Home
Orenburg Shawls
History
Located in the
southeastern Urals, the Orenburg
region was settled by the semi-nomadic Kalmyk
tribe until the end of the 17th century. Descendents of the Mongols, their knit
goat down had kept them warm during wintertime for centuries. Russian Cossacks,
arriving just before the Kalmyks
left, found the Kalymyk’s down knitting an effective
substitute for their own inadequate clothing. However, it was not until the
late 18th century that a well-known Russian historian/scientist, Peter Ritchkov (1712-1777), began to develop the region's
down-knitting industry. His wife Elena, a notable economist in her own right,
received national award and local notoriety for her artistically designed downy
shawls. Encouraged by their efforts, local residents began goat breeding to
produce shawl-quality down as well. Once designed merely for warmth, these
attractive shawls became popular throughout the region.
Despite taking months to produce, Orenburg’s intricate hand-knit shawls became renowned for their
quality. Though foreign companies
expressed interest in purchasing these shawls for export, they eventually came
to regard them as too expensive for resale. In the early 1800s, French and
English firms made attempts to simply export the raw down. Proving too costly
as well, they attempted to export Orenburg goats for breeding. After
multiple attempts, they conceded that the goat-down’s soft, shiny quality could
not be reproduced in an alternative climate. Though imitation Orenburg shawls
were eventually created, the high-quality hand-knit designs could not be easily
duplicated. Indeed, by mid-century, Orenburg shawls were winning
artistic merit awards at national and international exhibitions (esp. the 1862
World’s Expo).
As the 19th century came
to a close, rapacious middlemen and new technology had begun to compromise the
shawl’s hand-knit quality. By leveraging their supply and distribution skills,
middlemen priced dependent knitters down to barter. Without just recompense,
subsequent declines in down quality standards became inevitable. As hand-knit
quality subsided, foreign buyers found less expensive, machine-knit imitation
shawls had become competitive in demand. To make matters worse, Britain’s alliance with Japan during the Russo-Japanese war
(1902) further limited shawl exports.
At about this time, Orenburg was still
employing over 12,000 knitters. However,
given war and civil strife, the craft barely survived after 1917. When Lenin came to power, he signed an edict
defining handicraft industries as on par with state industry. Shortly
afterward, Orenburg
shawl workshops were organized into an artel
(cooperative). The move
secured supplies and a monthly salary for home knitters, greatly improving
shawl quality by the late twenties.
In 1930, the first factory began
producing downy shawls in conjunction with knitters. By World War II, the
knitter’s artel reorganized into a
large lace cooperative known as Kombinat, an
association of 20 wool-knitting factories located throughout the Orenburg
region. For several decades, Kombinat set
production standards, delivered supplies, and marketed Orenburg shawls. By
retaining hand-knit designs, Kombinat has
protected the Orenburg
shawls from cheap factory-made substitutes made elsewhere.
As demand grew, a new Plant of Orenburg Downy Shawls was created in 1960. The plant
employed home-based knitters in conjunction with the factory, producing Orenburg
shawls quickly and inexpensively. During
the 70's and 80's, a revival in Russian arts and crafts brought greater
artistic appreciation for Orenburg shawls. In 1981, a museum
staffer named Ludmila Beslieva
authored an article about Orenburg shawls in RSFSR
Artist. It attracted widespread attention by advancing Orenburg
shawl-making as a legitimate art form among the Russian intellectual community.
After the Soviet Union’s breakup, the small
government subsidies that kept the industry alive quickly disappeared, forcing
the Kombinat to close permanently in 1995.
Many long-time knitters left their villages to look for alternative work in the
city. The centuries-old craft would have likely disappeared were it not for Galina Khmeleva, a St.Petersburg clothing designer who encouraged Orenburg
knitters to market their traditional shawls. Today, through Galina
Khmeleva’s efforts and others, over 10,000 knitters
continue to make shawls in the Orenburg
region (many in the village
of Zhioltoie).
These efforts have helped Orenburg shawls gain increasing
popularity in the West.
Raw-Material
Orenburg shawls are
fully made from Orenburg
goat down. These dairy goats, found in the southern Urals along the Ural River, produce about two pounds of gray or white
wool each. Silver and brown wool are also produced, though the latter was
deliberately bred out decades ago. All
are highly desirable for their rarity and fineness. Orenburg residents
wait until winter before combing (not cutting) the goat in order to reap a
high-quality longhair down. To make a 60-inch square gossamer shawl, breeders
must comb about 3 ounces of lace yarn (3280 yards of down plied with silk
thread). The 5000 ft climate elevation is critical for Orenburg goats to
retain their silky, warm fibrous downy.
