Rustic living room in the 19th century. Features of the Russian estate: style and interior, history and modern interpretations

Interiors 1800-1830s
At the beginning of the 19th century, a manor house or city mansion was a typical dwelling of the nobility. Here, as a rule, lived a large family and numerous servants. The ceremonial halls were usually located on the second floor and consisted of a suite of living rooms, a boudoir and a bedroom. The living quarters were located on the third floor or mezzanines and had low ceilings. The servants lived on the first floor, there were also service premises. If the house was two-story, then the living rooms, as a rule, were on the first floor and ran parallel to the service premises.
Late 18th - early 19th centuries - the time of the dominance of classicism, which implies a clear rhythm and a single style of placement of furniture and art. Furniture was usually made of mahogany and decorated with chased gilded bronze or brass bands. From France and others European countries interest in antiquity penetrated into Russia. Therefore, in the interior of this time we will see antique statues and the corresponding decor. Under the influence of Napoleon, the Empire style, created by the architects C. Persier and P. Fontaine, with its spirit of luxurious imperial residences of the Roman Empire, comes into fashion. Furniture in the Empire style was made of Karelian birch and poplar, often painted green - like old bronze, with gilded carved details. Clocks and lamps were made of gilded bronze. The walls of the rooms were often painted in pure colors - green, gray, blue, purple. Sometimes they were pasted over with paper wallpaper or imitated paper wallpaper, smooth or striped, with an ornament.

The enfilade of rooms in the exposition opens Kamerdinerskaya(late 18th - early 19th centuries). In such a room there could be a valet on duty. Mahogany furniture with brass overlays is made in the style of "Jacob".

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries Kamerdinerskaya
sample for portrait(1805-1810s) became the corresponding room in the estate of Count A.A. Arakcheev in Gruzino. Unfortunately, the estate itself was completely destroyed during the Great patriotic war. The portrait room is decorated in the early Russian Empire style, the walls are painted like striped wallpapers.

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries Portrait, 1805-1810s
Cabinet(1810s) was an obligatory attribute of a noble estate. In the interior presented in the exposition, the furniture set is made of Karelian birch, the desk and armchair are made of poplar wood. Wall painting imitates paper wallpaper.

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries Cabinet, 1810s
Dining room(1810-1820s) - also made in the Empire style.

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries Dining room, 1810-1820s
Bedroom(1820s) is functionally divided into zones: the actual bedroom and the boudoir. There is a kiot in the corner. The bed is covered with a screen. In the boudoir, the hostess could go about her business - needlework, correspond.

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries Bedroom, 1820s
Boudoir(1820s) was located next to the bedroom. If conditions allowed, it was a separate room in which the mistress of the house went about her business.

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries Boudoir, 1820s
prototype living room(1830s) served as the living room of P.V. Nashchekin, a friend of A.S. Pushkin, from a painting by N. Podklyushnikov.

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries Living room, 1830s
Young man's office(1830s) was created based on Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin" (it is interesting to compare it with the Trigorskoye estate, which became the prototype of the Larin house from this novel). Here you can see the desire for convenience and comfort, decorative fabrics are actively used. The conciseness inherent in the Empire gradually disappears.

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries
Young man's study, 1830s

Interiors 1840-1860s

The 40s - 60s of the XIX century - the time of the dominance of romanticism. At this time, historicism was popular: pseudo-Gothic, second Rococo, neo-Greek, Moorish, and later - pseudo-Russian styles. In general, historicism dominated until the end of the 19th century. The interiors of this time are characterized by a desire for luxury. The rooms are full of furniture, decorations and knick-knacks. Furniture was made mainly of walnut, rosewood, and sacchardwood. Windows and doors were covered with heavy draperies, tables were covered with tablecloths. Oriental carpets were laid on the floors.
At this time, W. Scott's chivalric novels became popular. In many respects, under their influence, estates and dachas in the Gothic style are being built (I already wrote about one of them - Marfino). Gothic cabinets and living rooms were also arranged in the houses. Gothic was expressed in stained-glass windows, screens, screens, in decorative elements of room decoration. Bronze was actively used for decoration.
Late 40s-early 50s. The 19th century was marked by the appearance of the "second Rococo", otherwise called "a la Pompadour". It was expressed in imitation of the art of France in the middle of the 18th century. Many estates were built in the Rococo style (for example, the now dying Nikolo-Prozorovo near Moscow). The furniture was made in the style of Louis XV: rosewood sets with bronze decorations, porcelain inserts painted in the form of bouquets of flowers and gallant scenes. In general, the room was like a precious box. This was especially true for the premises of the female half. The rooms on the men's side were more laconic, but also not without elegance. Often they were decorated in the "oriental" and "Moorish" style. Ottoman sofas came into fashion, weapons were adorned on the walls, Persian or Turkish carpets lay on the floors. There could also be hookahs and smokers in the room. The owner of the house dressed in an oriental robe.
An example of the above is Living room(1840s). Furniture in it

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries Living room, 1840s

The next room is yellow living room(1840s). The set presented in it was made for one of the living rooms of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, presumably, according to the drawings of the architect A. Bryullov.

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries Yellow Drawing Room, 1840s

Dressing young girl(1840-1850s) made in the walnut rococo style. Such a room could be both in a capital mansion and in a provincial estate.

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries Dressing room of a young girl, 1840-50s

IN Cabinet-boudoir(1850s) in the “second Rococo” style, expensive furniture “a la Pompadour”, veneered with rosewood, with inserts of gilded bronze and painted porcelain, is presented.

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries Boudoir study, 1850s

Bedroom of a young girl(1850-1860s) is striking in its splendor, it is also an example of the "second Rococo".

Russian residential interior of the 19th-early 20th centuries Bedroom of a young girl, 1850-60s

Interiors 1870-1900s

This period is characterized by smoothing out the differences between noble and bourgeois interiors. Many old noble families gradually became poorer, yielding influence to industrialists, financiers, and people of mental labor. Interior design during this period begins to be determined by the financial capabilities and taste of the owner. Technological progress and industrial development contributed to the emergence of new materials. So, machine-made lace appeared, windows began to be decorated with tulle curtains. At this time, sofas of new forms appeared: round, double-sided, combined with bookcases, shelves, jardinieres, etc. Upholstered furniture appears.

In the 1870s, under the influence of the World Exhibition in Paris in 1867, the style of Louis XVI came into fashion. The “boule” style is experiencing a rebirth, so named after A.Sh. Boule, who worked under Louis XIV - the furniture was decorated with tortoise, mother-of-pearl, bronze. The rooms of this period are decorated with porcelain from Russian and European factories. Numerous walnut-framed photographs adorned the walls.
The main type of housing is an apartment in an apartment building. Its design was often characterized by a mixture of styles, a combination of incongruous things only by the commonality of color, texture, etc. In general, the interior of this time (as well as architecture in general) was eclectic in nature. The rooms were sometimes more like an exhibition hall than a living space.
The pseudo-Russian style is coming into fashion. In many ways, this was facilitated by the architectural magazine "Architect". Country dachas were often built in this style (for example, near Moscow

Today, most people prefer comfortable and maximally functional housing. However, there are also rare connoisseurs of the old classics who want to decorate their home in best traditions bygone times. Typically, this category includes wealthy people who have more than one type of real estate, collectors and antique dealers, who, on the one hand, are thirsty for experimentation, and on the other hand, remain true to tradition.

