E.YU. MOISEYENKO
Among the most accomplished works of Russian applied art of the first half of the 19th century, we should name the magnificent double-cloth scarves, shawls and kerchiefs which were known as Kolokoltsov shawls after the owners of some of the workshops where they were produced. These unique wraps were only woven in Russia, in landowners' workshops, and were renowned for their fine workmanship and colourful ornamentation. Their distinguishing feature was the lack of difference between the right and wrong side, which was achieved by special loom work with invisible weft knotting. Because such work was extremely time-consuming (the more complicated items could take from one to two and a half years), their price was very high. Most of the shawls were specially commissioned, but they were also sold in shops. They were often displayed at Russian and international handicraft exhibitions and were awarded many prizes. These shawls were worn by Russian aristocrats and members of the Imperial family.
The production of Kolokoltsov shawls was conditioned by radical changes in female dress of the Neoclassical period. Light and elegant "Antique" dresses went very well with accessories such as bright shawls and scarves imported from India or Western Europe, which were very popular in Russia. First shawl manufactures appeared in Russia in the early 19th century: the Yusupov Manufacture in Kupavna, the Guchkov and Sapozhnikov enterprises in Moscow. The majority of their products had a stylized Oriental look. They were also sometimes decorated with floral motifs. Oriental and Western shawls were made in different ways, but both had an exquisitely finished right side and a wrong side with carryover weft and knots.
The fashion for shawls prompted the establishment of many serf workshops on the estates in Southern Russia and the Volga region, notably the Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan provinces. Some of the shawls made there imitated Oriental patterns (e.g. V.A. Yeliseyeva's workshop), and some adopted a new and original technology of double-sided weaving. Such workshops existed in the estates belonging to the Kolokoltsov brothers, their sister N.A. Merlina, the Yenikeyevs, the Panyushins and others. Mrs Merlina's workshop consisted of 50 artisans working on 24 looms. In the 1824s, this workshop produced sixteen shawls and five kerchiefs per year. The whole production process - from cleaning the soft underwool of Angora and Kirghiz goats and saiga antelopes to spinning, dyeing and weaving - was carried out in the workshop under the supervision of owners and artists. First, small wide or narrow bands and triangles were made. They were then sown together with hidden stitches and attached to a twill woven cloth made in the same workshops. The artefacts were brightly ornamented, usually with floral motifs grouped together in garlands, bouquets, and oriental "runner bean" designs.
Very few double-sided items have survived. The Hermitage collection is one of the most extensive: it has 27 shawls, kerchiefs and scarves, cloth accessories and a bell-pull. A unique scarf and shawl have a mark of N.A. Merlina's workshop: N.M. The collection was founded as part of Alexander III's Russian Museum. After it was transferred to the State Hermitage, the collection was augmented by acquisitions made via the Purchasing Commission of Experts. A noteworthy addition was the collection of ten items acquired in 1979 from the French collector L.A. Grinberg. The owner estimated the collection at an extremely modest rate, wishing to return the artefacts to their native Russia.
