The Art of Palekh
Palekh is the name of a small town in Russia, 190 miles north-east of Moscow.
People who lived there used to paint icons (pictures of saints or bible characters) on cypress-wood panels or on a papier-mâché base.
Palekh paintings traditionally have black backgrounds.
In the 1920s, after the Russian Revolution, all religion was banned. People in power encouraged ordinary people to tell folk-tales, play folk music, learn folk dances and generally think about Russian traditions rather than religion. So the Palekh artists could not sell icons. Instead they made papier-mâché boxes, trays and brooches and decorated these with images from folk-tales.
Mythstories collected the Palekh items below to display in the physical museum…
The Tale of Tsar Sultan
Tsar Saltan overheard 3 sisters day-dreaming about being married to him: ‘I would prepare a feast for the world’ said one, ‘I would weave linen for the world’ said the second, ‘I would give him an heir, handsome and brave beyond compare’ said the third.
Tsar Saltan married the third sister, the first became the palace cook and the second the palace weaver. The sisters and their friend, Barbarika grew jealous of the new Queen.
The Queen had a beautiful baby boy and sent a messenger to tell the Tsar.
But the sisters substituted the message for one which read ‘your wife, the queen, has borne neither a son nor daughter, neither a mouse nor a frog, but has given birth to an unknown little creature’.
The horrified Tsar sent a message back saying no action should be taken until his return.
But the sisters substituted the message for one which read ‘the queen and her baby must be put into a barrel and thrown into the sea’.
And so it was.
Inside the barrel the Queen wept and her son grew stronger. They were washed up on an island, the son made a bow & arrow and went hunting. He saw a black hawk attacking a swan and killed the hawk. The white swan thanked him, explained that the hawk had been a wicked wizard and promised to serve the son forever.
The son returned to the Queen and told her his tale.
They both fell asleep. And when they awoke they saw that the swan had created a wondrous city for them to rule. The son took the title of Prince Gvidon.
One day a merchant ship put in at the city trading furs. The merchant told Prince Gvidon they planned to sail on to the Kingdom of Tsar Saltan. The Prince told the swan he wanted to see his father. The swan turned the Prince into a gnat and he hid himself in a crack of the ship’s mast.
When the merchants met Tsar Saltan they told him of the wondrous island and city and sang the praises of Prince Gvidon. The Tsar wanted to see this land for himself, but the sisters and Barbarika played down the marvels of this new land saying ‘what is really amazing is a squirrel that sits under a fir tree cracking golden nuts containing kernels of pure emerald and singing a song’. The gnat stung Barbarika in the right eye, flew home and told the swan about the squirrel.
The swan created the singing squirrel in Prince Gvidon’s courtyard. The Prince built a crystal house for it and ordered a guard to stand watch and a scribe to record each nut shelled.
One day a merchant ship put in at the city. The merchant told Prince Gvidon they planned to sail on to the Kingdom of Tsar Saltan. The Prince told the swan he wanted to see his father. The swan turned the Prince into a fly and he hid himself in a crack of the ship.
When the merchants met Tsar Saltan they told him of the wondrous island and city and the squirrel and sang the praises of Prince Gvidon. The Tsar wanted to see this land for himself, but the sisters and Barbarika played down the marvels of this new land saying ‘a greater wonder is thirty-three handsome young knights, led by old Chernomor, rising from out of the raging sea’. The fly stung Barbarika in the left eye, flew home and told the swan about the knights.
The swan told Gvidon the knights were its brothers. The Prince climbed his tower in time to see the knights and old Chernomor coming out of the sea. They promised to come each day to protect his island.
One day a merchant ship put in at the city. The merchant told Prince Gvidon they planned to sail on to the Kingdom of Tsar Saltan. The Prince told the swan he wanted to see his father. The swan turned the Prince into a bumblebee and he hid himself in a crack of the ship.
When the merchants met Tsar Saltan they told him of the wondrous island and city and the squirrel and the thirty-three knights led by old Chernomor who came out of the sea each day to protect the island and sang the praises of Prince Gvidon. The Tsar wanted to see this land for himself, but the sisters and Barbarika played down the marvels of this new land saying ‘what is really amazing was a Princess who lives beyond the seas. The light of day pales against her beauty, the dark of night is lit up by it and her words are like the murmur of a tranquil brook. The bumblebee stung Barbarika on her nose, flew home and told the swan about his adventure and how he wanted a wife.
The swan said there was no such Princess beyond the seas and that a wife could not simply be cast off like a glove. Prince Gvidon said he would search the world for the Princess. The swan sighed.
“There’s no need to travel, there’s no need to tire. The woman that you desire, is now yours to spy. The Princess is I”. The swan flapped its wings and turned into the beautiful Princess. She and Gvidon were married that evening.
One day a merchant ship put in at the city. The merchant told Prince Gvidon they planned to sail on to the Kingdom of Tsar Saltan. The Prince asked them to convey his greetings to the Tsar. He had no wish to leave his bride and travel with them.
When the merchants met Tsar Saltan they told him of the wondrous island and city and the squirrel and the thirty-three knights led by old Chernomor who came out of the sea each day to protect the island and sang the praises of Prince Gvidon and his lovely Princess whose beauty was beyond compare.
The Tsar wanted to see this land for himself, and this time would not be put off and set sail immediately with all his household.
Prince Gvidon met the Tsar and escorted him, the two sisters and Barbarika to the palace. They walked past the thirty-three knights and old Chernomor, they walked past the squirrel and there was the beautiful Princess. But next to her the Tsar saw his own long-lost wife. Then he realised Gvidon was his son and that he had been tricked.
The two sisters and Barbarika ran and tried to hide, but they were found and confessed everything. The Tsar was so happy that he forgave them. Then the Tsar, the Queen, Prince Gvidon and the Princess lived the rest of their days in happiness.
An excerpt from “Lukomorye” by Aleksandr Pushkin
An oak tree greening by the ocean;
A golden chain about it wound;
Whereon a learned cat, in motion
Both day and night, will walk around;
On walking right he sings a ditty,
On walking left, he tells a lay
from the preface to “Lukomorye” by Aleksandr Pushkin
Many stories are shown on this fabulous Russian plate. Museum friend, Gretel, was searching through bric-a-brac shops in Shrewsbury for something completely different when she came across this beautiful Palekh plate, one of a series of 12 on Russian legends. She donated it to the museum in 2007.
Can you find…
The thirty-three knights led by old Chernomor mentioned in The Tale of Tsar Sultan?
A mermaid sitting in a tree?
The woodsprite?
A warlock carrying a warrior?
Kashey with the treasure?
Matryoshka dolls
…and we also collected and displayed the nested dolls below…
In the UK these nested dolls are usually known as Baboushka dolls, their real Russian name is Matryoshka dolls and they were first made in 1890.
Traditionally the outer layer is a woman dressed in a shapeless jumper dress, the inner dolls can be of either sex but the smallest is usually a baby made out of a single piece of wood.
Later Russian iconographers unable to work after the Russian Revolution used this tradition to tell many Russian Folktales painting sequencial scenes on the chest plates such as this example…
Baboushka literally means ‘grandmother’ and we used the museum’s Matryoshka Dolls to tell the Russian Christmas tale of Baboushka. Find the story of Baboushka and a workshop creating a ‘crankie’ to tell it with below…
alternatively click the link below for a workshop using a Palekh style background and how to make your own nested dolls using the Japanese paper folding artform of origami…
These items of Russian Folk-Art are now part of the Mount Pleasant Primary School mini storytelling museum in Shrewsbury.
