Kholuy lacquer miniature

Kholuy lacquer miniature is an original and interesting direction in the Russian folk decorative art, which earned world fame. Kholuy artists, as well as the Palekh artists, having adopted the technology of production from the Fedoskins, were the founders of a new, original art – Russian lacquer miniature on papier-mâché products. Kholuy miniature is picturesque and decorative. The plot usually unfolds against the backdrop of the landscape. The themes of miniatures are diverse – native nature, historical events, literary images, wise Russian fairy tales. A great place in the works of artists occupy the themes of the revolutionary struggle, civil war, modern socialist reality, the pathos of creative work.

The village of Kholuy is the corner of the Ivanovo region, the embodiment of the charm of the Central Russian nature. Today Kholuy village is known as one of the centers of lacquer miniature painting on papier-mâché. Traditions, originated in icons, turned into a lacquer miniature and got their new life. The difference between the modern Kholuy lacquer miniature is the realism of the image, the warmth and kindness of the person’s soul, which is transmitted from the author to the viewer. The colors are not bright, restrained, each line of composition carries a deep meaning. Inspiration for the creativity of artists comes from the surrounding nature.
In the XVIII-XIX centuries objects made of papier-mâché, decorated with a lacquer miniature – caskets, tea-pots, snuffboxes – enjoyed great popularity in various strata of Russian society – from the aristocracy to the simple townspeople. Their decorative decoration and picturesque subjects reveal the whole world of representations and images of old Russia.
Mass production of these products began in 1795, when the Moscow merchant P.I. Korobov founded a factory for the production of varnish visors for headgear outfits of the Russian army. He took several craftsmen from the famous German lacquer factory and with their help established the production of lacquer snuffboxes and other items.

Kholuy lacquer miniature