The penultimate week of Great Lent is underway, ending with Palm Sunday. And the approach of the Feast of Feasts is already beginning to hang in the air, so traditional themed souvenirs and gifts are becoming especially relevant. Among the perennial leaders are all kinds of Easter eggs. (By the way, they are available in the museum shop).
These souvenirs are also in the collection, and they are quite interesting. For example, a narrative figurine titled "Child," dated to the 19th century. This object acquired the status of a museum piece in 2003, when it entered the collection from A.V. Ilyin, heir to the well-known Alexandrov families Zubov–Lavrovsky. The figurine is small, 8 x 4 cm, made of biscuit porcelain (a type of ceramic made from a white porcelain body not covered with a glossy layer of lead glaze). Therefore the sculpture is matte and slightly rough, which gives the "boy" a peculiar marble-like quality. And the Easter egg is a box that the child carries on his shoulders like a backpack, so the figurine can be considered a compositional piece.
"The appearance under Peter I of new materials associated with major transformations, in particular porcelain, glass, papier-mâché, contributed to the development of the art of making Russian Easter eggs. The first known egg that has survived to this day was made for Easter 1749 by the inventor of domestic porcelain Dmitry Vinogradov. In the 18th–19th centuries, artistically decorated Easter eggs became so widespread that from that time one can speak of them as a distinct type of decorative-applied and folk art," says Irina Korotkova, keeper of the collections of the museum-reserve "Alexandrovskaya Sloboda".
The tradition of an opening egg with a gift also arose in Russia in the 17th century. They gave precisely such eggs, inside which small presents were placed, and the egg acquired a mysterious air of secrecy or an unexpected surprise. When opened, children and adults would receive a ring, earrings, a thin handkerchief (depending on the donor's means); one could simply put a candy or another desired sweet inside.
There is still time to keep up this spirit and delight your loved ones with an Easter souvenir with a secret.
Press service of the museum-reserve
"Alexandrovskaya Sloboda".
