Designs by Ž. Ventaskrasts, Latvia

Hello all,
I had thought that i would done with Latvia for a bit, but a friend of mine said she liked the mitten designs. so i thought i would do one more. I will certainly return to Latvia, because much is left to say, but i feel the need to cover a different subject.
In the Soviet Era, one thing that was encouraged was the development of the folk applied arts, including developing and modernizing them for inclusion into modern society. Handicrafts were greatly appreciated and the desire was to use them as a nonpolitical basis for pride in ones ethnicity. Most publications about the traditional applied arts included a section on how they were being used contemporaneously.
Today i will be presenting some designs by the artist Ž. Ventaskrasts. I know very little about this artist. I had the opportunity to scan a book which belongs to my Latgalian friend Aelita. There is a very minimal text in Latvian, and thankfully also in Russian, [which i CAN read]. The artist presents his opinion that the applied folk arts should be developed in accordance with the times. And so this book was published, which took Latvian applied folk art designs, and developed them. Here is the cover of the book.

The title of the work translates as 'Designs for embroidery, knitting and weaving' The book was published in 1958. So the designs are traditional Latvian designs reinterpreted according to the applied art fashions of the day. Today they look almost as 1950's as they do Latvian. I cannot present all of the designs, as there are far too many, but i will present a selection.

 Multicolor area designs with a white background.

Single color area designs

Band designs

Single color band designs

Designs on a colored background, better for knitting.

Designs for mittens

Corner designs

Multicolor Spot designs

Single color Spot designs

Designs for coverlets, best for weaving, athough they could be knitted.

Designs for tablecloths, for embroidery or weaving

Designs for decorative weavings

So this is an overview of the designs developed by this artist from the Folk Art of Latvia.

I hope that this has interested and possibly inspired you.

Please note that none of my postings are intended to be an exhaustive covering of a particular subject.

Feel free to contact me with requests for research. I hope to eventually cover all of Europe and the Former Russian Empire/Soviet Union. I also gratefully accept tips on source materials which i may not have. I also accept commissions to research/design, sew, and/or embroider costumes or other items for groups or individuals


Roman K.
Rkozakand@aol

Source Material

'Designs for Embroidery, Knitting and Weaving', Riga 1958

Costume of Selonia or Augšzeme Province, Latvia

Hello all,

Today i am going to cover a costume of the last Latvian Province,  Augšzeme or Selonia. This is considered to be a cultural region by historians and ethnographers, but it is not recognised politically. The Selonians were one of the Baltic Tribes known in the 13th cent. They have been assimilated into the Latvian and Lithuanian peoples, but traces of their culture and language remain in  Augšzeme, and also in part of  Aukštaitia in Lithuania. Here is a short article on the Selonians, a more extensive article on the history of Latvian ethnic groups and a historical map.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selonia
http://latvianhistory.wordpress.com/page/12/

Selonia, Augšzeme, and Aukštaitia all mean highland. The first is derived from Livonian through German, the second is Latvian, and the third is Lithuanian. Here is our map so you can orient yourselves. Selonia, [Selija in Latvian] or Augšzeme is shown in a rust color

I am going to cover a woman's costume that has interesting embroidery. Like most of my postings, this will not be exhaustive of the province. This is an old costume from the area around Krustpils. She is wearing an old chemise from Viecpiebalga.

This costume falls very much into the east Latvian tradition. Let us look at the various parts of it. The skirt is one of the three types typical of  Augšzeme. If you look closely, you will see pale designs on the orange stripes. These are simple ikat designs. Ikat is a type of ornament in which the threads are tie dyed before being woven. Here is a closeup.

The Josta, or sash, is quite unusual. Like the sashes from Zemgale, it has three bands, like the sashes from Lielvarde, the central band has various designs woven into it along its length. What is truly odd is that the side designs seem to be card woven, while the central design seems to be inkle woven. I do not know enough about weaving to explain this. Perhaps a weaver among my readers could clear this up for us. You can click on this, or any image in my blogs and see it more closely.

The Vainags, the maiden's crown is typical for east Latvia.

Sometimes in Selonia they use a narrow crown with ribbon attached to the upper edge, somewhat reminiscent of the crowns of Lithuania, just to the south.

The Villaine, or wrap, has the overall look of east Latvia. It is woven of wool twill, with typical wide embroidery bands across the short ends, as in Latgale or east Vidzeme. It has a narrow card woven band appliqued around the edges, and on the inner edge also a silk ribbon. It has multicolor fringes on the short ends, as in Zemgale. It is in the traditional natural dyed color scheme. The main motif of the embroidery is green clover leaves.

Here is another example of a Villaine from the area which is more simply ornamented. There was never complete uniformity in any region, people expressed themselves with variations within the local tradition.

