Zhostovo trays: history and features

The small village of Zhostovo, which is not far from Mytishchi, became known outside the Moscow region (and even Russia) thanks to its unique, colorful, recognizable among dozens of related areas of painting. Zhostovo trays are one of the symbols of Russian folk art. It arose in the 19th century, it could have been overtaken by the sad fate of many prematurely disappeared crafts, but the Zhostovo painting lives on today.

In 1825, the village craftsmen Vishnyakovs, serfs of Count Sheremetyev, learned at the manufactory where they worked, the technology of varnishing metal products and structures made of papier-mâché. So in the villages and villages of the former Trinity Volost, workshops appeared that produced painted products from papier-mâché, coated with varnish... There is another version: the son of the owner of the capital's factory, the miniaturist Vishnyakov, gave birth to an eminent craft.

The confusion arising from the surnames does not allow us to say for sure who became the progenitor of the famous Zhostovo trays. But in art there is a concept that can be called "the maturation of creativity." So, in that very Trinity volost, in several of its settlements, an atmosphere was created that gave rise to a unique creative direction. And it is no longer so important who was the first: the Vishnyakov brothers who bought themselves free, or the miniaturist with the same surname.

The Zhostovo craft is interesting in that the craftsmen did not have samples, they wrote from imagination, improvisationally. But behind this improvisation was a clear understanding of the rules and a refined technique. For the sake of fairness, it must be said that the Zhostovo craftsmen borrowed the motives for painting trays from Tagil artists. The Tagil craft is a century older than the Zhostovo craft and is characterized by the same finish of metal trays.

In the XX century in Novoseltsevo, one of the villages of the Mytishchi region, the Novoseltsevo labor artel was formed. The company produced lacquered metal trays. Two years later, two more branches were formed in Zhostovo - “Zhostovskaya Trudovaya” and “Spetskustar”, followed by “Painter” and “Own Labor” (only in Troitsk). In 1928, they all merged into a single system.

The geographical location of the village played into the hands of the artists: they could sell goods in Moscow without using the services of intermediaries. It was also convenient to buy raw materials for work there. At the same time, the first Soviet years were not easy for the Zhostovo masters: the time had come for socialist realism and naturalism in art, and traditional craft became irrelevant. But the artists managed to preserve the direction, interest in which reappeared during the Khrushchev "thaw". Russian creations have found their way to international exhibitions, and overseas demand has spawned the mass production of inexpensive souvenirs.

The key motive of the Zhostovo painting was a flower bouquet. In the creative direction, the combination of the realism of the living form of the flower and the decorative community is clearly noted, which is similar to the traditional brush painting that adorns spinning wheels, chests and little bowls. This solution of a flower bouquet is laid by the old development of decorative schemes, a set of garden and field flowers can be seen in them - this is an assembled bouquet, a bouquet offhand, a garland and a wreath.

The Zhostovo works have two main features.

• Bright colors. Black background is traditional, but with it blue, green and red variants appear. Along the edges of the tray there is a light twisted floral ornament.
• Technique, tradition of drawing. The artist works with a wide brush - skillfully sketches the composition on the tray itself. While working, he makes sure that the floral image is quite expressive, as well as the rhythmic location of the colorful spots.

The craftsmen work with squirrel brushes and oil paint. The paint is traditionally diluted with linseed oil, the brushes are washed in turpentine solution. Each artist has a rich collection of brushes: from thin, needle-thick to the largest. And each brush works out its own stroke.

Today, factory products are stamped on professional presses, which allow you to set any shape for the product. If the workpiece is stamped, then initially the sketch is drawn using a stencil, and then it is cut down and pulled out on an electric press.

But there are also exclusive orders, and then the master forges the utensils by hand. The blacksmith takes an iron sheet, cuts out the shape with special scissors, then knocks out the shape and draws it out. The edge of the product is rolled up, a wire is glued to it, which gives a relief shape to the product and at the same time strengthens it. Of course, a hand-forged product will be very expensive.

Zhostovo trays can be:

• round;
• oval;
• guitar;
• octagonal;
• rectangular (common);
• winged (with scalloped edges);
• combined.

