Magic of Bobbins

Table-clothes, napkins, panels and pieces of clothing made by lace-makers of the famous factory “Snowflake” (Vologda) and Nadezhda Alexeevna Sverdlova (Vladimir) are displayed in the exhibition “Magic of Bobbins”.

The Vologda lace has a rich history. The earliest lace articles which have come down to us date back to the 17^th century. The lace made of gold and silver threads decorated rich secular clothes and church vestments. Lace making turned into trade in the middle of the 19^th century. Hundreds and later thousands of women made lace in the vast Vologda province and the neighbouring districts of the Novgorod province.

The lace-making art of Vologda continued developing in the 20^th century. Since 1918, lace-makers started to unite in artles under the direction of the Artelsoyuz, then the Vologda Lace Union which was reorganized in the Vologda Lace Association “Snowflake” in the early 1960s.

Preserving the tradition of the Vologda lace, professional designers and talented lace-makers create extraordinary works, modern in their form and artistic performance, which are used in our life.

The exhibition presents oeuvres of a galaxy of gifted artists: Vera Dmitrievna Veselova, Galina Nikitichna Mamrovskaya, Angelina Nikolaevna Rakcheeva, Nadezhda Valerievna Veselova, Marina Yurievna Palnikova, Tatyana Nikolaevna Smirnova, and Elsa Yakovlevna Khumala. They designed articles for mass production and unique exhibition panels.

The breadth of artistic subjects and motives was reflected in the works of the leading artists of the Lace Association “Snowflake”. Nature and architectural masterpieces are subject to the complicated interweaving of threads. Masters create both chamber motives and solemn and epic articles.

The gloves made by V.D. Veselova, one of the most famous Vologda’s lace-makers, are displayed in the museum. They are notable for fineness of netting and refinement of execution. Works of Vera Dmitrievna continue the family tradition. Articles created by her daughter N.V. Veselova can be also seen in this exhibition.

Artists, masters-experimenters, technicians making copies, and lace-makers were repeatedly awarded for high artistic level of the works and execution: they received medals and diplomas at different fairs and exhibitions in our country and abroad. Most of the creators whose works are displayed in the museum are members of the Union of Russian Artists. G.N. Mamrovskaya and A.N. Rakcheeva are Honoured Artists of Russia.

N. S. Gostinshchikova, research officer of the Exposition and Exhibition Department