The portrait of the Murom merchant’s wife, Alexandra Pervova, was made by an unknown artist in the late 1820s — the early 1830s. The portrait depicts a long-faced woman with a calm gaze of gray-blue eyes. The artist emphasized her peculiar features: high-arched penciled eyebrows and a straight long nose.
The artist presented a model in a “Russian dress”, a style of dress followed by imperial courtiers and aristocrats in the 19th — 20th centuries. Pervova is wearing a white shirt with puffed muslin sleeves, with ruffles on the wrists. The edge of the reddish sleeveless jacket (dushegreika-yepanechka) — mantle worn over the shirt — is seen on a woman’s chest. Such velvet or brocade women’s sleeveless jackets were usually fur-lined.
There are several strings of pearls hanging on Pervova’s neck. A blue agrafe is in the center of the upper necklace. Long pearl earrings are hanging down to her shoulders. The woman folds her arms on the chest, and her fingers are adorned with big rings and signet rings.
Some of the details depicted by the artist on the canvas showed the way of how the nobility fashion elements of the 1820s and early 1830s had penetrated into traditional merchant’s costume. The hair of the merchant’s wife is combed parting in the middle; the locks are neatly gathered up above her ears. Her hair peeks out of an elegant pinkish silk little cap and the headdress front is decorated with pearls.
This headdress is less conservative and does not cover the hairdress in comparison with the merchant’s headscarf, under which the hair should be obligatorily hidden. It shall be also tied in the front, but not risen high. By its soft form, the headscarf is similar to the povoynik — headdress of Russian married peasant women and a small woman’s turban.
Instead of a mottled carpeting shawl, Pervova threw over her shoulders a more fashionable white shawl with fringe. In style, it was associated with the expensive Kolokoltsovsky shawls, popular among the nobility in the first quarter of the 19th century.
The picture of the merchant’s wife from the museum’s collection was a paired portrait. The artist depicted the Murom merchant Karp Pervov in the second portrait. The woman’s head in the picture is slightly turned to the right — towards her husband. Most commonly, the wife’s portrait was placed to the left of the husband’s image: this position was typical for Russian merchant couple paired portraits.
The artist presented a model in a “Russian dress”, a style of dress followed by imperial courtiers and aristocrats in the 19th — 20th centuries. Pervova is wearing a white shirt with puffed muslin sleeves, with ruffles on the wrists. The edge of the reddish sleeveless jacket (dushegreika-yepanechka) — mantle worn over the shirt — is seen on a woman’s chest. Such velvet or brocade women’s sleeveless jackets were usually fur-lined.
There are several strings of pearls hanging on Pervova’s neck. A blue agrafe is in the center of the upper necklace. Long pearl earrings are hanging down to her shoulders. The woman folds her arms on the chest, and her fingers are adorned with big rings and signet rings.
Some of the details depicted by the artist on the canvas showed the way of how the nobility fashion elements of the 1820s and early 1830s had penetrated into traditional merchant’s costume. The hair of the merchant’s wife is combed parting in the middle; the locks are neatly gathered up above her ears. Her hair peeks out of an elegant pinkish silk little cap and the headdress front is decorated with pearls.
This headdress is less conservative and does not cover the hairdress in comparison with the merchant’s headscarf, under which the hair should be obligatorily hidden. It shall be also tied in the front, but not risen high. By its soft form, the headscarf is similar to the povoynik — headdress of Russian married peasant women and a small woman’s turban.
Instead of a mottled carpeting shawl, Pervova threw over her shoulders a more fashionable white shawl with fringe. In style, it was associated with the expensive Kolokoltsovsky shawls, popular among the nobility in the first quarter of the 19th century.
The picture of the merchant’s wife from the museum’s collection was a paired portrait. The artist depicted the Murom merchant Karp Pervov in the second portrait. The woman’s head in the picture is slightly turned to the right — towards her husband. Most commonly, the wife’s portrait was placed to the left of the husband’s image: this position was typical for Russian merchant couple paired portraits.