To date, the interior of the 19th century, which dominated the homes of the aristocratic nobility, is one of the most revealing among the pages describing the history of architecture and life of the Russian Empire. For example, in the famous Pavlovsk Palace there is a whole exposition dedicated to the residential interior of the 19th and early 20th centuries, which allows you to travel like a time machine to another century.

Let's try to determine what features of the interior of the 19th century were present in different decades of the century.

So, at the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian nobility often settled in country estates or mansions located within the city. Together with the owners, servants lived in the house, which were classified by status. The houses in which the gentlemen lived usually consisted of three floors. It was the rooms on the first floor in the interior of the 19th century that were given under the disposal of servants, utility rooms, a kitchen, utility rooms.

On the second floor there were guest mansions, which often consisted of adjacent living rooms, halls and a dining room. But on the third floor, for the most part, the mansions were located.

At the beginning of the century, the interior of the 19th century was dominated by classicism and empire styles. Most of the rooms were harmoniously combined with each other and included furniture of the same style, often made of mahogany with fabric trim, decorated with gilded, brass or bronze elements. The walls in the houses were often painted with a solid green, blue or purple paint or pasted over with striped paper wallpaper.

An obligatory room in any residential building was the owner's office, whose furniture was often made of poplar or birch. A significant place was also occupied by portrait rooms, which were decorated with striped wallpaper and decorated with portraits in heavy and massive gilded frames.

The bedroom was usually divided into two zones: the bedroom and the boudoir, especially in the rooms of young ladies. In richer houses, the boudoir was located in the room next to the bedroom. The boudoir in the interior of the 19th century was not only the function of a dressing room, but it was the personal space of the hostess, where she could read, embroider, or just be alone with her thoughts.

The interior of the 19th century in the 40-60s fell under the influence of romanticism, neo-gothic and pseudo-Russian style. The windows in the houses began to be hung with heavy draped fabrics. There were tablecloths on the tables. The Gothic trend sometimes manifested itself in the fashion for lancet windows with stained-glass windows. Approximately during the reign of Nicholas II, a fashion for the French style was introduced. Mahogany furniture gave way to rosewood, and decor items such as porcelain vases and figurines appeared in the interior. And a little later, especially in men's bedrooms, Oriental motifs began to be reflected. For example, weapons were hung on the walls as decor, hookahs and other smoking accessories could be present in the rooms, the owners often liked to dress in robes with oriental motifs. But, as for the living rooms and women's bedrooms, the second rococo style remained dominant.

The interior of the late 19th century begins to fade a little compared to the beginning and middle of the century. This is due to the fact that many bourgeois families went bankrupt and found themselves in an unenviable financial situation. At the same time, scientific and technological progress did not stand still, which brought tulle and tablecloths made of machine lace into the interior.

Instead of houses in the 19th century, apartments became more popular, which combined the eclecticism of many architectural styles. The place of the estates was occupied country cottages, the interiors of which were often decorated in a pseudo-Russian style, which consisted of beams with carved ceilings and an invariable sideboard in the dining room.

Toward the end of the year, the Art Nouveau style came into its own, suggesting smooth curved lines in all interior items without exception.

The interior of the 19th century, in terms of saturation of different styles, can perhaps take the first place among other centuries, since under the influence of historicism it reflected such trends as classicism, rococo, gothic, in the middle of the century eclecticism of styles was born, and at the end came into its own. unique modern.

Man lives "for others" and "for himself". Everyday existence is hidden from the eyes of strangers, but always arouses burning interest. It is no coincidence that, talking about one Penza acquaintance, F.F. Vigel noted: “... and now let's talk about what is more entertaining, about his home life". History, as you know, is made not by abstract "figures", but by concrete people, "individuals", inevitably surrounded by their own home world, daily worries and well-equipped life. Residential interiors are the focus, the place of action of everyday life. They reflect both the personal tastes of the owners and the main attitudes of the era (for example, the concept of comfort), as well as, in the appropriate refraction, "great styles". The study of residential interiors, to a much greater extent than front rooms, is associated with the study of specific domestic norms and conditions.

Front interiors were the face of every house of those years, while the doors of “own” rooms were rarely opened for strangers. If the decoration of the "rooms of splendor" has always been given great importance, then the residential interior was rarely given enough attention by its creators themselves, and the "users", and subsequently, the researchers.

Let's make a reservation right away that this article does not make a clear division of the residential interior into "urban" and "estate". This issue requires further study, but we point out that, as it seems to us, the border separating them was of a rather arbitrary nature. Of course, life "in nature" was significantly different from urban life, was less constrained by rules and conventions, more "natural" and free, the charms of this peculiar village freemen were especially beginning to be appreciated by the end of the 18th century. But this difference related more to the nature of communication and behavior, daily routine, leisure activities, etc., and did not affect the sphere of everyday life so much, especially from its everyday side. It is unlikely that life in the city was fundamentally better arranged than in the countryside. Wealthy “citizens”, who went to the estates for the summer or moved for a long time, usually tried to arrange their life in the countryside just as comfortably. For this, as you know, furniture, household items, etc. were massively exported. For example, P.B. Sheremetev, having left St. Petersburg at the very beginning of the 1770s and engaged in the "decoration" of Kuskov near Moscow, exactly copied some of the interiors of his capital's houses, up to the removal of entire "furnishings". Moreover, a variety of things were sent from St. Petersburg, even "mugs woven from roots for rubbing the feet."

The one who was poorer spent most of the year in the countryside and went to the capitals for several winter months - either to his own house or to relatives, or to a hired one. Let us recall the move of the poor Larins to a Moscow aunt: “The convoy is ordinary, three wagons / They carry household belongings, / Pots, chairs, chests, / Jam in jars, mattresses, / Duvet covers, cages with roosters, / Pots, basins et cetera / Well, a lot every good thing." So they settled down there, apparently, just as they were used to in the village. F.F. notes about such transfers not without irony. Vigel - "then still in Russia they wandered in Abraham's way - with slaves, slaves and loaded camels."

In rented city houses, life was sometimes much simpler than "houses" in the estate, and they were much poorer furnished. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin describes in Poshekhonskaya Starina the winter visits of the family of the protagonist. In Moscow, a mansion with seven or eight rooms was rented, and “among the latter, only two or three“ clean ”rooms were quite spacious; the rest could in the full sense of the word be called cells. ... There was nothing to think about a luxurious and even simply comfortable environment, and we are also nobles middle class- and did not claim convenience. The furniture was for the most part prefabricated, old, covered with old leather or tattered hair. In this tiny room, in a stale atmosphere saturated with miasma (there was no mention of ventilation, and the air was freshened only during the burning of furnaces), a noble family huddled, often quite numerous. They slept everywhere - both on sofas and side by side on the floor, because there were few beds for rent at the house, and what they had, those were assigned to the elders. The servants spent the day and spent the night on chests in such miniature kennels that one could only marvel at how such a mass of people were accommodated there.

The similarity of the interiors of city and country houses of the late 18th century was noted by F.F. Vigel. Describing the Penza Dvoryanskaya Street, built up with “dwellings of the aristocracy,” he remarks: “The landowners lived here just like in the summer in the village ... Having described the location of one of these houses, urban or rural, I can give an idea of ​​​​the others, so great were they uniformity".

