A rushlight holder is a metal fixture for a rushlight, a peasant floor lamp used in pre-revolutionary Russia. It was a stand with small forged pincers (or several), in which a rushlight was placed. This method of lighting was used in Russian peasant homes until 1917, when kerosene and gas lamps, and later electric lighting became widespread.
The rushlight holder from the collection of the Glazov Museum was found in an abandoned house in the village of Andreyevtsy of the Udmurt Republic. It is quite high — 146 centimeters, most often rushlight holders ranged from 20 centimeters to one meter in height. Tall rushlight holders were placed on the floor, and the shorter ones on a bench. Rushlight holders could illuminate only part of the izba (a peasant hut). A special pin helped to raise or lower the rushlight to adjust the brightness and direction of the light.
“My mother and two or three neighbors spin yarn in a dimly lit room by the uneven, faint glow of a splint. The rushlight is placed in an iron holder. Smoldering embers fall into a tub of water and sizzle and sigh, and shadows crawl along the walls, as if someone invisible is hanging a black gauze, ” the singer Feodor Chaliapin said, recalling his childhood memories.
A splint, or a rushlight, is a long strip of dry wood. It was made from birch, pine, aspen, oak, ash and maple trees, because they gave an even flame and produced little smoke. For safety, a tub with water or sand was placed under the light to catch falling smoldering embers. Rushlights and holders for them were the obligatory companions of spinners, who prepared yarn all winter long on dark evenings. There are many folk sayings about the rushlight in Russia, for example: “A splint crackles and throws sparks, bad weather comes” or “If you’d only see me on a good day or by a rushlight”.
On holidays, to illuminate the hut better, several splints were placed into a holder at once. Bright rushlight holders were hung above the table on a chain, like modern chandeliers. In most village huts, they were simple and unembellished, but holders distinguished by fine, subtle blacksmithing, as well as wooden holders with carvings and paintings were also in use. The upper part of the holder with pincers for splints was called “luchinnik” in Russian (from the word “luch” — “ray”). It was often made in the form of a firebird’s tail, and these patterns can be found on church fences and lattices of palace windows of the 17th century.
The rushlight holder from the collection of the Glazov Museum was found in an abandoned house in the village of Andreyevtsy of the Udmurt Republic. It is quite high — 146 centimeters, most often rushlight holders ranged from 20 centimeters to one meter in height. Tall rushlight holders were placed on the floor, and the shorter ones on a bench. Rushlight holders could illuminate only part of the izba (a peasant hut). A special pin helped to raise or lower the rushlight to adjust the brightness and direction of the light.
“My mother and two or three neighbors spin yarn in a dimly lit room by the uneven, faint glow of a splint. The rushlight is placed in an iron holder. Smoldering embers fall into a tub of water and sizzle and sigh, and shadows crawl along the walls, as if someone invisible is hanging a black gauze, ” the singer Feodor Chaliapin said, recalling his childhood memories.
A splint, or a rushlight, is a long strip of dry wood. It was made from birch, pine, aspen, oak, ash and maple trees, because they gave an even flame and produced little smoke. For safety, a tub with water or sand was placed under the light to catch falling smoldering embers. Rushlights and holders for them were the obligatory companions of spinners, who prepared yarn all winter long on dark evenings. There are many folk sayings about the rushlight in Russia, for example: “A splint crackles and throws sparks, bad weather comes” or “If you’d only see me on a good day or by a rushlight”.
On holidays, to illuminate the hut better, several splints were placed into a holder at once. Bright rushlight holders were hung above the table on a chain, like modern chandeliers. In most village huts, they were simple and unembellished, but holders distinguished by fine, subtle blacksmithing, as well as wooden holders with carvings and paintings were also in use. The upper part of the holder with pincers for splints was called “luchinnik” in Russian (from the word “luch” — “ray”). It was often made in the form of a firebird’s tail, and these patterns can be found on church fences and lattices of palace windows of the 17th century.
