The art of making ceramics emerged on the Kargopol land back in the Stone Age era. The origins of the traditional pottery of Kargopol go back to the 9th — 13th centuries. At that time dishes made on a manual potter’s wheel first appeared there.

For a long time, the peasants of the Kargopol villages of Toropovo, Grinevo, and Pechnikovo have been doing pottery. The production of clay toys accompanied this craft. Both men and women worked in pottery, children also helped them. They made dishes of different sizes, shapes and names: pots, earthenware pots, trays, kneading troughs, hand washers. Cockerels and ducks, stately women and men with accordions were made from the remains of clay to please the children and take a break from labor. Sometimes toys were sold along the pots. The toys were dim, colors were added by craftsmen using chalk, soot and colored clay.

The forms of northern toys, as well as the ornament of northern embroidery, go back to ancient times. Often the figures that were sculpted by Kargopol masters had a symbolic meaning and ceremonial significance. Those toys had a place in the magical rituals of ancient man. The themes were peasant life and holidays, as well as fairy-tale characters. Birds were associated with spring rituals. With their loud chirping they drove the forces of darkness from the earth and brought light, joy and happiness. For this reason, toys in the form of birds are almost always whistles.

 

Images of a ram and a deer were associated with the idea of fertility, contentment, goodness. Clay female figurines («berehynias») were also a symbol of fertility. They were depicted with large breasts and holding either a dish of pies or a baby in their hands, or their hands were raised to the sky while holding a bird. One of the most famous images of the Kargopol toy is Polkan, a half-horse and half-man creature. In the interpretation of the Kargopol masters, Polkan is a kind bogatyr, a defender from the forces of evil, a representation of the people’s power. The creator of this image is a folk craftswoman Ulyana Ivanovna Babkina.

Ulyana Ivanovna Babkina is the most famous craftswoman of the Kargopol toy. A huge interest in her work contributed to the revival of the craft.

Kargopol clay toy rightfully takes one of the first places among Russian folk crafts toys. A great merit of this belongs to the masters Alexander Petrovich Shevelev, Ivan Vasilyevich Druzhinin, Vladimir Dmitrievich Shevelev, Ulyana Ivanovna Babkina.
Kargopol is officially considered to be the place of traditional existence of the Kargopol clay toy. The Centre of folk crafts «Bereginya» has a certificate of exclusive right to the «Kargopol clay toy» trademark.

Photo credits to: TIC, M. Egorova
Information was prepared by the staff of the Arkhangelsk Regional Scientific Library named after N.A. Dobrolyubova, more information on the website http://cultnord.ru/