In the 21st century, strict canonization, when the background should be clearly black and nothing else, is no longer observed. Silver, red and malachite background colors are no longer something unexpected in relation to Zhostovo trays. But flowers remain the main pattern of the craft. The Zhostovo residents took such a theme from the Ural masters, who also artistically interpreted the beauty of field and garden flowers.

Painted trays in the Zhostovo style have many recognizable nuances.

• The center of the composition with large plants, and even with such a drawing, as if a flower grows from the middle of the tray. At the edges there are smaller flowers.
• The main print is a flower bouquet or a flower wreath, floral ornaments of varying complexity are also required.
• The choice of colors is according to the personal decision of the author. Each artist depicted on a tray those flowers that he liked.
• Modern expansion of themes and patterns. Today's masters of Zhostovo painting paint still lifes, birds, animals, landscapes and various thematic images.

Creativity is a living process. Modern masters who continue and glorify the eminent trend are in search of new ideas (shapes, patterns, colors). This does not contradict the canons, but it develops the Zhostovo painting, partly embeds it into actual creative requests, in no case depersonalizing, not depriving individuality.

But a fake from an original can be distinguished.

1. This product must be stamped with the logo of the workshop that produced it.
2. Counterfeit trays may have sharp edges but true masters will never allow such a defect - the edges will definitely be rolled up. Edging is necessary not only from an artistic point of view, but also in order for the tray to gain strength.
3. The real tray is pretty thick: it must be so in order to hold the samovar and the dishes that are served with it. If you put something heavy on the tray and it bends, this is not a genuine Zhostovo product.
4. This tray has a mirrored surface. It is primed repeatedly, each layer must be sanded. And the varnish is applied to the surface in at least two layers, each of them is polished. We can say that everything in the Zhostovo tray is reflected as if in a mirror. And if this does not happen, then the varnishing stage is skipped, which can only be with a fake.
5. Perfect technique. Real masters cannot have crooked lines, dull colors, and fuzzy drawing. This is unacceptable, everything must comply with the standard and traditions.

For this reason, a product that is too cheap a priori cannot be a Zhostovo tray. Such multi-stage painstaking work with well-calibrated quality control is not cheap, but it will also serve the tray for many years.

The painting of trays from Zhostovo is also distinguished by its multi-layered nature. The first layer is the paint job. The master makes a scattering of color spots, buds and leaves in various compositional schemes with the smashed paint. Every stain must find its place and not deviate from the author's intention.

After that, drying begins, and after drying, the master proceeds to the second stage - shadow shading. With transparent paint for glazing, the artist applies dark, smaller details of floral elements.

The next stage is called gasket, during which the author paints the light zones with dense and opaque paint. Then comes the glare, and each master has it author's: some have a small, and some have a wide one. Glare can be compared to a musical rhythm.

The next stage is drawing. The master traces light petal edges, edges of leaves, flowers, buds. For example, "making a seed" means writing down the smallest details in the buds / flowers. Next, the binding begins: delicate grass filling the empty spaces between the elements makes the composition unified and harmonious.

At this stage, the painting of the tray actually ends: the tray is dried and handed over to the ornamentalist.

If you schematically depict the process of working on a tray, it will involve a series of steps.

1. A faint shade of the base color the wizard draws sketches of flowers and other components of the composition.
2. Next, the artist works on semi-transparent shadows. At this stage, inflorescences and leaves are drawn.
3. Flowers are shaped using a finishing shade.
4. After drying, the author applies glare to the drawing, which will give it volume.
5. With a thin brush the author draws the smallest details of the work that complete it.
6. Work is in progress on the background of the picture.
7. An ornament is applied to the edges of the tray - usually these are flowers or a geometric figure. This procedure is considered finishing, but still it is impossible to imagine the Zhostovo tray without it.

Today, it is not necessary to remotely comprehend the secrets of the perfection of the Zhostovo craft. The only studio of Zhostovo was opened in Moscow, where the best masters teach everyone.

You can take a closer look at the trays production process below.