of step-by-step creation of a flower arrangement is difficult for preschoolers to depict. I want to bring to your attention a lightweight version available for preschoolers, which I use in my work with older preschoolers.
To make the strokes beautiful, neat, round squirrel and kolinsky brushes are used in brush painting. If you don’t have these, then use a brush with a thin tip of the pile for painting.

Master class progress:

Let's start with the image of large flowers.
He looks down on you
You will not find a prouder flower.
He is the lord in the autumn garden,
This is a bright color ... (dahlia).

This is how real dahlias look, pleasing our eyes with their beauty in the autumn garden.
Dahlias are luxurious plants with a long flowering period.

According to one of the legends, dahlias used to grow only in the royal garden and were protected like the apple of an eye. Once a young gardener stole a flower and planted it under the window of his beloved. The gardener was thrown into prison, but the flower ceased to be a wonderful secret and became available to ordinary people.
According to another legend, the dahlia grew when the earth thawed after the ice age, at the site of the last fire that died out. Her appearance has become a kind of symbol of the victory of life and the beginning of a new era.
Today, there are thousands of varieties of dahlias and several types of their classification.

Before drawing dahlias with children, you can sketch the future flower with a simple pencil in the form of a circle. Dahlias are depicted using the "double stroke" brush stroke technique. A double stroke helps to convey both color and shade. We choose a color scheme for our future flower. For example, red and yellow. We lower the brush into the yellow paint, remove the excess paint on the edge of the jar, pick up red paint on the tip of the brush and, by dipping, make strokes along the edge of our sketch in a certain sequence: top-bottom, right-left.

If the paint is over, then we wash the brush and pick up the paint again: first - yellow, on the tip of the brush - red paint. We continue to draw the petals of our dahlia.

In the same sequence, fill the second row of petals.

And now with light strokes we fill the middle of the flower. Here we have such a handsome man.

And this is a dahlia in a different color scheme.

head on leg,
Peas in the head.
The sun burns the crown,
Wants to make a rattle (poppy).

Blooming poppy is a symbol of unprecedented beauty, unfading youth and feminine charm.

I propose the following sequence of the image of the poppy.

A poppy bud can be depicted as follows.

There is a curl in the garden -
White shirt,
Golden heart.
What it is? (chamomile).
Chamomile is one of the most recognizable and dear to our heart flowers. Wreaths are woven from it, they are collected in bouquets, girls are guessing on it: “Loves - does not love”, and even look for answers to cherished questions: “Yes, no, it will definitely come true, it’s better not to do it.” There are legends about many flowers, including chamomile.
Long ago, in a small lost village, there grew up a beautiful girl with blond hair, sky blue eyes, and radiant sunny skin. The girl also had a lover - a young man Roman from the village next door. The couple spent all the time together, walking through the forests, meadows, picking flowers and berries. One night, Roman had a strange dream - a wise man gave him an amazing flower - with a yellow core and white petals around. In the morning, waking up, Roman saw a flower from a dream on his bed. In life, the flower was even more beautiful than in a dream. Roman gave it to his beloved, who called the flower a gentle name - Chamomile.
As the myth about the flower says, the lovers admired the beautiful chamomile, and one day the girl asked Roman to return to the land of dreams to collect a huge bouquet of daisies and give it to people. Roman went on a long journey, for several years he wandered through distant countries and, finally, at the very end of the world, he found the kingdom of sleep. The king offered to give Roman a whole field of daisies in exchange for the fact that the young man would forever remain in his possessions and would not return home. Roman for the sake of his beloved agreed to everything and remained in the realm of dreams. A beautiful girl waited a long time for his return, and one morning near the house she discovered a field of beautiful daisies. She guessed that Roman was alive and loved her, but they could not be together. Since then, chamomile has been considered a symbol of lovers.

For the image of the daisy, we again use the "double stroke" brush stroke technique. We collect white paint on the brush, and blue or blue paint on the tip of the brush. The tip of the brush always points to the center. We draw the petals in the following sequence: vertically above - below, horizontally on the right - on the left, strictly in the middle in the gaps formed.

Now we will draw small flowers that help to complement and enrich the composition.

Leaf - shamrock, like a fan,
Thin, flexible stem
Red hat - flower.
Sweet juice in those flowers.
A bumblebee flies after him to ... (clover).

