A simple way to decorate wooden furniture in a distinctive Russian style.
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Vladimir Smirnov / TASS
Traditional Russian design elements can often be seen around the world. While
the Zhostovo pattern is beloved by famous designers and fashion houses and
the Ghel motif is often seen in porcelain decorations, the Gorodets painting style is in a class of its own.
Vladimir Smirnov / TASS
The Gorodets painting might be less well known among traditional Russian patterns, but it has its own unique forms, colors, charm and chic.
Vladimir Smirnov / TASS
It sprang from carved Gorodets distaffs that were manufactured in villages nearby Gorodets town in the Nizhni Novgorod Region.
Shakko/ Wikimedia / CC BY-SA
Gorodets artists traditionally paint genre scenes (merrymaking, tea drinking, the famous Gorodets horse with a horseman, and folk festivities), decorative images of birds and animals (roosters, horses, lions, leopards, etc.) and flower patterns.
Vladimir Smirnov / TASS
They decorate panels, caskets, boxes, various sets of kitchen stuff, such as hardboards, bread bins, saltcellars, etc.
Vladimir Smirnov / TASS
This style is quite popular in the design of children’s furniture and toys, including rocking horses and rattles.
Vladimir Smirnov / TASS
The Gorodets Painting factory in the Nizhny Novgorod Region has preserved this national handicraft since the beginning of the 20th century. See how this Russian national tradition is still thriving today in
an RBTH video.
