KHOKLOMA

The artisans in Khokloma in the Volga region of Russia have a long tradition of creating striking lacquer ware, with red and black designs on wooden utensils. The “gold” basecoat in the style now known as Khokloma was originally just yellowed varnish over a tinned finish, but today can be achieved by using gold metallic powder or acrylic paint. The three colours have strong religious symbolism and were commonly used to decorate sacred church vessels and icon ornaments. In this style the surface is based in gold, and then the black “background” is painted in around the gold design elements.  Decorative strokes and dots in red, black, gold and sometimes light green are then added to embellish the design.