The name trifolium means "having three leaves". Shamrock, Clover, Kashka. There are many legends around the clover - shamrock, of course, the most famous legend is about the fourth leaf. Finding such a four-leaf clover is considered incredible luck.
The most famous clover myth is that Saint Patrick used three leaves on one stem to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity - the leaves depicted God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It is also believed that with the help of a clover leaf, Patrick expelled all the snakes from the settlements where he was. Indeed, it is believed that where clover grows, snakes never crawl. Perhaps for this reason, the clover, or shamrock, is a symbol of Ireland.

To draw a clover flower, we need to mix paints - fuchsia and white. Get a gentle shade. We draw a circle with a pale pink color, then with the tip of the brush we pick up fuchsia-colored paint and draw small strokes in a certain sequence (the first row of strokes is at the bottom of the flower, a little higher is the second row of strokes, and the last row is at the top of the flower). We draw the petals of our clover with green paint using the “sticking” technique (you can draw either three petals or four)

This blue flower
Reminds us of you
About the sky - pure, pure,
And the sun is radiant! (forget-me-nots).

There are various legends about the origin of forget-me-nots, often very similar to each other. They talk about the tears shed by the brides when parting with their loved ones. These tears turn into blue flowers, like their eyes, and the girls give them to their lover as a keepsake... One legend about forget-me-not says that the goddess Flora, giving names to different plants, ignored a modest blue flower. Already leaving, she heard this flower quietly say: "Do not forget about me!". Flora saw the flower and named it forget-me-not, giving it the ability to evoke memories for people.

When depicting forget-me-nots, you can use cotton swabs.

Now let's move on to the image of leaves, grass. Here you need to practice a little in scrolling the brush clockwise with your fingers. Scrolling can be done very small, with the help of scrolling the brush, the leaves are obtained as if in motion, slightly with curved tips. For the image of all the leaves, we also use the "double stroke" technique to convey color and shade. First we collect green paint, on the tip of the brush - yellow paint.

We depict these large long leaves with a “zigzag” stroke - the tip, the entire brush, the tip, scrolling the brush with your fingers.

To make it easier to draw the leaves of dahlias, roses, you can first draw an approximate outline of the leaf with a pencil. The first stroke is always done in the middle. This stroke is called "zigzag" - the tip, the whole brush, the tip. Then sequentially fill the body of the leaflet.

Zamalevok

With bleached paints, the general silhouette of the composition is outlined, the location of the main color spots. In painting, the master draws the silhouette of a bouquet on the working surface of the tray with a wide brush. Zhostovo painting is carried out without a preliminary drawing with dense, somewhat whitened paints simultaneously on several trays. The cursive manner of writing allows the Zhostovo masters to paint 5, 6 or more trays a day. Creating a bouquet, the artist rotates the tray on his knee, as if substituting the desired area of ​​its surface under the brush. At the same time, you need to follow the beauty and expressiveness of the silhouette of flowers, buds, leaves and stems, the rhythmic arrangement of colorful spots, the ratio of the scale of the painting of the form and the background of the tray. The painting is dried for 3-4 days in free air or for several hours in an oven, after which it is covered with a light varnish and cleaned for the second stage of writing.

Tenezhka

Shadows are superimposed on the dried out painting with glazing paints. This technique immerses the bouquet in the depth of tone. Glazing paints are applied with strong, juicy strokes with a wide flat brush: blue (Prussian blue or ultramarine), green (emerald green) and red (kraplak). The shawl is designed to enhance the sound of color and emphasize shady places in flower forms.

pad

Dense body letter. The forms of the bouquet are refined, highlighted using dense colors. With bright, dense colors, the artist reveals (paves) the volumes of flowers and leaves.

blikovka

The imposition of highlights reveals volume and light, completes the sculpting of forms. Complements the lining with bleaching cuts of flowers, buds and leaves.

Drawing

This technique quickly and easily outlines the petals and leaves, seeds in the cups of flowers. It completes the cutting of the main forms of the bouquet with thin, musical lines, drawing the outlines of the petals and leaf veins. In the cups of flowers, the master depicts stamens and pistils, which is called planting seeds.

Binding

Final letter. Grass pattern, written in green or brown paint in the gaps between flowers and leaves. Zhostovo bouquets are characterized by the brightness of colors: blue, red, green, yellow, white, orange, the sonority of which is especially emphasized by the black lacquer background.

