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Traditional Costume of Eastern Europe and Western Asia

A Selective Bibliography

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Historical Costumes of Turkish Women

Historical Costumes of Turkish Women. Middle East Video Corp. Istanbul.1986. Lovely volume of bright colour photographs showing a variety of historical and tribal costumes from Turkey. Nearly all the photographs illustrate the often complex dress components, accessories and headdresses as worn, and were specially taken for this volume under studio conditions.

Byelorussian National Dress

Byelorussian National Dress.Mikhas Romanyuk. Minsk. 1981. One of the best Eastern European folk dress publications that I have seen to date, this book concentrates exclusively on the clothing tradition of Belarus, which lies west of Russia, east of Poland and north of the Ukraine and shares many clothing traits with these neighbouring countries. The beautiful folk costumes have a very slavonic flavour, incorporate a lot of white and red embroidery and in many respects are similar to Polish and possibly also Slovak styles. For anyone wanting artistic photographs of this authentic folk dress tradition, this volume is unparalleled. All regions of Belarus are covered in detail with hundreds of high quality black and white photographs, some colour photographs introducing each section.

Mari Folk Art

Mari Folk Art.Mari State Publishing House. 1985. A vivid study of the material culture of the Mari people inhabiting the Volga region of Russia, copiously illustrated with photographs of the textiles, accessories and crafts of this Finno-Ugrian group. Includes a number of tableaus showing Mari people, traditionally dressed and engaging in various activities. Brief English Summary laid in.

Chuvash Folk Art

Chuvash Folk Art. E D Medzhitova. Chuvash Publishing House. Cheboksary. 1981. This volume is similar to the above (Mari Folk Art) in general presentation. It shows the distinctive folk traditions of the turkic speaking Chuvash of Russia's Volga region, and is packed with photographs in colour, of textiles and artefacts interspersed with staged tableaus. English summary included in accompanying booklet.

Naisten Korut

Naisten Korut: Women's Jewellery in Central Russia and Western Siberia. Iidiko Lehtinen. Museovirasto. Helsinki. 1979. A small book on the jewellery traditions of the Volga peoples and the Ob Ugrians, with many historical black and white field photographs showing jewellery being worn. In Finnish with captions and summary in English. A rare volume on this intriguing costume and jewellery tradition on the far borders of eastern Europe and western Asia, demonstrating the striking traditions that have evolved in this region of varied cultural influences.

Russian Folk Clothing title of picture

Russian Folk Clothing from the Collection of the State Ethnographical Museum of the People of the USSR.Khudoznik RSFSR. 1984. An attractive introduction to the folk dress of Russia, illustrated mostly with colour photographs showing costumes in a museum context, but assembled as worn, interspersed with historical field photographs and paintings. (In Russian and limited English).

Folk Embroidery of the USSR

Folk Embroidery of the USSR.Nina T Klimova. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company. 1981. This book covers the embroidery techniques of the Russians, Ukranians, Byelorussians, Volga finns and peoples of central Asia, and is illustrated with numerous black and white photographs of embroidery samples together with a few historical photographs of folk costumes. There are a number of colour plates in a central section. Altogether a nice introduction to this folk art in the former USSR

Tatar Costume

Tatar Costume. From the collection of the Tatarstan Republic's State Museum. M Zavyalova. Kazan. Zaman Publishers Fund. Turan 1996. This book is a detailed account in photographs and text, of Tatar costume and ornaments from Russia. Changes and developments in costume styles from the 8th to the 20th century are outlined and clarified by paintings, historic photographs and tableaus. Many fine examples of dresses, headgear and jewellery from the Tatarstan Republic Museum are included. Among thr latter, plait pendants and chest sashes decorated with stones are both distinctive and attractive. Altogether a rare book on a tradition little known in the west.

Iso Karhu The Great Bear

Iso Karhu The Great Bear: Old Photographs of the Volga-Finnic, Permian-Finnic and Ob-Ugrian Peoples. Iidiko Lehtinen. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Museovirasto.1980. This volume presents historic photographs of the Finno-Ugrian peoples of central Russia and Western Siberia These rare images from Finnish archive collections, the work of a number of explorer-photographers, portray the traditional life of the linguistically related Mordvin, Cheremis (Mari), Votyak (Udmurt), Zyryan (Komi), Vogul (Mansi), and Ostyak (Khanti) minorities living along the Volga and in the vast tracts of forested land stretching into Siberia. The daily activities of these peoples: - hunting, fishing and agriculture, together with habitations and traditions of dress and jewellery are all shown in this anthology.

Folk Russian Costume

Folk Russian Costume.N Efimova. The Historical Museum Moscow. Moscow Sovetskaya Rossiya Publishers. 1989. This beautiful book documents Russia's folk costume tradition, with very many fine photographs of costumes from the collections of the Historical Museum, Moscow. These include colour plates of the costumes assembed as worn together with close ups of individual garments and a selection of fine paintings of traditional dress. In addition to the above, the book contains many lovely black and white historical photographs of men and women dressed in the old costumes of the northern and southern regions of Russia. Contains an English Summary and captions. (Much recommended)

Folk Costumes of the Peoples of Russia in the Graphic Arts of the
18th-20th Centuries

Folk Costumes of the Peoples of Russia in the Graphic Arts of the 18th-20th Centuries.The State Central Theatre Library.USSR Culture Advertising Bureau of the USSR Ministry of Culture.1990. This slim volume features the work of a number of artists who documented the costumes and cultures of Russia from the 18th century onwards.It is illustrated with watercolours, engravings, lithographs and drawings together with a section of posed photographs. In addition to documenting Russian folk traditions, the book also includes the distinctive dress of the Volga finns, Chuvash, Tatars and others. Altogether an attractive survey of now vanished traditional cultures.

The Finno-Ugric collections

The Finno-Ugric Collections at the National Museum of Finland.IIdiko Lehtinen. National Board of Antiquities. 1990. This guidebook covers the Finno-Ugric peoples living outside Finland, and is made up of seperate sections each devoted to a particular ethnic group. Inculdes the traditional material culture of the Ostyaks,Voguls,Hungarians, Zyryans,Votyaks,Cheremis,Mordvins, Estonians,Livonians, Votes,Veps and Karelians. The folk costumes of each are discussed together with other aspects of material culture, traditional economy and subsistence patterns. The study is copiously illustrated in colour and black and white with artifacts, many of them rare, Old drawings and historical field photographs of the people.

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