The Dymkovo toy is one of the Russian folk clay art crafts, which originated in the Dymkovo settlement near the city of Vyatka (now it is the territory of the city of Kirov). The appearance of the toy is associated with the spring holiday of the Whistle-lady, for which women sculpted whistles from clay.
Local craftswomen have been preparing clay since autumn. On winter evenings, women and children sculpted, dried and burned whistle toys. Then the figures were whitewashed and painted with multi-colored paints mixed with the egg. Dymkovo toy is a handmade product, each one is made by one master. Only local bright red clay, mixed with fine brown river sand, was used for the production. Squares of gold leaf or copper foil were sometimes glued to the surface of the toy. Figures were traditionally molded in parts; individual parts were assembled and re-molded using liquid red clay as a binding material.
Vyatka painted clay toys were sold at all major fairs in Russia. Over time, new motifs of painting appeared: dressed up city ladies, nannies with children, dandy cavaliers, officers on horseback. The Dymkovo toy has passed from the category of children’s fun into a decorative item for the interior decoration.
From the middle of the 19th century, the clay toys were seriously competed by the cheaper and easier-to-manufacture plaster cast figures: the decline in demand for handmade clay toys led to the gradual extinction of the craft. At the beginning of the 20th century, only a few craftswomen remained who continued to sculpt the traditional Dymkovo toy. One of them was Anna Mezrina, who inherited the secrets of the traditional craft from her mother, Daria Nikulina. The collection of toys by Anna Mezrina, presented in our museum, has already become a classic of Dymkovo toys, one of its reference samples, which modern craftsmen are guided by.
A decisive role in the fate of the entire craft was played by the Vyatka landscape painter, connoisseur of the Dymkovo craft, Alexei Denshin. From his youth he was fond of handicraft art, sketching toys, studying the working process. After the 1917 revolution, Denshin continued to actively study the Dymkovo crafts. At the same time, he collected and donated Dymkovo toys to museums in Moscow and St. Petersbur. This helped popularize the industry, and in 1933, Denshin created and became the head of the Vyatka Toy cooperative, which was the key moment in the revival of the craft.
Local craftswomen have been preparing clay since autumn. On winter evenings, women and children sculpted, dried and burned whistle toys. Then the figures were whitewashed and painted with multi-colored paints mixed with the egg. Dymkovo toy is a handmade product, each one is made by one master. Only local bright red clay, mixed with fine brown river sand, was used for the production. Squares of gold leaf or copper foil were sometimes glued to the surface of the toy. Figures were traditionally molded in parts; individual parts were assembled and re-molded using liquid red clay as a binding material.
Vyatka painted clay toys were sold at all major fairs in Russia. Over time, new motifs of painting appeared: dressed up city ladies, nannies with children, dandy cavaliers, officers on horseback. The Dymkovo toy has passed from the category of children’s fun into a decorative item for the interior decoration.
From the middle of the 19th century, the clay toys were seriously competed by the cheaper and easier-to-manufacture plaster cast figures: the decline in demand for handmade clay toys led to the gradual extinction of the craft. At the beginning of the 20th century, only a few craftswomen remained who continued to sculpt the traditional Dymkovo toy. One of them was Anna Mezrina, who inherited the secrets of the traditional craft from her mother, Daria Nikulina. The collection of toys by Anna Mezrina, presented in our museum, has already become a classic of Dymkovo toys, one of its reference samples, which modern craftsmen are guided by.
A decisive role in the fate of the entire craft was played by the Vyatka landscape painter, connoisseur of the Dymkovo craft, Alexei Denshin. From his youth he was fond of handicraft art, sketching toys, studying the working process. After the 1917 revolution, Denshin continued to actively study the Dymkovo crafts. At the same time, he collected and donated Dymkovo toys to museums in Moscow and St. Petersbur. This helped popularize the industry, and in 1933, Denshin created and became the head of the Vyatka Toy cooperative, which was the key moment in the revival of the craft.
