Блеск и нищета бижутерии. Повседневные украшения в России и СССР, 1880–1980 годы - [2]
After 3 years of WWI October 25,1917 the so called Great October Socialist Revolution took place. Bolsheviks seized power and the old system was quickly done away with. “Demonic” women, noble ladies together with wives of rich businessmen disappeared. Sixty years old baroness M. Wrangell ran to work in leaky boots, tied with string, the sister of His Serene Highness Prince Menshikov was selling soap on the market, and the widow of General Svinyin embroidered children’s dresses. Everywhere there were searches and arrests. Workers, soldiers and sailors became masters, and they just took away any precious things that they found in wealthy homes (ill. 44).
But the expropriation of private property was not the final goal of new government. They wanted to create a totally new human race, which will build the new socialist society. Evidently a new woman had absolutely no need of any jewelry (ill. 53). Women who despite everything put on some jewelry, were cruelly derided. For example, in the magazine “Working Woman” (1923) a story was published about a worker and his wife, who bought at first earrings and afterwards icons. The husband condemned her for backwardness and burned the earrings together with icons. Then the wife repented and went to study at the technical school.
Nevertheless this propaganda was in vain. Women wanted to be beautiful in spite of everything. The few remaining magazines published the latest fashions, and co-operative associations of artisans tried to make modern jewelry. The most popular were of course pearls (N1.45, 45a). Women of fashion wore also very long beads of bone, glass or plastic (ill. 47, 48, 50, 51). Some wove themselves dog collars of “rocailles” or seed beads, which were very fashionable at this time (ill. 46). In the photos 50, 51 the women wore necklaces together with cameos (probably of plastic). One of them depicting Worker and Peasant could serve as a symbol of Soviet jewelry of the 1920s (ill. 52).
Some of the “former” ladies managed to save the long amber necklaces that had been highly fashionable before the Revolution (ill. 54, 56, 56a). On the photo 54 are my grand-parents with my father.
In the mid-1920s a new style became fashionable known as “art deco” so-called from the name of the Paris exhibition of applied art (Arts Decoratifs) and modern industry (1925). In the Soviet pavilion at this exhibition the dresses developed by the outstanding fashion designer Nadezhda Lamanova in cooperation with the famous sculptor Vera Mukhina were presented. Because of the lack of textiles in the Soviet country they were made of folk embroidered towels, and decorated with beads made of cockleshells, stones or bread (ill. 57). These models received the Grand Prix “for the costume based on national art”. At that time the painter Tagrina was active, who made interesting brooches with painted enamel (ill. 58).
Despite the efforts of some well-known artists, the attitude of the authorities towards jewelry didn’t change. The level of their negativism could be measured, in particular, by the caricatures in very wide-spread satirical magazine “Crocodile”. For example, in № 9 (1932) one could see a disgusting woman playing cards, which wore two strings of beads, a ring and long earrings, what was to emphasize her hostile class essence (ill. 59).
All appeals of official publications to create a new Soviet fashion and to refuse jewelry didn’t take any effect. Women made every effort to look fashionable. In particular, the subject of their cherished dreams was jewelry in Art Deco style (ill. 60). These dreams sometimes could come true thanks to the small cooperative associations of artisans. In the photo 62 we see a group of vacationers in the resort Yessentuki (1934). Two women wear quite similar necklaces made very probably by some local handicraftsman.
Gradually old handicrafts began to revive, except icon painting, because Bolsheviks were atheists and fought actively against religion. So the inhabitants of Palekh in the countryside, who for hundreds of years painted icons, got into a very difficult situation. One of the masters 1.1. Golikov found the way out. He proposed to paint lacquered boxes in the style of icons. Along with the boxes they began to paint brooches with scenes of Russian tales and new Kolkhoz life (ill. 64). Their production was a great success, and later similar craftsmens associations were organized by other former icon painters in the villages of Mstera and Kholui. Masters of enamelling who painted holy pictures in Rostov Veliky did this too.
The factory in the country side Kostino also began to work (ill. 66). Among its most common products were beads in the form of black and white dumbbells (ill. 66a). Apparently, Czech beads at that time as well were not very dear (ill. 67).
