History of Orenburg shawls

Russian shawls and scarves have always been appreciated in the world market. Shawls of the Nizhny Novgorod factory, which belonged to N.A. Merlina, D.A. Kolokoltsev in the village of Ivanovsky, Saratov province, were famous for their high perfection. Indian shawls were woven from the down of Tibetan goats, in Russia - from the down of saigas, which turned out to be thin and soft, that the yarn from it, similar to silk, surpassed the down of cashmere goats in its qualities. Our Russian shawls were in the first place in the world.

Going to visit, Russian beauties covered their heads with luxurious shawls over warriors, kitscheks or kokoshniks embroidered with gold. The headdress of a Russian woman was an incredible play of light and color: the shine of silky fabric, the shine of pearls, the bright shine of gold embroidery. The splendor of the headdress is difficult to describe. Shawls adorned with cornflowers, scarlet juicy roses, poppies, which competed with the blush of the beauties' cheeks. But Russian beauties met winter holidays with riding a troika not only in colorful shawls, but also in Orenburg downy shawls.

Shortly before the printed shawls made in a village near Moscow became famous Pavlovo-PosadIn the Orenburg region, the Ural Cossack Maria Nikolaevna Uskova sent six downy shawls to the world exhibition in London in 1861. The accompanying document said that such handicrafts are produced throughout the Orenburg region by many women. From that moment on, the glory of the Orenburg downy shawls went. And the Ural Cossack woman from the exhibition was sent a medal with the inscription: "For shawls from goat down", a diploma and 125 silver rubles. Knitted from the down of local goats, Orenburg shawls have been known since the 17th century.

In 1762 the ethnographer P.I. Rychkov, a traveler and scientist, pointed out that there are herds of goats near Yaik, which "... are so frisky that it is impossible for any dog ​​to steal." So locals knitted warm scarves and jackets from the down of these goats. The Ural winters are fierce, even a sheepskin coat does not save, but such jackets made of the down of local goats warm even in lighter clothes. If the Kalmyks and Kazakhs who roamed the steppe simply knitted scarves, then the Russian craftswomen, who loved to decorate any clothes with lace and embroidery, began to decorate feather shawls with intricate patterns using plant motifs. And in 1766 P.A. Rychkov sent his "Experience on goat hair" to the capital's Free Economic Society. P.A. Rychkov recommended that civil servants encourage folk crafts. The letter was accompanied by a downy shawl knitted by his wife.

The headscarf delighted all members of the society with such admiration that the lady received the Gold Medal. Soon the rumor about the Orenburg downy shawls reached the very city of Paris. The French decided that they should have such production as well. Orientalist professor Joubert first decided to go to Tibet for cashmere goats. But on the way to Odessa, I learned that there are goats in the Orenburg steppes - the descendants of Cashmere. He examined the down of these goats and found it to be of better quality than the down of cashmere goats. And so, the French decided that they would buy such goats and transport them to France. 1,300 goats were purchased, which had to be transported by ship across the Black Sea to Marseille. They brought 400 alive. But those goats who arrived in the beautiful and warm country of France did not give such fluff. The experiment failed. Everywhere they tried to take the Orenburg goats - both to England and Latin America, they were fed, groomed, but ... They did not have enough Russian frost, and without it, the fluff did not grow. Here is our Orenburg downy shawl. He did not become either Marseilles or Liverpool.

Our Orenburg shawl, amazing in quality and beauty, has such a thin yarn that, in the size of five arshins in length and five in width (in an arshin 71 cm), it can be dragged into a wedding ring or, folded many times, - put in a goose egg shell.

Orenburg shawl - the Russian soul is reflected in it, it warms the heart with beauty and grace, and the body with warmth. Beautiful things ennoble the soul, and in Russia they knew how to dress beautifully.