The chemise, or krekls is the basic unit of the costume. There are a few examples from this area which are unusual for Latvia. The chemise is cut with a shoulder inset sewn at the sides of the body, and the entire garment is then smocked into the collar. The sleeves are cut at an angle which narrows at the wrists, and there is no added cuff. The embroidery that has been collected has been cut off of the chemises, so we actually have no complete garment. Here are three examples of embroidered collars. This first one is the one which you can see in the photo above.

Darning stitch, edged with two rows of stem or back stitch, and then satin or buttonhole stitch around the edges. This arrangement is remiscent of the embroidery on the Villaine. A second example.

A different design, but the same format. Here is a third, somewhat more elaborate example.

As you can see, this was cut right off a chemise without even an attempt to secure the raw edges. The only thing the collector was concerned about was the embroidery. The main motif here is made of bargello or brick stitch, with the normal border, then a narrow design in outline stitch, with some of the fields filled in, surrounded by herringbone, with a braid appliqued around the edge. There is also embroidery over the smocking of the shirt body. This is quite common, but is unique in Latvia. It reminds me of chemise embroidery from southwest Karelia and Ingria. I have to wonder is this is from the Votic community which is known to have existed in south central Latvia.

Here are three examples of the sleeve end embroidery.

Here we have a brick stitch design, with the normal outline, and then 'trees' made of outline stitch, very reminiscent of the side desingns on the Villaine. this one likely came off the same garment as the second collar.

Here the central design is in cross stitch, and the 'trees' have been greatly reduced.

In this one, the main design is in bargello stitch, and the 'trees' are made mostly of cross stitch. In fact, they greatly resemble the 'trees' embroidered on the second Villaine above.

Footwear in this region is the same as in other parts of Latvia. Finely knitted stockings

Pastalas [moccasins], Vizes [shoes woven of birch or linden bark] or shoes, depending on the occasion and the wealth of the wearer. Here is a pair of Pastalas from this area, not really distinct from other regions.

The same round pins are used to hold the neck of the chemise closed as in other regions. Both Bubble brooches and flat engraved brooches are worn in this region.

I hope you have enjoyed this, and have found some inspiration from it. What sometimes happens when only a little material is known from a region, is that the 1 or 2 embroidery designs become fixed as the only 'correct' ones. This happened with some Bunads of Norway. In fact, of course, in any living tradition there are many designs within a  local style. Even in Norway, in the regions which have kept their traditions alive, such as Hordaland and Telemark, there is quite a bit of variety, although visibly similar. I would hope that someone would develop more possible chemise embroidery, in the same way that the individuals in the village would.

Feel free to contact me with requests for research. I hope to eventually cover all of Europe and the Former Russian Empire/Soviet Union. I also gratefully accept tips on source materials which i may not have. I also accept commissions to research/design, sew, and/or embroider costumes or other items for groups or individuals


Roman K.
Rkozakand@aol

Source Material:

Velta Rozenberga et al, 'Latviesu Tautas Terpi III Zemgale, Augszeme, Latgale' [Latvian National Costumes III Zemgale, Augszeme, Latgale], Riga, 2003

N. Kalashnikova, 'National Costumes of the Soviet Peoples', Moscow, 1990

Ilze Zingite, 'Latvian National Costumes', Riga, 2000

J. Sudmalis, 'Cimdu Rasti' [Mitten designs], Riga, 1961
Aija Jansone et al, 'Ieteikumi Latviesu Tautas Terpu Valkatajiem', Riga, 2002
T. Razina, 'Folk Art in the Soviet Union', Leningrad, 1990

Zemgale or Semigallian Costume, Latvia

Hello All,

Today I am continueing the series on Latvia, I will look at the costume of the Province of Zemgale [Semigalia]. The Semigalians, one of the Baltic tribes, are renowned for their stong resistance to the invasion of their lands by the German Teutonic Knights in the 13th cent. They form the bulk of the populatin in the present day Province of Semigalia [Zemgale], along with a certain admixture of the Votes, a small Finnic people from Ingria in present day Russia. Here is a short article about the Semigalians, a more general article on the history of the Latvian ethnic groups and a map of the area at the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semigallians

http://latvianhistory.wordpress.com/page/12/

And here is a map of the present day Provinces of Latvia. You can see that most of them are named after one of the old Tribes. Zemgale [Semigalia] is shown in green.

There does not seem to be much regional variety in the costumes of Semigalia [Zemgale], but as a whole the costume of the province has some distinct features, although clearly typically Latvian. Here is a photo of a girl from Zalenieki, in Zemgale.

You will notice that the skirt is not woven in simple stripes, but rather some of the wide stripes have designs woven into them. This is one very distinct feature of this region, which had a very strong if short lived life as a center of the textile industry in the 19th cent. There are several other typical patterns woven into the skirts. This one is called 'roses'. We will see other designs in other photos.

