Russian Wooden Spoons [Daily Photo #544]

Two more wooden spoons have joined our collection!

They are Khokhloma (хохлома) spoons.

Khokhloma is an old Russian craft.

Looks like gold, doesn't it?

But there's no gold of any kind. ;)

Here's what Wikipedia says:

“An original technique of painting wood in a goldish color without applying real gold is typical of Khokhloma, a remarkable and ingenious invention of Russian craftsmen. Articles carved out of wood (tableware, mostly) were usually primed with clay mortar, raw linseed oil, and tin powder (nowadays aluminum is used). A floral pattern was then painted on top of this coating with a brush. After that, the articles were coated with linseed oil (nowadays, synthetic oil) and hardened in a kiln at high temperatures. A combination of red, black, and gold are typical colors for Khokhloma. There are two principal wood painting techniques used in the Khokhloma, such as the so-called "superficial technique" (red and black colors over the goldish one) and the "background technique" (a goldish silhouette-like design over the colored background).”

The biggest spoon we found in Finland, in a flea market.

The others are all from Russia.

Not only these spoons are pretty, but they can also be musical instruments!

In this video they talk about Khokhloma (in Russian, English subs).

In this video they show all the steps of how Khokhloma things are made, and also they paint a car Khokhloma-style!