Dymkovo Kingdom-State

Location: Main building / Floor 2 / Second floor hall

The State Darwin Museum invites to get acquainted with the Dymkovo toy - one of the brightest and original crafts that have existed on Vyatka for more than 400 years. At the exhibition it will be possible to trace the development of Dymkovo craft, plots and images to get acquainted with the technology of making and painting toys and to learn what role the requirements of the market and tastes of society played in the traditions of the Dymkovo toys.

Among modern Russian clay toys the Dymkovo (Vyatka) toy is the most famous and popular. Figurines are 15–25 cm high on average and usually are decorated with a multicolored geometric ornament of circles, "peas", stripes, cells and wavy lines in bright colors, often with the addition of gold on a white background.

For centuries the Dymkovo toys have reflected the way of life of many generations of Vyatka residents. The craft has originated in the Vyatka river settlement of Dymkovo and is mentioned in the chronicles of the XV–XVI centuries. The first Dymkovo toys were whistles, which craftswomen sculpted in their free time for the annual spring holiday "Whistler".

Thematic diversity, narrative language, brightness in color, careful crafting of details and ornaments are characteristic of the works by modern craftswomen. The current toy is connected with the toy of the past by the tradition of craftswomen to carefully preserve the basis but constantly change and develop in shapes, colors, themes.

In 2010 in the center of Kirov on the square near the puppet theater a sculptural group "Family" was installed, which was made of bronze based on the "visiting card" of the region. The motifs of the Dymkovo ornament were used at the opening ceremony of the XXII Winter Olympic Games, which took place in 2014 in Sochi. The folk "Dymkovo" style was repeatedly used in art and primarily for children, for example, in the cartoon "The Serviceman Returned Home" (1959). The exhibition will feature toys from the funds of the State Darwin Museum and from the private collections of A.Z. Taller and L.I. Skripnichenko.

Dymkovo toys from the collection of the State Darwin Museum

Author's clay toy in the traditions of the Dymkovo school. Tregub I.S. Peacock

Dymkovo clay toy. Petukhova L.V. Duck with ducklings