Product Description
Monumental Presentation Spoon. Khotkovo. A fine, high-relief carving from a single piece of wood was made in the last half of the 20th century. It has a hook on the back and can be hung on the wall. Maker's mark. 19¼" length, 4¼" width. Near fine condition. 1 only. Makes a great unique gift for the chef.
Carved letters read: "Сухая ложка рот дерет" ("A dry spoon will scratch your mouth"), an old proverb from when spoons were exclusively made from wood. It also is a metaphor for embarking upon a useless action.
Abramstsevo is a former country state north of Moscow, near the village of Khotkovo. Originally owned by the author Sergei Aksakov beginning in the 1840s, influential writers and artists, including Gogol, Turgenev, and Tolstoy, were some of the guests. After Aksakov's death, it was purchased by Savva Mamontov, a wealthy industrialist and patron of the arts. Other nearby villages, in addition to Khotkovo, include Akhtyrka, Kudrino, and Mutovka, where woodcarving was taught and practiced.
In 1890, a student by the name of V.P. Vornoskov founded his own workshop in Kudrino. In the years following, a style of carving combining flat relief, rhythmical floral ornaments and geometric carving was developed by talented craftspeople and artists, including V.I. Sokolov and S.V. Malyutin. Presently the center of Abramtsevo-Kudrino Wood Carving is located in Khotkovo in the Sergiev-Posad Region. Specialists of Abramtsevo-Kudrino Wood Carving are trained at V.M. Vasnetsov Arts and Crafts College in Abramtsevo.