 The Vainags, the maiden's crown is cylindrical and formed of embossed metal. The Villaine, the wrap ends in long fringes in various colors, and the main ornamentation is not on the short ends, but on the long ends. They also do not resemble those of any of the regions we have yet looked at. Here is a closeup of the Villaine.The narrow stripe on the bottom is woven in. The larger ornament is a card-woven band sewn onto the edge.

A closer look at the motifs on the card woven band.

In Zemgale, the Vainags, the maiden's crown had disappeared by the mid 19th cent, being replaced by a head kerchief for unmarried women, and a myrtle crown for brides. The kind shown in the photo, which is often worn with the costume today are replicas of Vainags from the 16th-17th cent. Here is a closer look at the one she is wearing.

The sash, the Josta, in this region had two seperate designs in three bands, two narrower ones on the edges, and a wider one in the center. Here are a few examples. Compare these to the various photos in this posting.

Here is a second photo; of a woman from Eleja and a girl from Bauska.

You will notice that both repesent the same basic costume. Note the patterns on the sashes, and on the girl, the Villaine [wrap] and the Vainags [crown] are similar to that of the girl in the first photo. Here is a closeup of the 'cats paw' design of the first skirt.

And of the second skirt.

This photo also shows another piece typical of the costume, the short round necked bodice. The bodice today is made of plain colored wool usually in black, blue or green, but brocade examples are known from museum collections.

Sometimes sleeves were added, to make a jacket. As in these two photos below. Here are two women from Zalenieki.

The woman on the right is wearing a skirt woven in another variant of the rose design.

This woman is wearing a skirt with a design known from Gluda and Zalenieki. The plaid with floating woven design is reminiscnent of those in Dzukia, in Southeastern Lithuania, but i doubt that there is a direct connection.

In both of the above two examples we see the married woman's cap. This has a round top made of embroidered tulle, and a frilled edge. This cap was common in the 17th century from England to Belgium, France, north Poland, and as we can see, Latvia. A silk scarf is folded and then tied around the head on top of the cap.

Im sure that there was variety in the embroidery on the tulle.

Shawls with patterned designs woven in were worn in this region. This type of woven pattern is also known from Lithuania and Belarus.

And again, you can see yet more designs woven into the skirts.

I have yet to talk about the chemise. There are several cuts used, but they are generally variations on the ones we have seen before in Latvia. Here is a typical one. This one has a rather narrow shoulder inset, which is stlit, and then a triangular piece is set in to round off the neck opening.

The chemises are often decorated with white hemstitching. These types of chemise were worn day to day. Festive chemises had a different cut, without a shoulder inset. They were, of course made of very fine linen.

They were embroidered with two way drawn thread work, not too dissimilar to that done in northwest Russia, on the collar, cuff, and upper sleeve. the embroidery fields are indicated on the diagram above. Here are closeups of one such chemise. Collar.

Cuff

And upper sleeve, just below the seam with the body pieces.

Chemises and shirts were pinned shut by the typical round pins used in other parts of Latvia, but also by neckpins which were more elaborate. Some seem to reflect Swedish influence.

The large bubble brooches were worn here, as in other parts of Latvia, as you can see from the first photo, but they also used flat brooches with engraved designs, which were just as big.

If you look carefully at the women above, you will notice that several of them are wearing necklaces consisting of hollow silver beads. This is not typical of Latvia, and they are not worn in the other provinces. They are, however, typical of the Finnic peoples, and this custom is generally taken to be due to the assimilated Votic portion of the ancestral population. The beads can be round, oval, or walnut shaped.

Thank you very much for reading. I hope that you have found this interesting or inspiring. Perhaps some of you will attempt the drawn thread work on a shirt of your own.

Feel free to contact me with requests for research. I hope to eventually cover all of Europe and the Former Russian Empire/Soviet Union. I also gratefully accept tips on source materials which i may not have. I also accept commissions to research/design, sew, and/or embroider costumes or other items for groups or individuals

Roman K.
Rkozakand@aol

Source Material:

Velta Rozenberga et al, 'Latviesu Tautas Terpi III Zemgale, Augszeme, Latgale' [Latvian National Costumes III Zemgale, Augszeme, Latgale], Riga, 2003

N. Kalashnikova, 'National Costumes of the Soviet Peoples', Moscow, 1990

Ilze Zingite, 'Latvian National Costumes', Riga, 2000

J. Sudmalis, 'Cimdu Rasti' [Mitten designs], Riga, 1961
Aija Jansone et al, 'Ieteikumi Latviesu Tautas Terpu Valkatajiem', Riga, 2002
T. Razina, 'Folk Art in the Soviet Union', Leningrad, 1990