Residential interiors were updated disproportionately more often than front rooms - their furnishings often did not outlive their owner. There are very few images of the named time - the interior genre in painting developed in Russia later, from the 1820s. Contemporaries had little interest in "household trifles" - only from the second third of the 19th century did a realistic trend appear in literature with its "everyday" novel, and only then the authors of memoirs would begin to recall not only people and events, but also the details of everyday life. Therefore, references to her, about her home, surrounding things and habits (such as those by A.T. Bolotov for the 18th - early 19th centuries are unique. Figuratively and very accurately, S. Kaznakov said about this at the beginning of the 20th century: “Yes , the task of a chronicler is not an easy task ... Notes, letters and stories of contemporaries do not explain anything; at that time they did little to describe the internal situation of life, its beauty was given so easily, they wrote more about events and people. Especially in the reign of Paul, when outsiders even observers barely had time to sort out the chaos of daily impressions.

Unlike compatriots, foreigners paid a little more attention to the “internal environment of life”, since, according to Yu.M. Lotman, “a foreigner experiencing someone else’s everyday life as exotic can perceive it aesthetically,” while “the direct bearer of culture, as a rule, simply does not notice its specifics.” Of particular note are the memoirs written by female hand, since they, unlike men busy with service and representation issues, were much more worried about everyday home life, and they, unlike their husbands, devoted pages of their diaries to her more often than their husbands. Sometimes the memoirs of the childhood of the authors of the 19th century are informative - they are written or processed decades later and are filled with descriptions of the everyday realities of a life long gone. On the whole, it should be noted with regret that the memoirists of those years paid little attention to the issues of interest to us. Therefore, archival documents are of great importance, especially inventories of private houses and business correspondence, as well as objects actually preserved in museums, originating from residential interiors.

Literature on the Russian interior of the period of classicism is quite extensive. But mainly ceremonial interiors were studied, residential ones were often left out of consideration. Valuable information on the topic of interest to us can also be gleaned from various works on the history of everyday life, the domestic arrangement of life, and its private side.

Since ancient times, the interior of rich private houses has been divided into two zones - front and private - since ancient times, there were special rooms for receiving guests. Over time, the border between "front" and "private" changed its shape. In the 18th century, on the one hand, daily life, which was completely uninteresting for contemporaries, was removed from the eyes into the inner chambers, on the other hand, some of its components were put on display by their “front” side and included in the ritualized action that unfolded in the “splendor rooms” . For example, rich nobles often came to their Front Bedroom only in the morning for dressing and combing, accompanied by a reception of honored visitors - such a daily “toilet” acquired the status “not for prying eyes” only in the 19th century. Descendants were also surprised by the bathroom, sometimes included in the front suite of palaces of the 18th century. For example, in the Marble Palace, judging by the inventory of 1785, four rooms (“anteroom”, bathroom, bathhouse and utility room for heating water) are listed immediately after “a room that can serve as a picture room and for physical experiments or a billiard room”. But contemporaries perceived everything as it should. F. De Miranda, who traveled half of Europe and visited the palace a year later, lists its beauties, including “the dining room and art gallery, where there are very good works by Van der Werf and other Flemings; grand ballroom correct proportions; an elegant bath in the shape of an ellipse, etc.; decorations and furniture are as exquisite as they are rich. As you can see, the bath is perceived almost in the same way as the “amazing Flemish wooden bas-reliefs” from the “Reception Hall”. “Ceremonial” baths could be made of silver (as in the Tauride Palace at Prince Potemkin and proudly show to others. Such a “ceremonial”, theatrical washing (then it was done in a sheet) also implied the presence of strangers - while taking a bath, you could have small talk with guests .

The "public" character of life, inherent in the 18th century, implied for its personal, private side the eyes of an outside observer. “... To become an object of contemplation is the highest desire of all. Intimacy is therefore excluded from life, and all behavior becomes a single official act, all life from birth to death, and even in its most sacred moments. For even in the sphere of feelings pose and representation reign.

But by the end of the "gallant age" the private side of life began to acquire more and more importance. In about half a century, from the 1780s to the 1820s, the self-consciousness of a person radically changed, he was formed as a person (in the modern sense of the word). This qualitative change led to significant changes in the general cultural situation of those years and finally shifted the focus from the "outer" world, which was the life of a person of the 18th century, to the "inner" world. “Personality” is no longer a part of the whole, it is not “dissolved” in the collective, as before, but has the full right not only to its inner world, but also to its environment, which has finally acquired an independent meaning and special value. If “for a very long time, everyday life was considered as the wrong side of being, i.e. as an inconspicuous and unattractive contrast to the high forms of human self-expression - public, state-political, artistic, secular ", then during the first quarter of the 19th century there was a huge distance between the" high "(public service, politics, war, holidays, etc.) and "low" (daily worries, everyday life) is reduced and subsequently the sphere of private is no longer perceived as something base and unworthy of attention.

These changes were so strong that, if at the beginning of this half-century the owners not only did not appreciate, but seemed not to notice “domestic life” at all, then by its end there are attempts to perpetuate their own domestic life in order to show the whole world “the absolute significance of their purely a private person who does not occupy any place in the state ...”, which was most clearly manifested in the creation of the “Nashchokinsky House”, which was an exact copy of the present. The significance of private life, finally appreciated, also manifested itself in the birth of the “in the rooms” genre, hitherto unknown in Russia.

The turning point in self-awareness, which chronologically almost coincided with the turn of the century, could not but be felt by contemporaries, and in Russia was associated mainly with the change of reigns. The eighteenth century actually ended with the death of Catherine, the time of Alexander - "a new reign with new ideas." The younger generation looked at the world with completely different eyes and already poorly understood the cares and lifestyle of their fathers - the nobles of Catherine's times. No wonder F.F. Vigel, recalling Kiev society at the end of the 18th century, exclaimed: “How ridiculous we would seem now! Forty years of time and one thousand two hundred versts of distance make a big difference in the concepts and opinions of people.

A whole, uncomplicated perception of life, a state of balance between “internal” and “external”, so characteristic of many contemporaries of Elizabeth Petrovna and partly of Catherine II, did not receive its development in the descendants who turned their gaze “into themselves, into the abyss of the “internal””. This is clearly seen when comparing two representatives of the 18th century - the father and son of the Sheremetevs. Father, Pyotr Borisovich, is a child of the 18th century, a gentleman and an epicurean, in whom hedonism, breadth of nature and practicality are organically combined, he seems to have managed to get closer to the ideal of the century - “a person with real taste who lives in order to live, and who enjoys himself...

The son of Nikolai Petrovich is completely different - a reflective and artistic nature. He was "one of the first to set foot on the road of personal self-consciousness, personal choice, personal action. He does not aspire to a state career, he reads a lot, plays music and is engaged in theater. Quite early "he began to have a tendency to that sad state and agonizing for the soul ..., so known to doctors under the name of hypocondriacal anxiety," the family doctor writes about him. The desire for solitude, "peace and tranquility", intensified over the years, was supplemented by an appeal to God, which is so natural for many in their declining years. Nikolai Petrovich himself wrote about this to his son: “I changed feasts into peaceful conversations with my neighbors and sincere ones; theatrical spectacle was replaced by the spectacle of nature, the works of God and the deeds of men.

Having excluded the sphere of “higher” service from his life, Nikolai Petrovich plunged into the life of a “private person”, paying considerable attention to domestic problems. In the solitude he himself consciously chose, he, "having a penchant for home-grown life," loved "to indulge in domestic needs and engage in the happiness of his many peasants."