Ornament

Painted with gold paint on the side of the tray. The sides of the trays are decorated with a light, openwork ornament. The ornament is executed with a squirrel brush and light varnish.

Trays are made from ordinary sheet iron. Forged products are primed, puttied, sanded and varnished, which makes their surface perfectly smooth, then painted with oil paints and topped with several layers of transparent colorless varnish. The most important operation requiring genuine creativity is painting. Painting subjects - floral and floral ornaments and everyday scenes from folk life, landscapes, scenes of folk festivals, weddings and tea parties. The most common type of Zhostovo painting is a bouquet located in the center of the tray and framed on the side with a small golden pattern. In this construction, one can see a certain reflection of the composition of the easel still life of the 19th century, enclosed in a gilded frame. But the motive itself received a more decorative and conditional interpretation than in easel paintings. It becomes a part of a decorative thing, special techniques allowed the craftsmen to organically fit it in, as if to “melt” it into the lacquered surface of the tray. The bouquet has turned into an elegant group of flowers, loosely placed on a brilliant lacquer background. Three or four large flowers (rose, tulip, dahlia, and sometimes more modest pansies, bindweed, etc.) were surrounded by a scattering of smaller flowers and buds, interconnected by flexible stems and light "grass", that is, small twigs and leaflets. The image seemed to be born from a shimmering depth, dissolving in it with transparent shadows and flashing bright bouquets on the surface. Slightly "drowned" in the background, the flowers seemed light semi-volumetric, tactfully given foreshortenings and turns of the rims did not visually break through the plane of the object.

Zhostovo painting and its painting technique, as well as the painting of each tray itself, is original and unique, because it is performed without any samples. Behind the captivating lightness and unconstrained artistry of writing, lies a huge skill developed by generations of talented unknown peasant artists in the past. Zhostovo artists paint with oil paints and soft squirrel brushes. While working, the artist holds the tray on his knee and, when necessary, turns it. And the hand with the brush rests on a wooden plank lying across the tray. At first, the artist only outlines the future painting, draws freely with quick and precise strokes. And even repeating the drawing, the master improvises, adds something new. Zhostovo painting begins with a "painting", with bleached paints a general silhouette of the image is outlined, the location of the main spots. The painted trays are dried in ovens for several hours. The following techniques, "shadow" and "laying", build the shapes of flowers and leaves; first, transparent shadows are applied, then light areas of the painting are “paved” with dense bright colors. This is followed by “glare”, that is, the application of whitewash strokes that clarify all volumes. The painting ends with elegant graphics of “drawings” and “bindings”. The elastic lines of the “drawing” easily run around the contour of the petals and leaves, expressively emphasizing their juicy painting in contrast. Small twigs, not accidentally called "binding", soften the transition to the background. Each craftsman uses these traditional techniques in the craft in his own way, creatively playing with the decorative possibilities of brush writing (for example, “glare” can gently “melt” with the “lining”, or can clearly stand out on it). As a result, endless variants of similar motifs and images appear, but one never sees literal copies or repetitions among them. So each tray is a unique work of art. Sometimes painting, also known as Zhostovo painting, glows with a special flickering light. This master used mother-of-pearl fragments in the picture, laying them directly on the tray. The means of Zhostovo art are vividly expressive. It has its own artistic system, pictorial techniques and original style, formed from an alloy of ornamental folk paintings and a realistic pictorial still life mastered by folk masters.

The art of Zhostovo is based on the techniques of writing developed by generations, without which his artistic mastery would have been impossible. It is born in the very process of a kind of painting-murals, combining the strict consistency and refinement of handicraft techniques with the improvisation of creativity.

The charm of Zhostovo's art lies in the sincerity, immediacy of its content and means of expression. It is democratic in all its manifestations; its perception does not require special knowledge and training. Garden and wild flowers - both real and born by the artist's fantasy, collected in bouquets and spread out in wreaths and garlands - this theme resonates with every person, awakens a sense of beauty.

Zhostovo painting is a Russian folk craft, which consists in painting metal trays, invented in the village of Zhostovo, Moscow Region.

What do foreign tourists bring from Russia? What souvenirs do you prefer? Among the traditional items of Russian folk crafts, these are the works of the Zhoskov masters - painted metal trays. Zhostovo painting is a Russian folk craft, which consists in painting metal trays, invented in the village of Zhostovo, Moscow Region.

