The founder of the Babya Dolya Museum in Kolomna is Natalya Leonidovna Ryabtseva. Natalya had been nurturing the idea of creating an unusual museum for more than ten years. The basis for the future museum exhibition was her personal collection of linen items: antique rushniks (embroidered ritual towels), costumes and shirts. The first item that began Natalya’s collection was a handwoven antique rushnik with red patterns, purchased at an Orthodox fair in the Novozybkov district.
The mission of the Babya Dolya Museum is the preservation of authentic Russian culture, everyday life and the traditions of folk needlework. It is no coincidence that the museum’s name includes the phrase 'She spun. She wove. She embroidered' — this is both the title of Natalya’s first linen collection exhibition and a reflection of the activities of Russian women who lived more than a hundred years ago. Russian women traditionally clothed their families, so girls were taught to spin, weave and embroider from an early age. The museum’s exhibition tells how women cultivated and processed flax, spun threads, created handwoven cloths and sewed traditional clothing from them.
Embroidered rushnik with good wishes. Photo: official group of the museum on VKontakte
Embroidered rushnik with good wishes. Photo: official group of the museum on VKontakte
Embroidered rushnik with good wishes. Photo: official group of the museum on VKontakte
The museum displays a large collection of carved and painted spindles gathered from different corners of Russia. In old Rus' spindles were not only tools of labor but also had a sacred meaning and were a valuable gift: they were passed down as heirlooms and given to brides and wives. In old times people said: 'The spindle is not God, but it gives a shirt,' 'Don’t be lazy to spin — you’ll be well clothed.' The museum also features festive women’s costumes from the Ryazan, Kaluga, Kursk, Nizhny Novgorod and Voronezh provinces and traditional men’s shirts from the late 19th–early 20th centuries.
Collection of carved and painted spindles. Photo: official group of the museum on VKontakte
Traditional men’s shirts from the late 19th–early 20th centuries. Photo: official group of the museum on VKontakte
In old Rus' girls prepared their trousseau from childhood. A trousseau was supposed to include around twenty sets of clothing, bedding, handwoven cloths, headdresses, belts, at least fifty rushniks and much more. Rushniks were woven for different occasions: for weddings, for memorials and simply as gifts. On major Orthodox holidays rushniks were used to decorate the walls of the izba (traditional Russian log house). The museum’s collection contains many narrative rushniks with amusing inscriptions and wise sayings.
Vasily Maksimov (1844–1911). Sewing the trousseau. 1866. Collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery
The Babya Dolya Museum is located in a small wooden house on the outskirts of Kolomna. The museum can be visited individually or as part of a guided tour by prior arrangement. The museum regularly holds master classes in spinning and traditional block-printing techniques for fabric, as well as workshops on making textile dolls and jewelry. In the museum shop you can purchase clothing and accessories made from natural fabrics.