It should be noted that by the end of the 18th century, a considerable number of nobles considered as their civic duty to the Fatherland not military or public service, as it was not long ago, but they considered it equivalent to serving “not with a weapon, but with a pen in hand” - for example, in educating society through publishing (A.T. Bolotov, N.I. Novikov, N.M. Karamzin and etc.). This position was clearly formulated by A. T. Bolotov, refusing to participate in elections to local government, explaining this by the unwillingness to “interfere in their affairs” and striving “it is better to remain a perfect guest and a free person.”

Turning to oneself, to one's newly acquired inner world, to a private, domestic life inevitably led to an increase in the significance of the environment in which this self-realized person lives. Living rooms acquire, if not equivalent, then at least comparable to the grand interiors, and emphasize individuality (already different from the lordly tyranny of the bygone century). If “for enlighteners and romantics, everyday interpretation of the environment, human environment, has been excluded", then in the Biedermeier the living environment goes beyond interior rooms to the front rooms, in which more and more time is now spent both with and without guests. Already at the beginning of the 19th century, the custom, which until recently was widespread and widespread, was perceived as an anachronism, when the owners “in stone houses kept large rooms in perfect cleanliness, and for that they never went into them, huddled in two or three closets, slept on chests. ..".

The residential interior becomes an expression of the owner's individuality - "the interior of my room, apartment, salon is a continuation of" my "inner world," my "inner world" is alienated to the outside. Only a select few are allowed in. Therefore, to receive an invitation to the inner chambers was considered a special favor. It is no coincidence that F.F. Vigel, who sometimes visited P.G. Demidov (grandson of the “famous blacksmith” Peter I Akinfiy), noted: “Several narrow long rooms of this house were assigned to receive guests; a much larger number of internal, like the heart of G. Demidov, were revealed only to his intimate friends.

In the period we are considering, the last quarter of the 18th - the first quarter of the 19th century, the division into front and private, on the one hand, did not lose its relevance and residential interiors differed significantly from front rooms, on the other hand, during the first quarter of the 19th century, the process of "conquest" began ( according to the terminology of E.V. Nikolaev) of the main interior of the residential. This process proceeded slowly, overcoming the aesthetic attitudes of the Empire, oriented towards the "high" ancient art, which had penetrated deeply into life. At this time, "everyday life was still entirely a subject of art."

Describing the artistic situation at the turn of the century, B.C. Turchin notes: “In art there was a craving for the inclusiveness of being. This determined the high content of the images, the breadth of vision. The great should be on a scale with personalities, and then each personality was perceived as extraordinary, which is why little attention was paid to the details of everyday life, petty, insignificant. If, however, particularity attracted, it was only to the extent that something more significant was manifested in it than it actually was. But time passed, and the “half-empty, with life removed from the eyes” rooms were filled with things, crowded and forced, and in the second half of the 19th century they turned into cozy and utterly overloaded with various objects evidence of a person’s attention to himself.

Under Catherine II, the concept of comfort was just entering life and was perceived as something very Western, non-Russian. But interest in everyday conveniences grew and the changes that took place in the memory of one person were striking. So, Vigel, recalling the times of about thirty years ago, noted that "we did not know as much about travel or home comfort as today's young people." For example, the level of "road" comfort is evidenced by the memories of Catherine II of the times of numerous transfers of the imperial court under Elizabeth Petrovna. One of the trips to Revel “was distinguished by boredom and inconvenience. The empress herself was usually located in the post and station houses; tents were pitched for us, or we were placed in the kitchen. I remember that once during this journey I had to dress at the stove in which bread was baked, and another time I went into the tent, where a bed was prepared for me, and soaked knee-deep in water. Another time, upon arrival in Moscow in the winter of 1753, Catherine and Peter were settled in a new house. “We were placed in a wooden outbuilding, just built last autumn: water flowed along the walls, and all the rooms were extremely damp.”

If in the middle of the 18th century, the owners transported numerous pieces of furniture with them from one house to another, then by the end of it the situation changes. Things are no longer perceived by themselves and are not the property of a particular person, but become part of a particular interior. So, Catherine II recalls that during the numerous moves of the court of Elizabeth Petrovna, different rooms could be assigned for residence, that is, not those in which they lived on the last visit. For example, moving at the end of autumn to the Winter Palace for the whole winter, the empress “occupied the rooms in which we lived last winter; we were given the rooms where he lived Grand Duke being a groom. ... Empress Anna once lived in them.” If this was considered the norm under Elizabeth, then Catherine was no longer satisfied. She began using her own money to buy furniture for her rooms in the Winter and Summer Palaces on her own “and, moving from one place to another, ... found her rooms completely tidy; At the same time, there was no fuss or breakage during transportation.

This remark applies not only to the imperial and grand ducal residences. For example, the Ostankino residential wing (called the “Old Mansions” in the documents) was kept in constant readiness for the arrival of the owner, who was waiting not only for a smoking pipe on the table, tongs for splitting sugar and nail files, but even a silk dressing gown in the Bedroom was not removed inside the chest of drawers. (which is why it was included in the text of the Inventory of 1802).

The arrangement of residential interiors at the end of the 18th century was distinguished by a certain "stupidity", when very little importance was attached to the ordinary (from our today's point of view) conveniences of everyday life. E.N. Nikolaev, who studied a large number of private houses of the late 18th - the first half of the 19th century, noted "the undoubted fact that the arrangement of" everyday ", non-ceremonial life was a weak point of the architecture of the 18th century." This domestic disorder was more the rule than the exception, and was typical not only for "out of the ordinary" estates, but also for the imperial palaces of those years. So, for example, in Gatchina, which to a large extent embodied the tastes of Emperor Paul I, the layout, decoration and size of living rooms often aroused bewilderment not only among descendants, but even among contemporaries. Countess V.N. Golovina wrote: "Closeness in the castle, where ceremonies took place in the front halls, almost obscene living quarters for the first persons of the court and St. Petersburg society, dirt and the autumn sky covered with clouds...". The “obscenity” of the living quarters was described by an English memoirist who wrote in 1827 about Paul’s private rooms, kept almost intact by Maria Feodorovna: the rooms are small and cannot boast of decoration in a majestic spirit.

This "stupidity" gradually disappeared from life. If in the first half of the century the living rooms were enfilade and in large houses they were located on the third and first floors, then in classicism some of them began to be arranged on the main floor (in poor houses this was practiced before). Thus, in the residential area, the number of rooms has increased, which have become geographically closer to the front rooms. The most important innovation of classicism was the appearance of a corridor, which was located parallel to the enfilade axis and made additional doors in the bliss, as a result of which, by blocking the enfilade, it was possible to isolate one or more rooms. The enfilade layout began to be gradually replaced by a more comfortable corridor-apartment one. Above the living rooms, not as high as the front rooms, mezzanines began to be arranged - all this provided more comfortable conditions existence.

Thus, new houses were erected (or old ones were rebuilt). But for the most part, especially in the provinces, they continued to live in the old way for a long time. For example, M.E. describes the provincial childhood of his hero in the 1820s in this way. Saltykov-Shchedrin: “Although there were enough rooms in our house, large, bright and with abundant air content, these were front rooms; the children were constantly crowded: during the day - in a small classroom, and at night - in the common nursery, also small, with a low ceiling and, in winter, hotly heated. ... In the summer, we were still somewhat animated under the influence of fresh air, but in the winter we were positively corked up in four walls. Not a single jet of fresh air reached us, because there were no vents in the house, and the atmosphere in the room was refreshed only with the help of the stoves. “I cannot boast of the external environment of my childhood, in terms of hygiene, neatness and nutrition.” In the children's room, “four or five children's beds were placed, and nannies slept on the floor, on felt. Needless to say, there was no shortage of bed bugs, cockroaches, or fleas.

