Folk clay toys from Russia

Mother with many children Dymkovo doll, 1960-70s, All-Russian Decorative Art Museum, Moscow

One of the cutest souvenirs one can bring home from Russia is a ceramic folk toy. There is a variety of them but the most lively and most poplar toys are from Vyatka. They are called Dymkovo toys because originally they were produced in Dymkovo Sloboda village. The Dymkovo toy is nearly five hundred years old. The figurines were traditionally made by women and children working together in family units dividing the work according to the skill required for each step. Each person specialized in a particular part of the body or accessories. All parts were joined together and the seams rubbed with a damp rag or a wet finger and then the figures were set aside to dry for several days.

Peranakan beadwork

Fragment of a beaded tablecloth, Penang, early 20th century, The Peranakan Museum Singapore 

During my last stay in Singapore a month ago I visited the Peranakan Museum and was really impressed with the amazing examples of Peranakan beadwork. One work was especially memorable: a large (126 x 118 cm) tablecloth made from over a million glass beads, featuring in its design colourful flowers, birds and insects on a turquoise ground. This is the largest known example of Peranakan beadwork in the world. One must visit the museum if only to see this master piece.

Souvenirs from Vietnam: pottery

Though not famous for its high quality, Vietnam ceramics nevertheless are creative and have a sort of rustic beauty different from that of the carefully refined ceramics from some other countries. There is an air of innocent carelessness about them as if the craftsmen who produced them were quite liberal in their creation not relying too much on the rules of symmetry and decoration.

Gem carved sculptures from Hoi An museum

Happy Buddha, garnet

On a picturesque and crowded with tourists street of the Ancient Town of Hoi An there is a small but interesting museum, the Gemstones Art Museum. It was founded in 2013 by a Vietnamese passionate collector. The museum's exhibition is divided into two sections: one showcases natural gemstone crystals and uncut stones and at another more than two hundred pieces of precious stone sculpture are displayed. In terms of quality and rarity of the stones, the variety of the carvings represented the collection has no comparison in Vietnam. Visitors have a unique chance to get to know and enjoy the great artistic and manual skills of Vietnamese craftsmen. Here are a few examples of the gem carving from the museum's collection

Crafts of Central Asia: ganch carving

Detail of the ganch wall decoration, the Throne Hall, Khudoyar Khan Palace, Kokand, Uzbekistan 

Anyone who has not been to Central Asia is hardly likely to know the meaning of ganch. If one explains what ganch is it may seem highly prosaic: it is neither stone nor clay but something in between. It is obtained by firing a rock containing gypsum and clay and grinding it into a powder which is then mixed with water and a solution of vegetable glue. It then slowly solidifies as it dries out. Its shades range from light gray to light yellow. Ganch carving is one of the unique and ancient forms of artistic crafts of Central Asia.

Crafts of Russia: wedding ring shawls of Orenburg

Orenburg shawls are one of the world famous symbols of Russia. These lacy hand-knitted pieces of art are beautiful, warm and so light, fine and delicate that can be pulled through a wedding ring. They are so loved in Russia that there is even a song dedicated to this piece of clothing.

Tonight, when there's frost and there's blizzard

When the snow storm is roaming the road

Will you cover my shoulders, sweet darling,

With an Orenburg downy shawl.

The story of the Orenburg shawl started in the second half of the 18th century, when two older crafts were joined together. One of the predecessors of the fluffy shawl with its cobweb pattern was the thermal Kalmyk or Cossack shawl, which was worn under light clothing in fierce frosts, and knitted in plain stitch from the softest goat's fleece. The other was the fine lace shawls made by Ural Cossack women.

Crafts of Burma: kalaga wall hangings

Late 19th century kalaga wall hanging; embroidered wool with silver and gilt threads and sequins, with appliqué of coloured braids, silk and felt fabrics, padded. The Victoria and Albert Museum

Kalagas are traditional beads and metal-thread embroidered pictures that originally were used to decorate the walls of the palaces and the temples, served as a room partitions or as screens hung outside the house on festive occasions. The word "kalaga" literally means "foreign certain" and referrs to the fact that the original idea was imported from Thailand. The art has been practised in Myanmar for well over two hundred years. Kalagas's most distinctive feature is richly decorated, applique figures that are padded to give a soft relief on an ornamented background.