Khokhloma (Хохлома)

• Golden Khokhloma, aka Золотая Хохлома, (pronounced Hoch-low-maw), is a specific genre of old Russia's arts and crafts. It is an esteemed peasant craft, which, over time, evolved into skilled artisan production. Over 300 years ago, peasants settled in the forest village of Khokhloma near the Volga River, and created an original ornamental art consisting of free-brush painting on functional wooden household items. The style is curved and linear and features vividly rendered flowers, both small and large, and a variety of red berries, serpentine grasses, and delicate leaf motifs. The tradespeople would gather annually, usually during Easter, at festivals and fairs held in Nizhni-Novgorod, to sell their goods. Khokhloma also goes by "treen", a comprehensive term for small, handmade wooden items. 

• Antique Khokhloma in better-than-good condition is not commonly found. During the 19th century, wooden spoons and bowls for soup and porridge were in everyday use. In the early 1900s, Khokhloma production was neglected, but expeienced a revival in the 1920s-30s, as master craftsmen formed artels (артели), which are cooperative associations consisting of small, individual workshops. Fast forward to the 1960s, when the Khokhlomskoi Khudozhnik (Хохломской Художник) Factory in Khokhloma and the Khokhlomskaia Rospis ((Хохломская роспись) Production Association in the city of Semenov were founded and established as centers of more commercial Khokhloma manufacture for the then-burgeoning tourist markets that expanded due to stable diplomatic relations (Cuba notwithstanding). The Soviet government was seeking foreign currency for its weak economy and encouraged production of Khokhloma, and other arts and crafts, such as nesting dolls, enamel work, lacquer box painting, etc. 

• Now for a bit of history. The Soviet Union was officially founded in 1922. We are not certain why some items can be marked "Made in the Soviet Union" as opposed to "Made in the USSR". Anything marked in English was always intended for export to English-speaking countries. In our experience, it seems as if "Made in the Soviet Union" predates "Made in the USSR". And "Made in Russia" on visibly old items are pre-1922 production as the export of Khokhloma had begun in earnest around 1900. You can find some scholarly articles on Khokhloma that was imported into England and Scotland around that time.

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