Beadwork
Very elegant beadwork bookmarks can be custom-made to suit your own requirements.
On the Russian Art of Beadwork
Russian kokoshnik headdress is universally renowned for its exceptional elegance. Densely covered with pearl-and-bead patterns, it is complete with an openwork veil of bead mesh reaching down the wearer’s forehead. «A young girl in full festive attire is as pretty as an icon», elderly people used to say.
In the olden days, custom precluded married women from exposing their hair. On her wedding day, the woman had a kokoshnik with an embroidered forehead piece put on her head, with a bead-woven back flap attached, reaching down the nape of her neck, shoulders and back. Many other bead-woven objects were in use, too, e.g. fanciful variegated pendants, earrings, braid ornaments and belts, which imparted a unique lively quality to any garment.
It was not until the eighteenth century that high society adopted a taste for beadwork. Embroidered icons, genre scenes, and representations of magnificent flowers and birds adorned the interiors of palaces and manor houses. .jpg)
Elaborate handicrafts made with beads, including bookmarks as well as notebook and album covers, were traditionally given as presents. While working on large-sized objects, rich ladies recruited the services of their bondmaids. The high quality of Russian beadwork was due to the fact that cost-effectiveness never came into question. The serfs just worked towards the required standard, putting as much time and effort into their work as was necessary. The nineteenth century became the golden age of Russian beadwork.
