Kargopol toys
Encyclopedia
Kargopol toys are moulded painted clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

 figures of people and animals. It is one of the old Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n folk art
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....

 handicraft
Handicraft
Handicraft, more precisely expressed as artisanic handicraft, sometimes also called artisanry, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or by using only simple tools. It is a traditional main sector of craft. Usually the term is applied to traditional means...

s, which is produced in and around the town of Kargopol
Kargopol
-Culture and recreation:Today, Kargopol is a sleepy historical town adjoining the Kenozyorsky National Park. It is best known in Russia for Kargopol toys , which are small, simple clay figures painted in traditional style....

, Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea....

, in the north of Russia. It started in 19th century in the areas west of Kargopol. The potters were not professionals, but just peasants who made toys in their spare time. A notable toy-maker in the beginning of 20th century was Ivan Druzhinin (1887-1949). The handicraft almost became extinct in 1930s. In 1950s only one artist, Ulyana Babkina (1889-1977), was making the toys. Eventually, Babkina's toys received all-Russian recognition, were noticed by the Russian Artist Union, and the handicraft was revived.

Currently, bright colors (white, red, yellow, black) are typically used, in contrast to the old masters, who used the colored clay and produced toys in rather reserved colors.

Kargopol toys are typically single characters, and very seldom they represent a group of two or three characters. The front of a toy gets more decoration, and the toys are thus oriented to the front view.

A singular character of Kagopol toys is a Polkan which is a combination of a human and a horse.
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