These insects were like house friends. When the bugs were too pestering, the beds were taken out and scalded with boiling water, and the cockroaches were frozen in the winter.

But in general, but throughout the first third of the 19th century, the emphasis shifted from palace to private construction, to ordinary noble houses and “... the main place where culture settles and where the entire history of art is projected, assimilated and appropriated, turned into the property of the “I”, becomes a house, an interior. Spacious living rooms are settling in and the residential interior "goes out" into the front door.

This process is illustrated by the evolution of the bedroom. In the 18th century, it was customary in rich houses to have two bedrooms - a front room and a "everyday" one. The first served for representation, the second was used for its intended purpose (of course, in ordinary houses these functions were combined). But by the end of the century, more and more often, the alcove of the front bedroom was separated by curtains or screens from the rest of the space facing the windows, which turned into a living room. “Such a successful decision led to the fact that even very rich people began to combine the front and daily bedrooms in their palaces, which made it possible to use luxurious front interiors in everyday life without violating their splendor.” In accordance with the idea of ​​​​combining a bedroom and a living room, a niche project was made in the 1790s for the Bedroom of the Ostankino residential choir. The alcove, flanked by columns, was separated from the rest of the space by a curtain, in front of which, on the “guest” side, a canape was placed, consisting of two halves and moving apart to the sides in order to clear the passage to the bed for sleeping.

It is interesting to trace the direction in which the old, for example, father's, living rooms were rebuilt by children. Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev, who inherited the furnished and finished Ostankino residential building, began to partially rebuild it in the 1790s (which took place simultaneously with the construction of a large palace located in the immediate vicinity). The work was carried out in three directions - the number of rooms increased, the area of ​​​​some of them increased by combining existing ones, and also, where possible, the old enfilade layout was removed by transferring doorways and creating additional exits to the park. At first, Nikolai Petrovich was not satisfied, apparently, not with the size, but only with the number of rooms at his disposal, since on the plans of the wing, which was first supposed to be attached to the Old Mansions, the purpose and size of the new premises differed little from those already available, and some were even smaller. . The main inconvenience was not so much in size as in the enfilade arrangement, which was widely practiced in the 18th century. If in the front half of the enfilade they scolded, mainly because of the drafts penetrating them (“So that the wind would cry in November like on a ferry, and the master would not know where to go in the house”, then they caused a lot of other inconveniences in the residential area. From drafts it was possible to somehow escape with the help of screens, dividing the space of the room into "offices" and creating cozy corners by the fireplace or at the table. But it was not so easy to protect your peace from the constant walking of the household through adjacent rooms. For example, in the Office of the Ostankino Old Mansion it was possible to get in only through the Bedroom, and it was not by chance that Nikolai Petrovich was concerned about their separation.As a result of the restructuring, the Study was connected to a room that had its own exit, which made it possible to receive visitors without taking them through the Bedroom.

In the middle of the 18th century, it was quite natural to settle the bride of the Grand Duke Peter who had recently arrived in Russia with her mother in such a way that they were forced “to go to Mass or to the Empress, go through the rooms of the Grand Duke, which were next to mine.” This does not cause dissatisfaction with Catherine, but on the contrary, it even has positive sides"in this way we often saw him."
She was outraged by another incident that happened to her in Moscow, where she and Peter arrived at the beginning of the winter of 1753. They were placed in a newly built outbuilding. Let us note right away that this did not take place somewhere in the wilderness, but in the second capital, and the house was specially rebuilt for their arrival. So the case was completely in the spirit of the time - by the end of the century this could hardly have happened. So, 17 servants (“girls”, chamber frau and their maids) were settled in the Restroom, which communicated with the Bedroom of the ill Catherine, and from this room “there was no other way out than through my bedroom, and women for every need passed me by, which was not at all convenient for them or for me. ... In addition, they dined in one of my front rooms.” Only ten days later the empress visited them and, having learned about such torments, did not think of anything better than to order to cut through outer wall Restroom and make a separate exit to the outside for 17 people. Moreover, they had to “walk the street” to dine, and to the latrines arranged under their windows - and all this in winter! In addition, such crowding had another unpleasant side, Catherine recalled: “So many different kinds of insects gathered from there to me that I used to be unable to sleep from them.”

The situation was aggravated by the fact that in city houses the “common people” lived according to village customs and therefore, as a rule, numerous households slept not only in specially designated places (on the mezzanines, benches in the kitchen and corridors), but also side by side on the floor in different rooms (footman's, girl's, etc.), "next to the rooms where the owners slept, so that they could be at hand at night too."

It was not only foreigners who expressed dissatisfaction with this. F.F. Vigel, describing the houses of the Penza nobles at the end of the 18th century, noted: “In the hallway in front of the enfilade, after the latrines, “a different kind of stench meets me. A crowd of courtyard people fills it; all plucked, all torn off; some lying on the counter, others sitting or standing talking nonsense, then laughing, then yawning. In one corner there is a table, on which either a camisole or an underwear is laid out, which is cut, sewn or mended, in the other soles are sewn under boots, which are sometimes smeared with tar. The smell of onions, garlic and cabbage interferes here with other vapors of this lazy and windy people.

Sleeping not only not in bed, but side by side on the floor was not considered shameful on special occasions and among the nobles. For example, it was a forced necessity for numerous guests who rushed to the neighboring estate and stayed there for a long time: “Gvozdin, Buyanov, Petushkov / And Flyanov, not quite healthy, / They lay down on chairs in the dining room, / And Monsieur Triquet on the floor, / In a sweatshirt , in an old cap.

The farther from the capitals - the more simple. So F.F. Vigel recalls a visit to a landowner at his estate near Kazan in 1805. Numerous guests, after a supper rich in libations, were sent to bed. The governor and the most honored guest were placed in separate rooms, and all the rest were led “into a spacious room, a kind of empty hall, and wished us good night. On the floor were mattresses, pillows, and woolen blankets borrowed from actors and actresses. (Given that the arrivals of guests were repeated systematically, and were not unexpected, “taking away” bed linen was an established practice - S.D.) I bent down to look at the sheet due to me and shuddered at its variegation. My companions, probably knowing in advance the customs of this house, calmly began to undress and merrily threw themselves on their filthy beds. There was nothing to do, I had to follow their example ... if darkness and silence settled around me; the most disgusting smell of rotten cow butter, with which my head was saturated, would not prevent me from calming down; but by the light of tallow candles (which, we note, also smell unpleasant - S.D.), the scribbling, our stupid road conversation resumed ... More than once I raised not a formidable, but a pleading voice; half-drunks laughed at me, not so politely as rightly, calling me a sissy. One by one they began to fall asleep, but when the last two talkers fell silent, the dawn broke, which freely poured into our windows without a curtain. Meanwhile, flies and mosquitoes from above, bugs and fleas from below, all prickly insects declared a cruel war on me. I didn’t close my eyes for a minute, tormented, I got up, dressed somehow and wandered into the garden to freshen up in the morning air ... ” Interestingly, Vigel himself agrees that, according to his comrades, he is a sissy - after all, everyone else was sleeping peacefully, because it was completely ordinary for them.

