The embroidery work of northern Russia, although considered part of the general overall embroidery design and decorative style that can be recognised as Russian, does have a distinctive style of its own as do many other areas of European Russia. So much so that when the Soviet Union displayed embroidery work from across the Union at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, northern Russian embroidery was displayed separately from central Russian embroidery, marking the distinction as a definite.
In fact there is much to support this distinction as northern Russia has for long held links both culturally and artistically with Scandinavia, through the early initial involvement of traders and explorers from the Baltic area, to Rurik the Swedish ruler of Novgorod who was to become overall ruler of early Russia. This does not imply that northern Russia is a cultural dependent or even a colony of Scandinavian culture, but it does imply that there are some shared cultural and craft roots, some of which can be seen in traditional decorative work such as embroidery.
Much of the earlier style of northern Russian embroidery is both figurative and geometrically patterned. There is still the reliance, shared with the rest of European Russia, on red stitches used on a white or natural background. Northern Russia tended to use wool for embroidery, as did much of Scandinavia, rather than the silk thread used by much of central Russia. However, it is through the representational decorative work, much of it showing horses, some with riders some without, that the links with Scandinavian decorative work can be drawn. There are elements that show analogies with both early Viking representational pattern work, but also that of the Sami who have always been indigenous to the extreme north of the area of northern European Russia, as well as across large swathes of northern Scandinavia.
It is unknown for certain at least, how old some of the decorative work of these examples are. Indeed some believe that there are elements, particularly within some of the motifs and figurative work, that could be derived from both pre-Christian Slav and Viking cultures and there is a certain amount of evidence to suggest that there is some truth in the matter. However, much of the decorative work is so layered with so many different generations of cultural ideas and identities that it is sometimes difficult to unpick the origins of styles and decorative effects from one individual decorative piece and be certain of their origin. It may be true that much of northern Russian decorative work can be traced back to links with Scandinavia or at least a percentage of it. However, at the same time these decorative pieces also have elements that show that they are still part of the Russian homeland as the double headed Romanoff eagle shows in at least one of these pieces.
As with embroidery around the globe, much of the work of northern Russian embroiderers was produced domestically on an amateur basis for both home and costume and to a large extent was produced by both women and girls. It is true to say however, that a certain percentage of embroidery work was of such a high standard that it could well have been considered to have been produced on a professional level, though probably still actually produced by amateurs. This was work that was usually specifically produced and then set aside for weddings in particular, some was even used as part of a dowry. A number of these pieces were so highly prized that they were lucky enough to have been passed down from generation to generation.
So many examples of traditional embroidery from around the world have either been lost or discarded, with skills being left dormant or forgotten entirely as generations leave those traditional skills behind them, that we are lucky to have examples like the ones shown here. All of these images come from one of the catalogues promoting the traditional craft skills of the Soviet Union at the 1925 Paris exhibition. Embroidery has been much maligned, particularly throughout the twentieth century, as a reactionary amateur craft. It was very often seen as part of the nineteenth century overly decorative style that bore no relation to a world that was to be dominated by the minimal woven efficiency of schools and movements like the Bauhaus. This short sightedness has meant the loss of large sections of European embroidery work in particular, much of which can never be recovered.
Further reading links:
Russian Punchneedle Embroidery
Russian and Other Slavic Embroidery Designs
Early Russian Embroidery in the Zagorsk Museum Collection
Russian Embroidery and Lace
RUSSIAN EMBROIDERY: TRADITIONAL MOTIFS
La Broderie Russe Ancienne (Ancient Russian Embroidery)
Russian Embroidery 17th-Early 20th Centuries
Russian Embroidery Book
Ancient Russian Ecclesiastical Embroideries
Antique Russian Embroidery
Russian embroidery patterns
Pearl embroidery in Russia. Avenue / Zhemchuzhnoe shite na Rusi. Prospekt