Though frequently confused with cashmere (a largely Chinese import), Orenburg
wool’s feel can vary from a silky fine to more like mohair. Nevertheless, Orenburg shawl’s are frequently advertised as being so fine that they
can be passed through a wedding ring. Because Orenburg wool
cannot be exported, Westerners must frequently employ Cashgora,
Shetland cobweb wool, or a silk blended with fine kid mohair as a substitute.
Attempts to ply Orengburg goat-down with other
material have been counterproductive. For instance, down plied with viscose
gives a crinkly, shiny appearance to the shawl.
Similarly, plying with cotton and silk threads to extend the goat-down
weakens the shawl's strength.
Design
In the late 18th century, Orenburg provided few distractions
for soldier's wives intent on perfecting their knitting. With time to create
ever more intricate shawl designs, demand for particular styles grew. Certain styles became highly popular and were
frequently replicated, an unwritten skill that would pass down from generation
to generation. Consequently, knitter
Olga Fedorova (1935-present) introduced a shawl-design
graphing system in order to improve mass production.
Orenburg’s cobweb shawls will typically display
one of three center designs: 5-diamond, medallion, and Allover.. The 5-diamond
design displays four corner diamonds that surround a larger center diamond. The
center diamond may feature ‘strawberry’, ‘pea’, or ‘fisheye’ patterns and the
corner diamonds will likely display an allover or multiple-stitch pattern. Medallion
shawls display a full-sized diamond centered within a square. The resulting
corner triangles may each display a diamond, a motif pattern, or simply remain
open. Several interior diamonds echo within the center diamond, each displaying
a unique pattern and/or color. The Allover pattern’s visual appeal is
captured by the contrast between various pattern intensities and surface
consistencies throughout the shawl.
However, these basic designs are
secondary to the intricate knitting and creative motifs found throughout the
shawl. Between the shawl's border and its very center lies the center frame,
displaying a repetitive motif pattern throughout (examples include ‘berry’,
‘peas’, ‘honeycombs’, ‘snake’, ‘catspaws’ and so on).
Current triangular shawls display heart-shaped motifs along their border. Finally, the center-frame design typically
employs a concentric (i.e. square, diamond) design to draw the eye both outward
and away from the edge. 5-Diamond
Design at left.
Aside from Gossamer shawls, Orenburg
knitters produce many other apparel articles. Today, most Russian women possess
the less expensive palatine, a scarf-like (63x26) article that displays
the same designs found in gossamer shawls. Also commonly sought are traditional
heavy-knit warm shawls. Using a heavy yarn, these shawls are knitted in a 48 x
48 in. size and appear in their natural gray. Unlike fully knit shawls, they’re
knit separately and require grafting onto a centerpiece.
Production Methods
Factory-Made
Once collected, Orenburg
goat down is sorted by fiber length, color, and transparency, enabling specific
yarns to be produced. These yarns are subsequently washed and dried using
high-pressure air. Afterwards, further sorting removes further rough patches
and dirt and the yarn is factory tested.
The sorted goat down is then softened for yarn production by soaking in
a special emulsion mixture. Once a single thread is produced, it is spliced
with further thread for strengthening. When ready, the completed yarn is spun
onto bobbins. Aside from Navajo rugs, few textile productions are still created
by hand spindles today.
Though intricately hand-knitted along the edges, factory-produced shawls are
partly machine-knit. Generalized patterns are machine-knit in the middle, where
creative hand-knitting is unnecessary. Once completed, shawls are cleaned,
ironed, dyed, and dried.
Hand-knitted
Aside from yarn and thread preparation, fully hand-knit shawls take about 2
weeks to weave. By creating their own
patterns on paper, weavers can take months to produce a shawl. Though fully
handmade, these shawls have traditionally been expensive and less in demand.
Today, the factory employs home-based knitters to create shawls with intricate
edging.
Artists
Olga Fedorova
Anna Fiodorovna Blinova
Maisara Giniyatovna Bikkuzhina
Gavgar Gimadeevna Ishmukhamrtova
M.A. Uskova
Bibliography
Khmeleva, Galina and Carol
Noble. Gossamer Webs: The History
and Techniques of Orenburg Shawls.
.
1998. Interweave Press. Loveland, Co.
Khmeleva, Galina. "A Triangular Warm Shawl to Knit". Piecework
10:5, 51. 2002
http://www.eastnwest.com/FAQ.htm as
http://www.pushinka.ru/info_platok.php?language=en
http://russian-crafts.com/shawls/orenburg_history.html
http://www.russianlegacy.com/russian_culture/articles/article_10.htm
http://www.skaska.com/aboutus/