Living rooms of those years are characterized by multifunctionality. The bedroom has already been mentioned - it is divided into an alcove used for practical purposes and a "living room". It should be noted that the bedroom was of great importance not only in the system of front rooms, but also in living rooms. It could play the role of a living room, serve as an office (for which it was furnished with special pieces of furniture - secretaries, "offices" with numerous drawers for storing small things), a restroom (in addition to "washroom chairs", for example, it could have a wall-mounted washbasin). M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, describing the morning preparations, notes: “... and from the father’s bedroom the sounds of a washstand set in motion are still heard”, as well as a mini-dining room for especially close guests (Saltykov-Shchedrin recalled: “Mother immediately took Nastasya to his bedroom, where there was a samovar, separate from the general and different kind goodies"). The Ostankino Bedroom was simply crammed with a variety of objects - hung with prints, crowded with furniture and stuffed with trifles. In addition to the above activities, it was also possible to relax in it (for which canapes "for daytime rest" were used - they were widespread in the bedroom environment, as well as an armchair and even a smoking pipe - we note that in the 1790s, smoking, which again entered in vogue under Paul I, has not yet fully established itself in men's offices), drink coffee (there were sugar tongs, a coffee pot and a milk jug) and generally spend time comfortably during the day, for example, reading.

In turn, the Cabinet could be virtually anything. Recall: “This is the master's office; / Here he rested, ate coffee, / Listened to the clerk's reports / And read a book in the morning ... ". In the Ostankino “Kontorochka” (as the offices were often called when making inventories) there was no desk, bureau or secretary, but only a chest of drawers with a sliding board, filled with various knick-knacks. The presence of an ink device on it indicates, nevertheless, the purpose of the room. But three washbasins (including a wall-mounted, that is, stationary) testify to the additional function of the lavatory. Very often, the cabinets were used by the owner as a bedroom. And certainly not necessarily they served for "scientists" or "business" activities ("... not a speck of ink anywhere"). Recall Nozdryov’s office from Dead Souls, “in which, however, there were noticeable traces of what happens in offices, that is, books or paper”, there were all kinds of rarities: sabers, guns, daggers, even a barrel organ. Then pipes appeared - wooden, clay, meerschaum, stoned and unsmoked, covered with suede and not covered, a chibouk with an amber mouthpiece, recently won, a pouch embroidered by some countess ... ". An office for the described N.V. Gogol time has already become a recognized place for smoking. I usually retired to it after dinner. male part guests led by the owner - there they drank coffee, had "men's conversations" and smoked.

Similarly, latrines could be a place of leisure or used as dining rooms, despite the presence of a special "dining room" in the residential complex. For example, in the Kamer-Furier journal it is noted that on such and such a day Pavel “did not leave the inner chambers (Mikhailovsky Castle - S.D.), dined together with the Empress downstairs, in his dressing room; there was no evening meeting and Their Majesties dined in their dressing rooms.

In the Ostankino house, the room, called the “Lavatory”, could also be a living room and an office. It was possible to play music on the clavichords standing there, to play checkers and other board games, for "written" classes, a three-tier secretary was intended, as well as a writing instrument in a case. If desired, one could drink tea there from two “samovars” standing symmetrically on the cabinets, which also served as decoration.

All these features can not always be explained by the lack of space. Limiting the number of own habitable rooms, their conspicuous versatility, if available in the neighborhood a large number spacious empty front rooms, almost never used for everyday life until the beginning of the 19th century, speaks not only of not yet fully developed concepts of comfort, but also that a person needs very little space for real life - and it doesn’t matter at all whether he is simple collegiate assessor or privy councillor. So, Emperor Paul I in the Mikhailovsky Castle set aside a number of living rooms for himself, but did not use all of them. For example, with his bedroom, since he placed his “camping” (i.e. collapsible) bed in an office that “served him at the same time as a bedroom, where he spent time during the day and where he died.”

The furnishings and decoration of living rooms, as a rule, differed significantly from the front rooms. Most often they were filled with simple, comfortable and light furniture (veneered with mahogany or painted), mainly in the “English taste” - “everything English enchants us,” noted N.I. Novikov. The word "furniture" then had a wider meaning than today (there was even a special term "dining furniture, that is, girandoles, vases and bronze shendans"). The subject composition of the furnishings of living rooms in rich houses was characterized, in contrast to the front rooms, by a huge variety.

The furnishings of living rooms are characterized by polystylistics, when outdated “furniture”, as well as favorite items of different “ages” that cannot be parted with, coexisted perfectly with more fashionable furniture. In the 18th century, the attitude towards things was very different from the subsequent times of the factory industry, and when the situation in the front rooms changed, old items were not destroyed, but could be partially included in a new one or sent to live out their lives in living and office rooms - they were settled in mezzanines, outbuildings and various secondary premises. This is clearly illustrated by the "Inventory of the Big House" of the Kuskovsky estate, compiled in 1783-1786, built in 1777-1779 on the site of the old one. If the entire mezzanine was decorated and furnished in a “new taste” (in the style of early classicism), then the mezzanines inhabited by “servants” were filled with old things from the furnishings of the former house - “Chinese” cabinets painted with gold, which no longer found a place in the mezzanine, but was the memory of their considerable value is still alive, with typesetting tables on turned legs, “snapped” tables, etc.

Such obsolete "furniture" was very often sent not only to living rooms, but also much further - from the city they moved to the village, from the main manor house to secondary estates. Therefore, the situation of the latter has either not been updated for decades, or has been “updated” with things that are no longer in demand in places. Inventories of houses in the possessions of P.B. Sheremetyev - Amirev, Markov, Bronnitsky district, Meshcherinovo, Kolomna district, compiled in the 1770s, clearly paint a picture of the delay in the style of furniture decoration. These mansions were filled with old oak furniture, tables with chiselled legs with "slate" boards and intarsia, armchairs and canapés, nails upholstered in black leather with round large hats, mirrors with two volutes on top and other things that no longer corresponded to the fashion of the third quarter of the century. .

Naturally, the poorer the estate, the farther it is from the capitals, the simpler the situation (note that the range of distances was less important than wealth). For example, in the "picture book" of the poor prince T.I. Engalychev, who has lived permanently since the 1790s on his estate in the Tver province, one of the sheets depicts the “Dining Room”, which has an atmosphere typical of the middle of the 18th century (at least, the pre-classic period) - all the same bent legs, Chippendale chairs, and so on, although the drawing dates from the end of this century.

A large number of things were transported with them during temporary transfers from the city to the village and back. When the move was planned for an indefinite period, the scale of it was significant. As already noted, in 1770 P.B. Sheremetev, leaving the service, moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow and settled in the suburban Kuskovo. The atmosphere of the Kuskovsky choirs, which was formed in the 1750s, did not meet his exacting metropolitan taste, so he decided to significantly update it at the expense of the St. Petersburg Fountain House and the Champetre dacha. In the correspondence of the 1770s, the count constantly orders to do something “like in my Fountain House”. For example, the interior of the Main Bedroom is proposed to be copied in its entirety, some rooms are transported with silk or “garus” upholstery (i.e. tapestries) and various items.

