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By the end of the 19th Century, the so-called pseudo-Russian style, became one of the official trends in architecture. This style rested upon the traditions of antiquity and folk arts, and was often almost amateur in design and appearance. This style may have seemed eclectic and far-fetched, but it was quite successful in wooden architecture. There are two houses of this style that should be noted. They are the houses located at Simanovskiy St., 14 and Sverdlov St., 63. Both houses were built by a civil engineer by the name of A.E.Smurov. The house on Sverdlov St. was built in 1888, for use as a private school. The house on and on Simanovskiy St.was built, in 1893, for a merchant named Sapozhnikov.

House in  Simanovskiy str., 14

One of window casing on house No. 14

House No. 63 in Sverdlov str., 63

A fragment of fretwork. House No. 63 in Sverdlov str., 63

It resembles a palace, compleat with towers. However, it was allowed to deteriorate over the years, but being favorably located, and a place of great interest for tourists, it was decided to restore it.     Unfortunately, much of its framework burned during restoration. During the restoration, it was decided to rebuild the walls with brick, which were then covered with wooden boards. Thus, the house still had the appearance of one, made completely of wood.     In Kostroma, such houses are not numerous, but they add some variety to the wooden architecture of Kostroma, without braking the general harmony.     At the end of the 19th century the plane, sawn-through carving, became the dominant method of decorating wooden houses. This carving method is considered to be the lightest and the simplest, and thus, less interesting.     Often, expedience and ease lead to a decline in creativity, and it became a mere imitation of more original and beautiful specimens. It is not to say that by the beginning of the 20th Century, wood carvings lacked either creativity or craftsmanship. That is simply not the case. Even though the "the lacy towel" pattern was used repeatedly though out the province of Kostroma, it does not mean all were copies of each other. There are a lot of versions of this ornamental pattern.

"A dragon", a fretwork fragment      (Komsomolskaya str., 18)

Flora motif

The double-headed  eagle survied

A fragment of freetwork. Zadorin str., 8

Folk motives were widely used in window casing ornaments: plants (strawberries, bluebells, stems with leaves), animals (cockerels, steeds, fishes, lions, fantastic dragons), men, and also the old Russian state emblem – a double-head eagle.

A rosette

A semi-rosette  (Mashal Novikov str., 36)

A carved date of the construction  is skillfully worked into the fretwork  (Sovetskaya str., 48)

The "lacy trowel" designs were heavily influenced by the embroidery patterns of the peasant garments. The carvings hanging from the cornices or balconies of houses, resemble the heavy lace headdresses of the women of old Russia, and are often called "kokoshnik" after them.

The ornamentation running along the eaves and prichelinas, while made of wood, appears as if it were made of metal. But because of smaller strength of a tree, as contrasted to tin, the pattern is done by larger, more laconic.

A decorate trimming of a pediment  (Avenue Prospect Textilshikov, 45)

A house pediment (Kozuev str., 47)

Some kinds of plain carvings, replaced relief decorations, in the stone and wooden architecture of Classicism epoch. It was the norm, in this period, to decorate houses with balusters that were situated under windows. This was done, despite what material the houses where constructed of. For instance, the Nobility Assembly building (now the Museum of Fine Arts) was built in stone; the house in Smolenskaya St.,25 was made of wood, and both are decorated with balusters under the windows.

Balusters (Smolenskaya str., 25)

House No. 50 in Sovetskaya str.

A plain ornamental pattern that resembles balusters can be seen under the windows of Nos. 32,50 in Sovietskaya St. and No. 37 in Engels St. and many others. In separate cases this ornamentation repeats the contours of balusters (Engels St. 37), creating a stronger and more dramatic effect.

The form of window casing at the end of the 19th century appeared on the basis of classicism having its prototype in stone and wooden architecture (wooden window casings in Sverdlov St., 21 and Lermontov St., 14). A simpler version of this window casing is widely spread throughout the city. It can be seen with folds or without them on many houses (Podlipayev St.,14).

House No. 14 in Podlipayev str.

The window casing on No. 53 in Simanovskiy St. is constructed in the same way as the one on Podlipayev St., 14, but is decorated with ' folk ornament".     Thus, the house wooden fretwork of the end of the 19th Century, to the beginning of the 20th Century, is a complicated phenomenon, taking its origin in old Russian arts traditions and blending it with the art of Classicism and of various styles of applied arts. Being diverse there are several major groups of window casings in Kostroma. These groups are subdivided by their upper parts.

Being diverse there are several major groups of window casings in Kostroma. These groups are subdivided by their upper parts.

Group I (Fig. 6a, 6b). The oldest group where the influence of classicism and stone architecture are felt. Type I is most widely spread in Kostroma. The window casings could be decorated with hollow or relief carvings and, more often than not, with rosettes.

Fig. 6b. Window casing  of the I group.

Fig. 6b. Window casing  of the I group.

Fig. 7a. Window casing  of the II group.

Fig. 7b. Window casing  of the III group.

Fig. 8. Window casing  of the IV group.

Fig. 9. Window casing  of the V group.

Groups II,III,IV,V (Fig.7,8,9). The development of the carving of these groups is so complicated, that it is difficult to arrange these window casings in individual groups. For example the term lacy towel could be used to refer to Group II, although it is not visible at once. In Groups II, III the pattern could be developed upwards from the uppermost horizontal board. Group V consists of window casings of Baroque style. There are also simpler window decorations.

A fragment of a dormer window (Borby str., 43)

House fretwork Rechnaya str., 6)

Attic (Kooperatsija str., 47)

Wooden Laces

A window casing (house No. 4a in Mashal Novikov str.)

The folk style carving continued development until 1913. Many elements of a house that could be decorated with carvings were, including dormer windows, balconies, cornices, and window casings.    While planking over the surfaces of houses, was common, surfaces appeared which were also decorated with fretwork. Other kinds of decorations were also used, including intricate ornamentation on chimneys and drain pipes, as well as on the grillwork above front entrances. All that created an image of fanciful and smart city. | home | back | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Guest book | E-mail |