The history of the emergence of painting metal trays.

The painting of metal trays arose in the middle of the 18th century in the Urals, where the metallurgical plants were located, and only in the first half of the 19th century did the craft become popular and migrated to the villages of the Moscow region - Zhostovo, Troitskoye and others. Behind short time Zhostovo painting became the leading one. Nowadays, the production of trays with this painting is concentrated in the village of Zhostovo and in Nizhny Tagil.

The history of the Zhostovo craft dates back to the beginning of the 19th century, when in several villages and villages near Moscow - Zhostovo, Ostashkov, Khlebnikov and others - there were workshops for the manufacture of painted papier-mâché lacquerware.

In 1825 the miniaturist O.F. Vishnyakov, the son of the owner of a Moscow factory for the manufacture of metal painted trays, founded a workshop in Zhostovo, where they created trays with plot and flower painting. The price list of the Vishnyakovs read: “The establishment of the Vishnyakov brothers of lacquered metal trays, biscuits, pallets, papier-mâché boxes, cigarette cases, tea caddies, albums, etc. has been in existence since 1825. In 1922, in the village of Novoseltsevo, the Novoseltsevo Labor Artel arose for the production of lacquered iron trays; in 1924, the Zhostovo Labor Artel and the Spetskustar were organized in the villages; in 1925 - "Varnisher" and at the same time in the village of Troitskoye - the artel "Own Labor" for painting trays. All of them were united in 1928 into a specialized artel "Metalpodnos" with a center in the village of Zhostovo.

The 1920s-1930s were not easy years in the history of Zhostovo. The tendencies of the straightforward assertion of modernity and realism common to Soviet art led to the fact that the organizations in charge of folk crafts tried to change the traditional direction of their development and introduced into Zhostovo painting samples of ornamental and thematic compositions created by professional artists without taking into account the specifics of local art and bearing the features of easel art and naturalism. Leading artists understood the foreignness of such innovations to the very essence of folk art, managed to resist them and direct new ideas to deepen traditional craftsmanship. In the 1960s, a new stage began in the history of Zhostovo, which continues to this day.

Features of the production and painting of Zhostovo trays

The main feature of Zhostkovskaya painting is a flower bouquet mainly on a black or red background. Much less often, other colors serve as a background. A traditional feature of the painting is the improvisational performance of each individual composition. The artist paints not from life and not according to models, but focusing on his imagination and compositional techniques, so there are no two identical trays. There are several established types of compositions. Flowers can be arranged in garlands around the perimeter of the tray, collected in bouquets of three or five flowers, depicted in baskets. Flowers often accompany images of fruits, berries or birds.

Another feature of the production of Zhostovo trays is the use of thin roofing steel: the sheets are stamped, then the trays are rolled to stiffen the sides. After that, the trays are primed, sanded and covered several times with oil varnish, usually black, with each layer drying in the oven. Then the masters paint the trays by hand with oil paints without the use of stencils and samples, relying on their own imagination.

The painting is usually done on a black background (sometimes on red, blue, green, silver), and the master works on several trays at once. The ornamental pattern is applied with “created” gold (gold powder diluted in transparent lacquer or turpentine) or gulfarba (white paint with lacquer), which is sprinkled with aluminum powder. The main motif of the painting is a floral bouquet of a simple composition, in which large garden and small wild flowers alternate. First, painting is done (the main silhouettes of the bouquet), then dressing: shadows are applied, light places are prescribed, dense strokes, highlights are applied, thin lines - veins of leaves, stamens, and then large flowers are associated with smaller elements of the pattern with herbs, stems, etc. ., lastly, an ornament located on the sides is applied (the so-called cleaning).

After painting, the Zhostovo products are again coated three times with a colorless varnish, dried in an oven, and polished with a fine powder by hand to a mirror shine.

Over the course of its history, Zhostovo trays from a household item have become independent decorative items, and the craft has acquired the status of a unique type of Russian folk art. At present, the production of trays with lacquer painting is concentrated in the village of Zhostovo, Moscow Region, and in Nizhny Tagil.

In all corners of the world, in all souvenir shops and shops where objects of Russian folk art are exhibited, there will always be a place for Zhostovo painting. The work of Russian folk craft of painting metal trays. Its bright, colorful appearance will tell a foreigner that Russia is not a gray and dull country, and our compatriots will be proud of their Motherland.