Convoys with mirrors, tables, girandoles, etc., were pulled to Moscow along the toboggan path, and decrees of the “Count Sovereign” flew towards them from Moscow demanding not to forget this and that. Porcelain, lighting devices, park sculpture, tents, wagons, a cabinet of curiosities were taken out, all thermometers were removed in the Fountain House, even pugs from fireplaces and French whisks made of shavings for fanning flies were moved. The count transports a large amount of furniture from St. Petersburg houses, orders copies for some of the items. The old Kuskovsky house, while not being rebuilt, is partially modernized inside, even new parquets, brought all from the same St. Petersburg, are being laid. Of course, such a serious move is a special matter. Its scale was explained not only by considerations so that the furniture would not “disappear” in vain in an empty St. Petersburg house, but also by the fact that in Moscow in those years it was not easy to get a lot or to produce at the proper level. Apparently, it was no coincidence that Pyotr Borisovich wrote to the St. Petersburg steward in 1770: “for Kuskov, how many chairs and chairs must be done in St. Petersburg, because they do it for a long time and they don’t know how to do it well, which, looking around, I will write in the future.” True, having "looked around", the count soon began to order furniture in Moscow - in the last quarter of the 18th century, Moscow furniture production was already experiencing a period of prosperity.

The desire to arrange everything in Kuskovo, if possible, in the same way as in the capital, is a characteristic sign of those years. In general, in the XVIII century. it was customary to recreate the atmosphere of city houses in country residences, even when there was no need to directly take out the furniture.

So, we touched on a number of issues related to the topic of private everyday life and residential interiors. Some aspects of the study (for example, methods of decoration, color scheme of residential interiors, their relationship with front doors, etc.) were left outside the scope of this article. In conclusion, I would like to note that all these trifles of “home life”, which seem insignificant, are of great importance, since they are one of the components that ultimately form the “historical face”, and it is in “this nameless space [everyday life - S. D.] most often the real story unfolds.

Notes:

A person in the family. Essays on the history of private life in Europe before the beginning of modern times. / Ed. Yu.L. Bessmertny. M., 1996. P.5

/Vigel F.F./. Memoirs of F.F. Vigel. Parts 1 and 2. M, 1864. 4.2. p.73

There. P.206

Saltykov-Shchedrin M.E. Poshekhonskaya antiquity. Sobr. op. in ten volumes. T. 10. M, 1988. S. 238

/ Vigel F.F. / Decree. op. Part 1. p.229

Andrei Timofeevich also left us an image of an office, rare for the end of the 18th century. See: Bolotov A.T. The life and adventures of Andrei Timofeevich Bolotov. In 4 volumes. T.1. Moscow, 1973. Frontispiece.

Lanceray N., Weiner P., Trubnikov A., Kaznakov S., Pinay G. Gatchina under Paul Petrovich Tsarevich and Emperor. SPb., 1995. P.244

Masson Sh. Secret notes about Russia during the reign of Catherine II and Paul I. M., 1996; Miranda F. de. Journey through the Russian Empire. M., 2001; Segur L.F. Notes on the stay in Russia during the reign of Catherine II // Russia of the XVIII century through the eyes of foreigners. L., 1989, etc.

Lotman Yu.M. Poetics of everyday behavior in Russian culture of the 18th century. // Lotman Yu.M. Selected articles in three volumes. T. 1. Articles on semiotics and typology of culture. Tallinn, 1992. p.249

For example: Blagovo D.D. Grandmother's stories: From the memories of five generations, recorded and collected by her grandson D. Blagovo. L., 1989; Golovina V.N. Memoirs. // The life story of a noble woman. M., 1996; Kamenskaya M.F. Memories. M., 1991

For example: [Vigel F.F.] Decree. op.; Zhikharev SP. Notes of a Contemporary: Memoirs of an Old Theatergoer. In 2 volumes. T. 1-2. L., 1989

Literature on the Russian classic interior is mainly devoted to its history. For example: Bartenev I.A., Batazhkova V.N. Russian interior of the XVIII-XIX centuries. M., 2000; Bartenev I.A., Batazhkova V.N. Russian interior of the 19th century. L., 1984; Borisova E. Romantic trends in the Russian interior. To the question of the Biedermeier // Questions of Art History. No. 4, 1994. S. 358-386; Kuchumov A.M. Decoration of the Russian residential interior of the 19th century: Based on the materials of the exhibition in the Pavlovsk Palace-Museum. L., 1977; Artistic decoration of the Russian interior of the 19th century: Essay-guide / Composers: Guseva N.Yu., Orlova K.A., Ukhanova I.N., Petrova T.A., Kudryavtseva T.V. Under total ed. I.N. Ukhanova. L., 1986. Less attention was paid to theoretical issues. For example: Lotman Yu. M. Art ensemble as a domestic space // Lotman Yu.M. Selected articles in three volumes. T.3. Articles on the history of Russian literature. Theory and semiotics of other arts. The mechanisms of culture. Small notes. Tallinn, 1993, pp. 316-322; Pronina I.A. Terem. Castle. Manor: The evolution of the interior ensemble in Russia at the end of the 17th - the first half of the 19th century. M., 1996

Except for a few jobs. For example, Nikolaev E.V. Classic Moscow. M., 1975; Sokolova T.M., Orlova K.A. Through the eyes of contemporaries. Russian residential interior of the first third of the 19th century. L., 1982. Solovyov K.A. “In the taste of clever antiquity...”: Manor life of the Russian nobility in the first half of the 18th – second half of the 19th centuries. According to memoirs, letters and diaries. Essays. SPb., 1998; Tydman L.V. Izba, house, palace: Russian residential interior from 1700 to 1840s. M., 2000

Historians of the 19th - early 20th centuries were interested in domestic issues. For example: Karnovich E. Historical stories and everyday essays. St. Petersburg, 1884; Kirkhman P. History of public and private life. Part 1. M., 1867; Pylyaev M.I. Great freaks and originals. SPb., 1898; He is. Old Moscow: Stories from the past life of the capital city / Comp. Yu.N. Alexandrov. M., 1990; He is. Old Petersburg: Stories from the former life of the capital. St. Petersburg, 1889. Interest in a particular person and his objective environment began to grow again around the last quarter of the 20th century. He brought to life a whole series of publications devoted to the history of everyday life: “Living History: Everyday Life of Mankind”, “Private Life”, etc. Yu.L. Immortal. M., 1996; Kirsanova R.M. Pink xandreyka and dradedam shawl: Costume is a thing and an image in Russian literature of the 19th century. M., 1989; Kirsanova R.M. Costume in Russian artistic culture of the 18th - the first half of the 20th century. / Ed. T.G. Morozova and V.D. Sinyukov. M., 1995; Kirsanova R.M. Stage costume and theatrical audience in Russia of the 19th century. M., 1997; Knabe G. S. Life as a subject of history / / DI USSR. No. 9, 1982. S. 26-27; Lotman Yu.M. Conversations about Russian culture: Life and traditions of the Russian nobility (XVIII - early XIX century). SPb., 1994; Fedosyuk Yu.A. What is incomprehensible among the classics, or an encyclopedia of Russian life of the XIX century. M., 1998. Close interest from historians in last years also raise questions about certain aspects of life in the 18th-19th centuries (card games, secular entertainment, the construction of baths, etc.). For example, Bogdanov I.A. Three centuries of the Petersburg bath. St. Petersburg, 2000; Gordin A., Gordin M. Pushkin's age: Panorama of life in the capital / Series: Former Petersburg. Book. 1 and 2. St. Petersburg, 1999; Parchevsky G.F. Cards and gamblers: Panorama of life in the capital / Series: Former Petersburg. SPb., 1998. There are works devoted to the life and life of different eras or individual families, as well as specific estates. For example, Semyonova L.N. Essays on the history of everyday life and cultural life in Russia: the first half of the 18th century. L., 1982; Smilyanskaya E.B. Noble Nest of the Middle of the 18th Century: Timofei Tekutiev and his "Instruction on Household Orders". M., 1998.

