The artist Alla Semakova visited the Pomor village of Lopshenga in the 1980s and created a whole series of paintings featuring scenes from the everyday life of fishermen. Some of these works are now in the collection of the Primorye Arts and Crafts Museum.
Semakova painted ‘On the Pier’ in 1985. She depicted a wooden wharf, at which fishing boats were moored. Nowadays such structures are rare: when they were no longer in regular use, most of them became dilapidated and collapsed.
In the background of the picture, there are wooden outbuildings. The villagers stored fishing equipment and various tools there, they also used these outbuildings for mending boats and darning nets. The man in a green shirt can be seen at the door of one of the buildings. This is a cooper — a craftsman who made barrels. The artist depicted some of his products in the foreground of the picture.
Barrels were the most popular container in the Russian North. People stored and transported all kinds of goods in them, for example, salted fish, flour, cereals, drinks, and even nails. The profession of a cooper was considered one of the most respected ones. The safety of goods and food during the journey depended on his skills: a quality barrel would not let water in, would not dry out or crack over time.
Empty containers for fish were stored in the same outbuildings on the shore where the fishing gear was kept. This was for both convenience and safety reasons: if a fire broke out in one of the outbuildings, it would not spread to the houses.
Semakova painted ‘On the Pier’ in 1985. She depicted a wooden wharf, at which fishing boats were moored. Nowadays such structures are rare: when they were no longer in regular use, most of them became dilapidated and collapsed.
In the background of the picture, there are wooden outbuildings. The villagers stored fishing equipment and various tools there, they also used these outbuildings for mending boats and darning nets. The man in a green shirt can be seen at the door of one of the buildings. This is a cooper — a craftsman who made barrels. The artist depicted some of his products in the foreground of the picture.
Barrels were the most popular container in the Russian North. People stored and transported all kinds of goods in them, for example, salted fish, flour, cereals, drinks, and even nails. The profession of a cooper was considered one of the most respected ones. The safety of goods and food during the journey depended on his skills: a quality barrel would not let water in, would not dry out or crack over time.
Empty containers for fish were stored in the same outbuildings on the shore where the fishing gear was kept. This was for both convenience and safety reasons: if a fire broke out in one of the outbuildings, it would not spread to the houses.
