XIV Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2022

Dymkovskaya toy, Vyatka toy, Kirov toy — one of the Russian folk clay crafts. It originated in the zarechnaya settlement of Dymkovo near Vyatka (now on the territory of Kirov).

There is no analogue of the Dymkovsky toy. A bright, elegant Dymkovsky toy has become a kind of symbol of the Vyatka land.

The Dymkovsky toy is one of the oldest crafts of Russia, which has existed on the Vyatka land for more than four hundred years. The appearance of the toy is associated with the spring holiday of the Whistler, for which the female population of the Dymkovo settlement sculpted clay whistles in the form of horses, rams, goats, ducks. Later, when the holiday lost its significance, the craft not only survived, but also received further development.

The revival of the craft took place in Soviet times in the 30s of the XX century and is associated with the name of A. I. Denshin, who managed to persuade hereditary craftsmen not to abandon the craft and organize the Vyatka Toy artel.

Dymkovskaya toy is a handmade product. Each toy is the creation of one master. Making toys, from modeling to painting, is a unique and creative process, never repetitive. There are not and cannot be two absolutely identical products. Each toy is unique, unique and inimitable.

For its production, local bright red clay is used, thoroughly mixed with fine brown river sand. The figures are molded in parts, individual parts are assembled and molded using liquid red clay as a binding material. Traces of modeling are smoothed out to give the product a smooth and neat surface.

After complete drying for two to fifty days and firing at a temperature of 700-800 degrees, the toys are covered with tempera whitewash in two or three layers (before whitewashing was carried out with chalk diluted in milk). Previously, toys were painted with tempera paints mixed on an egg with kvass, using sticks and feathers instead of brushes. The painted toy was again covered with beaten egg, which gave the faded aniline paints shine and brightness. Today, aniline dyes and soft column brushes are used for painting. The use of a wide range, in which there is a lot of red, yellow, blue, green, scarlet, gives the Dymkov toy a special brightness and elegance. Strictly geometric ornament is built according to various compositional schemes: cells, stripes, circles, dots are applied in various combinations. The decoration is completed by toys-lozenges made of potali or gold leaf, glued over the pattern.

The most common subjects are nannies with children, water carriers, sheep with golden horns, turkeys, roosters, deer and, of course, young people, buffoons, ladies.

The Dymkovsky toy is alien to semitones and imperceptible transitions. All of it is the overflowing fullness of the feeling of joy of life. She is especially good in a couple and in a group with others, in close proximity to her brothers and sisters from the settlement on the Vyatka River.

The Dymkovsky toy has become one of the symbols of the Kirov region, emphasizing the identity of the Vyatka Region, its rich and ancient history.

Due to its simple plastic, simplicity of patterns, brightness of the palette, the Dymkovsky toy is widely studied and used in children's creativity, embodied in the form of drawings, clay products and other materials. The colorful outfits of the Dymkovsky ladies are reflected in the collections of modern fashion designers.

The folk "Dymkovsky" style has been repeatedly used in artistic (primarily children's) works.

In 2010, a sculptural group "Family" was installed in the center of Kirov, made according to all the canons of the Dymkovsky toy and representing a group of a lady with a baby, a peasant with an accordion, a child with a whistle, a cat and a dog.

The motifs of the Dymkovsky ornament were used at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, which took place on February 7, 2014 at the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi.