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Russian
Santa Claus - hand carved
Russian Santas are hand-carved from a solid piece of
wood and hand-painted by select artists from all over
Russia. The wood used is from the Linden tree (lime) and
is carefully selected and dried for at least two years.
Carvings are traditionally carried from village to
village to be exquisitely hand-painted by selected,
talented artists. In some cases, figures travel over a
thousand miles and it may take several weeks to complete
a single piece. The magnificent painting on each
woodcarving is unique to that artist and usually portray
scenes from the winter holiday seasons and characters
from Russian folklore.
It is very common to see carvings of Russian Santas and
Father frost with characters such as the Snow maiden,
angels, children (representing the coming year), or a
traditional Troika (three horses pulling the sleigh) in
a winter scene. Modern pieces have become “Americanized”
with beautiful scenes of the American version of Santa
Claus and our own holiday traditions painted on the
carvings. For centuries carvings were highly lacquered
to protect the painted scenes and the wood from the
elements of time, whereas some of the newer carvings
have a “matte” finish for a different look.
Unlike mold-cast figures, the result of a hand-carved,
solid piece of wood is that each and every piece is an
original - very unique in the collectibles industry.
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