Dolgan bone and horn carving
The materials of arts and crafts are intended to be a form of expression of human feelings, wishes and thoughts. Northern nomads are known for skilful and ecological use of available means, for example, after cutting a reindeer all its materials were used for applied benefit for a tundra family: from the skin of a reindeer they made camus suitable for clothes, the residual camus from clothes was not thrown away - it was already used for making bags, seats and other decorative accessories; meat and other innards for food and life; some parts of bones carried sacred meaning, so they were stored accordingly. In this case, the antler may have been used to make figurines and illustrations on the material.
Bone, tusk and horn carvings have been a means of expressing their worldview for northern peoples since ancient times, and the Dolgans are no exception. The Dolgans believe that it is a male occupation. Even in archaeological excavations in the northern regions dating back to 1-2 thousand B.C. ancient bone products are found. This is confirmed by excavations in Chukotka and in Ust-Polui settlement of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug [2]. There is also a date of deep antiquity as about 20 thousand years ago, on the Angara River archaeologists found female statuettes, small zoomorphic figures made of mammoth tusk and deer horn and other bone products.
An equally widespread method of dressing bone and horn is figure cutting. But this is a later phenomenon among the Dolgans. ‘Traditionally, the Dolgans had sculptures made of wood, and these were not only small figures of wild deer and other game animals, but also anthropomorphic images, which could be up to two metres high. According to Dolgan beliefs, the sculptures ensured good luck in hunting and protected from diseases’.
The Dolgans adopted from the Evenks and Evenks the tradition to decorate with graphic decorations details of reindeer bones carved from mammoth tusk and sometimes from reindeer antler. As a consequence, one can recognise Evenki ornamental motifs in the products of early Dolgan masters, and yet this phenomenon cannot be called a copy of Evenki. Having such close ties with the Tungus of Eastern Siberia, the Dolgans are related to the Yakuts, so the Dolgan motifs had Yakut ornaments. Thus, Dolgan ornamentation is a peculiar artistic phenomenon, having subjected related ornamental traditions to reinterpretation.
The main features of the decoration on Dolgan bone products are the predominance of geometric rectilinear patterns, frequent repetition of specific ornamental forms, and extensive use of stripes and borders in the composition. As a rule, ornamentation covers the entire front surface of reindeer harness parts, first of all, such as ‘khynak’ - massive rectangular plates made of mammoth tusk [3].
Anatoly Ivanovich Savvinov, a well-known ethnographer specialising in the culture of the Dolgans and northern Yakuts, conducted remarkable research on the subject of Dolgan ornamental traditions. The scientist identified two groups of ornamental motifs: geometric and curvilinear geometric. The geometric group is distinguished by the simplicity of execution and archaic nature of ornaments. The curvilinear geometric group includes spiral and cross-shaped motifs. The ethnographer attributes the first group to the northern Tungus influence, and the second to Yakut traditions. [4].
At the moment, the art of Taimyr bone carvers, along with traditional themes of works, includes products on the theme of eternal values such as love and family. Traditional themes of works reflect nostalgia for native nature, childhood in the tundra and taiga, material interpretation from native folklore, hunting and fishing scenes, spiritual traditions of the Taymir peoples, etc.
In the studies of ethnographer Sergey Vasilyevich Ivanov it is stated that the Dolgan carvers had various homemade tools. ‘The tools with the help of which bone carving was made were a knife, a drill and a circular. The simplest method of carving was to draw shallow lines on the surface of bone or horn with the tip of a knife or awl. If it was necessary to draw several parallel lines, cutters with two or three teeth were used... For greater clarity of the drawing, black or red paint (usually driftwood) was often rubbed into the carved lines, and in its absence - mud. Circles with a point or concentric circles were drawn with the help of a simple homemade circular with several points, one of which served as a stem, and the others as incisors’ [4].
Nowadays, professional bone cutters use milling machines, dental instruments, and a grinding wheel. The carved figure is then bleached in a special chemical liquid and polished to final readiness.
According to Dmitry Chuprin, a bone-carver, every northern man has a small knife for small works, which is ideal for cutting various figures from improvised means. The cut piece of mammoth tusk is not treated dry, the piece is put in water for a day and after softening of the material it is possible to start cutting, it is easier to draw on soft tusk. In natural conditions moisture from the material evaporates more ecologically.
See the works of Dmitry Chuprin in the ‘Golden Fund’ of the Taimyr House of Folk Art at the link: https://www.tdnt.org
More often Dolgans use mammoth tusk in carving than reindeer horn. Bone-carver Nikolai Mikhailovich Kirgizov states that mammoth tusks are found in settlements quite a lot.
See the works of Kirgizov Nikolai Mikhailovich in the ‘Golden Fund’ of the Taimyr House of Folk Art at the link: https://www.tdnt.org
Tusk is inferior to deer horn in strength and is more capricious, prone to cracking and breaking, according to master Nikolay Olegovich Kirgizov.
Works of bone-carver Kirgizov Nikolay Olegovich in the ‘Golden Fund’ of the Taimyr House of Folk Art at the link: https://www.tdnt.org
Thus, the ornamental and sculptural traditions of the Dolgans show the plots and peculiarities of the Dolgan culture. These ornaments and plots on bones and horn reflect ethno-cultural processes and inter-ethnic relations with the peoples of the North and Siberia. The established archaic ornaments indicate the originality of the Dolgan culture and the accompaniment through the centuries of ancient ethnic elements of southern origin.
References:
- Ivanov S. V. Ornament of the peoples of Siberia as a historical source (on the materials of the XIX - early XX century). - Moscow: L.: Publishing house of AS USSR, 1963. - 506 с. - (Ser. ‘Peoples of the North and Far East’.). Link: https://www.evenkiteka.ru/stellages/ethnography/ornament-narodov-sibiri-kak-istoricheskiy-istochnik/
- Korolkov Sergey Vladimirovich. Bone carving in the folk art tradition of the North // Culture and Art. 2018. №8. Reference: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/rezba-po-kosti-v-narodnoy-hudozhestvennoy-traditsii-severa
- M.M. Bronstein, Y.A. Shirokov. Carved bone of Yakutia and Taymyr from the collection of the State Museum of Oriental Art. Catalogue of the collection // Moscow: State Museum of Oriental Art, 2014 - 92 p.: with illustration. Link: https://library.orientmuseum.ru/images/pdf/Yakutiya-Taymir_2014.pdf
- Savvinov A. I. Ethno-cultural peculiarities in ornamental traditions of Dolgans // Vestnik DVO RAS. 2010. №2. Link: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/etnokulturnye-osobennosti-v-ornamentalnyh-traditsiyah-dolgan
Useful literature on the topic:
- Taimyr carved bone. - Dudinka, 2015. - 140 p.: ill. Reference: https://www.tdnt.org/pdf_poli.php?id=28&t=publ
- Lomanova T. M. Carved bone of Taimyr: revival of the craft // Cultural Heritage of Siberia, 2019. Т. 2, № 20. С. 173-183. Link: http://journal.asu.ru/knc/article/view/6963.
- Ivanov, S. V. Materials on the fine arts of the peoples of Siberia in the 19th - early 20th century. Subject drawing and other types of images on the plane / S. V. Ivanov. - Moscow ; Leningrad : Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1954. - 838 с. Link: https://e.nlrs.ru/open/44029
Contributor: Asya Konstantinova, Leading Specialist of the UNESCO Chair at M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University
