What jewelry masterpieces were made from Russian birch by Carl Faberge himself, and what is special about this tree

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Each country has its own national tree. If you say palm, you represent a hot country. But when they say "birch", everyone understands that we are talking about Russia. This is a tree of stunning beauty, with light bark and delicate green leaves, which in ancient times was considered in Russia as a coastal tree, protecting the family from adversity. Birch is a kind of symbol of purity, it has been valued and revered from century to century. Poets wrote poetry about her, musicians created songs, and the most famous Russian ensemble of the 20th century was called "Birch".

Using birch bark for letters

In the middle of the 20th century, the first letter from birch bark was found in Veliky Novgorod. And it was exactly a birch letter. In Babylon, clay tablets were used for writing, in Egypt, papyri, in Europe, parchment, and in ancient Russia, birch bark letters were used for such purposes precisely from birch bark.

Birch bark was used for writing long before parchment and paper were brought to Russia. Birch with its light bark was the best suited for these purposes. Even Joseph Volotsky wrote that in the monastery of Sergius of Radonezh there were books written "not on charters, but on birch barks."

Today in museums you can see many important documents and serious books, which are written on birch bark, layered in a special way. If we return to the first find, then, fortunately, the suitable natural conditions and the special composition of the soil in the region of Veliky Novgorod allowed the letters to be preserved in good condition, and today they can be seen in the museums of the city.

A mermaid who spends the night under a birch tree and then burns at the stake

Many ancient rituals are associated with birch, since in ancient times in Russia it was considered a sacred tree. When Mermaid Week came, and it happened at the junction of summer and spring, then, as popular beliefs claimed, one could see lurking mermaids on the birch branches.

This legend still walks, for example, in the Bryansk region, and today there is a rite of seeing off mermaids to Trinity. A stuffed animal is made of straw, on which they put on a long women's dress, after which people carry the straw mermaid through the village, singing songs. The doll is planted under a birch tree or arranged on the branches of a tree, after which they return to the village. They pick her up the next morning. But children will not play with the straw mermaid, she will not become a decoration of the yard - she will be burned at noon at the stake. Thus, the ancient Slavs tried to cleanse the area of unclean spirits.

Uses for Musical Instruments and References in Songs

The famous Russian harmonica pleases the ear with its peculiar sound. Not a single village party can do without her. But the neck of this instrument is very often made of birch, since this tree is strong and durable. A lot of Russian folk songs have been written about birch, famous poets sang it, and this is understandable - the white-trunked beauty looks romantic, she is gentle and mysterious. It is very difficult to resist not to tell about her in the song. Although they often sing about trees in Russia: maple, rowan, poplar, and of course the Christmas tree - famous forest representatives of art. Birch still inspires poets, filmmakers, writers and artists today.

Sergei Yesenin told her that she covered herself with snow like silver, Pushkin admired the northern birch and wrote that this was the first object that struck him in the very heart when he arrived in the mountains during a trip to the south in the 19th century. Russia is a country of birch calico, so it was and will be so.

Faberge products made of wood

Despite the fact that birch is a tree, it has sometimes served as an excellent material for jewelry. It seems incredible, but in 1917 the jeweler Carl Faberge made one of his famous Easter eggs from this tree. He used Karelian birch and named the product "Birch Egg".

In Peterhof and Gatchina, you can see magnificent birch houses. This reflects the fashion of the second half of the 18th century, when a kind of surprise pavilions were often built. A modest wooden facade, behind which is an incredibly expensive and luxurious interior that will amaze the imagination.

Birch - the inspirer of artists, poets, carvers

Many famous artists, for example, Shishkin and Kuindzhi, Bogolyubov and Polenov, were inspired by Russian birch when creating their creations. This tree depicted innocence and purity, happiness and joy, striving upward and grace. But, for example, in the famous painting "The Rooks Have Arrived" by Savrasov, you can see a sad and gloomy birch tree. And vice versa, Igor Grabar in his "February azure" showed a real holiday, where a pearl birch stretches to the azure sky, and its branches give bizarre shadows in the snow.

Carvers often use birch trees as they are soft and pliable to work with. Peasants took birch bark tuyeski to work in the field, sometimes they even kept water in them, and it remained cold for a long time. Each province was famous for its birch bark craftsmen, there were many of them in Vologda and Vyatka, Tomsk and Tobolsk, in the Kama region. Each city could be recognized by the peculiarities of cutting, drawing, shape of products.

Birch bark items are very popular among foreigners visiting Russia. Today, souvenir shops offer many beautiful things created from birch according to old methods.

Now it is also very valuable material. And oh the mysterious Karelian birch, the mysterious pearl of the Karelian forests, needless to say.