New Russian Birch Bark Tues w/ Banya, Samovar & Tea Cup

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Hello and welcome to our auction. You are bidding on a Russian Birch Bark tues cannister featuring a banya and a samovar with a tea cup, that we brought back from Moscow, Russia on our latest buying trip. The banya has birch limbs in it for use on the person bathing. The tea cup has steaming hot tea in it, and the samovar has a smiling face. This tues is new and it measures 4 1/4 diameter x 4 3/8 h (5 1/4 h with the handle). This tues is used in Russia for storing berries or honey. Russian people would take this cannister with them to the forest to place berries they found in it, so that the berries would not be bruised. This is a beautiful piece of Russian craftsmanship to own. Hurry and place your bid now, so that you don't miss out on the item. На рисунке пляшет "Камаринскую" веселый самовар, руки в бока. Так же изображен "ушат" с горячей водой и березовым веником для бани. Обычно, раскрасневшийся россиянин, попарившись в бане и попробовав массаж березовым веником, окунается в реку с очень холодной водой (ну, или в бассейн). А потом пьет горячий чай с "бубликами".Now a little about how this craft is done.Birch bark handicrafts are original popular craft products. Birch barkattracted craftsmen because it retained its properties after processing, remaining soft, supple and strong. Birch bark is the thin upper layer of birch rind, delicate pinkish-cream in color. The Russian name – beresta – has been known since the 15 th -16 th centuries.Birch bark was (and still is) used to make tueses (also called buraks ) – food and drink containers. Going into the field in the morning, peasants would take a tues with water or kvass with them, and the drink would stay cool even on a very hot day. On their back peasants carried birch bark pesters (wicker backpacks); they were shod in lapti – bast shoes, often also made of birch bark. Various boxes and baskets for keeping flour or honey, shepherd’s horns, fishing net ropes etc. were made of birch bark too.Northern carved birch bark products can be divided into several types depending on the carved pattern – with clear connections to other popular crafts such as embroidery or bone carving.Birch bark was always a popular handicraft material. This flexible but strong material was used to make various wicker products (boxes and baskets, pesters , lapti , bread baskets, salt cellars etc.). Tueses were made of birch bark – cupped jars crafted from whole skolotens (uncut birch bark sections pulled off like a “stocking” from sawed-off birch trees). Wicker products were made using straight or oblique wickerwork techniques. Boxes and pesters are rectangular, lapti and overshoes are foot-shaped, salt cellars may look like ducklings, little bottles etc.Wicker birch bark handicrafts usually have no special decorations. The aesthetics are expressed in the form, the delicate, velvety texture of the bark and the variety of the natural material. E.g. spring birch bark is coolly yellow, while autumn bark is warm, dark brown. Combining various kinds of birch bark produces wonderful color effects.Birch bark is harvested at the beginning of summer, in late May and early June when birches are full of juice and the bark easily comes off the rest of the rind. If you do it properly and don’t damage the next rind layer ( zazelen ), no harm would be done to the tree and a few years later it will grow new spruce white clothes.The earliest record of birch bark processing technology goes back to the 18 th century. The tools are quite simple: knife and awl. The required shape is first drawn on and then cut out of the bark sheet. Carving and embossment were occasionally supplemented with chasing: using a hammer and a kanfarnik (tube-like chisel), the craftsman “removes” the background and produces a grainy surface. This old metal-working technique was used in birch bark craft since the 19 th century. We only accept PayPal. Payment is expected within 3 days of the auction closing. If you live in Alabama, then state sales tax will be char... read more

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