The Outpost. A Strelets Soldier and a Boyar’s Son

The figures of Russian warriors of old times produced in the three-dimensional mosaic technique are a hard stone replica of the pillars of the bronze candelabras in the form of sculptural figures based on the model designed by the famous Russian sculptor Eugene Lanceray (1848 – 1886). Once they formed a single set with a mantel clock with a figure of a falconer. The idea was prompted to the modern stonecutters by the customer — a true connoisseur of Lanceray’s art. According to the art critic Stasov, his works are “deeply connected with the people and authentic.” Russian stone-cutters of the past also turned to other arts and crafts in their search for images and designs. Thus, Carl Fabergé (1846 – 1920) was inspired by porcelain figures produced by Russian private factories in the first half of the 19th century, the so-called “shouts” which, in turn, were a response to numerous books and albums devoted to the manners, customs, and entertainments of the Russians. One example is the figures made at the Leningrad Porcelain Factory that inspired a Soviet carver Vasily Konovalenko (1929 – 1989). In the middle of last century, he almost single-handedly revived the tradition of three-dimensional hard stone mosaic of the late 19th — early 20th century.

The works by Lanceray include two symmetrical figures for candelabras named “A Strelets and a Boyar’s Son”. While the sculpture of the strelets soldier is a “replica of a historic figure”, with the costume and the weapons reproduced with documentary precision, the second knight, according to an expert, is “rather an impressive fairy-tale character than a realistic figure that can be traced back in history”. The contemporary stone cutters went the same way and created decorative sculptures in beautiful costumes without focusing on the personality traits of the soldiers portrayed: they are shown in elegant poses, as if inviting the viewer to admire their clothes and equipment. The young “boyar’s son” is wearing a blue jasper okhaben (long garment) with a square fluffy fur collar and a lining of moss agate, with a conventionally “sketched” hematite chainmail armour and a red copper “leather” belt seen underneath. The helmet is made of pyrite and agate, and the soft leather high boots with curved toepieces are carved from flint.

The strelets is dressed in a long red caftan coat of jasper with subtle colour transitions from red (the cloth) to ginger (the fox fur). He is wearing a hat with a band. The technique used is mosaic of flint and agate. The soldier is armed with a jasper musket, a hammer with a serrated forged blade with a pattern carved in it, and a sabre. His beard is streaked with grey, for which streaked brown jasper was used.

The faces of the brave strelets from a lower-class family and the young well-groomed knight, “a boyar’s child” are carved out of marble, with their eyes made using the mosaic technique.

The figures produced by the “Svyatogor” lapidary workshop are just as exquisite, with the same filigree ornaments and attention to detail as that shown by the famous master of small-scale bronze sculpture. For example, the sword, unlike the bronze casting, is loosely attached to the belts, and the cases for powder charges are actually suspended from the berendeyka sling. The powder flask with a relief cameo bird made of flint is a fine piece of work complementing the delicately carved colourful outfit. With their colour and texture variety, hard stones gave the masters a much broader range of options compared to the gleaming monochrome bronze with its highlights and homogeneous surface.

The figures by Lanceray that are part of the candelabras are erected on high, patterned, as if over decorated, pedestals with ornately shaped bars serving as the base for the candle cups with decorations inspired by peasant woodcarving. Apart from everything else, the pedestals are bigger than the pillars themselves. In contrast, the stone sculptures have small round pedestals that do not distract attention from the picturesque costumed figures and match them perfectly. The Boyar’s son is standing on rocky ground made of flint, and there is old snow crust made of jade under the strelets’ feet, with a coral rowan tree twig that, according to the author, adds a touch of romance and lyricism. Without the seven candle cups, the ornately shaped supports, and the heavy and high pedestals, the hard stone versions of the design have lost nothing in terms of their imagery; on the contrary, they acquired artistic independence. The craftsmen at “Svyatogor” have been able to convert some elements of candelabras that were obviously designed for very practical purposes into exquisite, richly decorated sculptures of semi-precious stones. These works of today continue the tradition of producing fine figures out of a wide range of stones with jewellery details “wearing uniforms of different regiments”. Contemporaries of Carl Fabergé whose company produced rare works of this kind wrote that figurines on military and historical themes, custom-made to the Emperor’s order, “will be stored in the archives as the most reliable documents. They can be viewed as a kind of papyrus which is hundreds of times more durable than modern paper that decomposes just one hundred years from the day it is produced.” The virtuoso artists at “Svyatogor” keep military chronicles like this using their skills in the lapidary art and jewellery, and creative imagination.