Historical science realized this turn even later - everyday everyday life was rehabilitated for culture not so long ago, approximately from the beginning of the 1960s. The study of "the vast realm of habitual, routine, this" great absent history "" (Braudel F. Structures of everyday life: possible and impossible. T.1. Material civilization, economics and capitalism.. XV-XVIII centuries. M, 1986. S. 18 ), was prepared by the activities of representatives of the Annales school (the journal Annals of Social and Economic History). The line between traditionally understood culture and everyday life began to blur and the study of the latter has become one of the most relevant areas in modern historical knowledge (See: Man in the family circle: Essays on the history of private life in Europe before the beginning of modern times / Edited by Yu.L. Bessmertny M.: RGGU, 1996; Knabe G.S. The first introduction, theoretical, which says almost nothing about ancient Rome, but poses in general terms the problem of relations between everyday life and history // Ancient Rome - history and everyday life. Essays. M., 1986. P. 7-18; Knabe G.S. Materials for lectures on the general theory of culture and the culture of ancient Rome. M., 1994).

Here and below: Shcheblygina I.V. The moral position of A.T. Bolotov in the system of his value orientations. (On the question of the value system of the Russian educated nobility in the second half of the 18th century) // Man of the Enlightenment. M., 1999.S.122

Turchin B.C. The era of romanticism in Russia: On the history of Russian art in the first third of the 19th century / Essays. M: Art, 1981. P.242.

Thus, with some bewilderment, F.F. Vigel at the very beginning of the 19th century is such an archaic custom, still common in the provinces. (See: / Vigel F.F. / op. cit. Part 2. S. 166).

Mikhailov A.V. The ideal of antiquity and the variability of culture. Turn of the 18th-19th centuries // Life and history in antiquity. M., 1988. S.236

/Vigel F.F./. Decree. op. Part 1. S. 158

Nikolaev E.V. Decree. op. S.216; Researcher M. Von Behn wrote: “The stylization of life according to ancient models required that /the room/... if possible, resemble a temple... As a result, the living rooms acquire the features of pathos, they follow the program, and not convenience and coziness. People are ashamed of their needs and the need to send them ”(Quoted by: Mikhailov A.V. Decree. Op. P.243)

Turchin B.C. The main problems of Western European and Russian art of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. Abstract... for the competition.... Doctor of Arts. M, 1989. P.43

Knabe G.S. Thing as a Phenomenon of Culture // Museum Studies. Museums of the world. (Collection of scientific works of the Research Institute of Culture). M., 1991.S. 123

/ Vigel F.F. / Decree. op. Part 1. S. 166

/Catherine II/ Notes of Empress Catherine II / Russia of the 18th century in the publications of the Free Russian Printing House A.I. Herzen and N.P. Ogaryov. Reprint. M., 1990. S. 48, 133

Sipovskaya N.V. Art and life in the culture of porcelain. On the issue of artistic views in Russia in the second half of the 18th century. Dissertation for the degree of Cand. arts. M, 1992. S. 58

“Actually, living rooms, even in that era when the interior of classicism was already crystallizing, were distinguished by some kind of stupidity, more precisely, a special “everyday” logic.” (Nikolaev E.V. Decree. Op. P. 190, 201).

See: Baiburova R.M. Russian manor interior of the era of classicism. Planning compositions // Monuments of Russian architecture and monumental art. Materials and research. M., 1980. S. 146-148; Tydman L.V. Hut. House. Castle. Russian residential interior from 1700 to 1840s. M., 2000. S. 20.

ON THE. No. 350. S. 154.

This kind of memory was scarcely burdened in the following century. In the 1870s, during the division of property between the heirs of D.N. Sheremetev, these cabinets were estimated at the level of a pair of spittoons of the 19th century, and for one living table of the same century they offered as much as for a dozen or two items of the 18th century, including typesetting chests of drawers, card tables decorated with intarsia, an office with "Florentine" mosaics and etc. (Inventory of 1876. RGADA. F.1287. Op.2. Ch.1.D. 1197).

TsGIAL, f. 1088, op. 17, d.69, l.l. 155-164

Kornilova A.V. The world of landscape drawing. Russian landscape graphics of the late 18th - first half of the 19th century. L., 1990. P.65.

Baiburova R.M. Hall and living room of the manor house of Russian classicism // Monuments of Russian architecture and monumental art. M, 1983. P.111

Lotman Yu.M. Conversations about Russian culture. S. 13.

Rudolf von Alt, Salon in the apartment of Count Lankorowski in Vienna (1869)

Today, photographs of impeccable interiors and countless photographs of private homes can easily be found in design magazines and on the Internet. However, when the tradition of imprinting private rooms emerged in the early 19th century, it was very avant-garde and unusual. Even before there was photography, people who could afford it hired an artist to make detailed watercolor sketches of the rooms of the house. Such drawings were inserted into the album and, if desired, shown to strangers.

Such paintings, preserved to this day, provide a glimpse into the decadent lifestyles of the affluent 19th century and appreciate the art of detailed rendering of home interior design. There are currently 47 such paintings on display at the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Gallery at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. The exhibition was organized by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. According to curator Gale Davidson, the paintings were usually painted after the room had been renovated, as a keepsake for the family.

Rudolf von Alt, Library in the apartment of Count Lankorowski in Vienna (1881)

Rudolf von Alt, Japanese Salon, Villa Hügel, Vienna (1855)

Some parents made albums with such paintings as wedding gifts to their own children, so that they would have memories of the house in which they grew up. People also often laid out albums on tables in living rooms to impress guests. According to Davidson, Queen Victoria, who commissioned many paintings of palace interiors, wrote in her personal diaries that she and her husband loved to look at these paintings, recalling the years they lived in these houses. Aristocratic families throughout Europe eventually adopted the practice of commissioning these "interior portraits" as well. The exhibition features paintings of house interiors from many countries including England, France, Russia and Germany, which show the various interior design trends of the 1800s as well as the rise of the consumer culture society. As people began to travel more, their homes began to fill with furniture from abroad. Illustrations of interiors became very fashionable, reaching their peak around the 1870s.

This practice was largely a reflection of the growth of the industrial classes. Many watercolors, for example, depict interiors filled with plants and organic decorations that reflect not only an interest in the natural world, but also a growing trend towards rare exotic plants. The Hotel Villa Hügel in Venice, for example, had a Japanese salon filled with purely decorative elements that turned it into a "garden"; in the Berlin Royal Palace there was a Chinese room with panels of tropical plants and birds, which also hovered over the space in the ceiling painting. The interiors of that era were also notable for the presence of orchids and caged birds, which people kept not only to impress, but also to entertain guests. Many artists (mostly men) began their careers by drawing topographical maps for military use or painting porcelain, and then specialized in interior painting due to increased demand. Some painters have even made their name in this genre. The exhibition features works by the Austrian brothers Rudolf and Franz von Alt; James Robertas, British painter who traveled with Queen Victoria; and designer Charles James - all of whom were known for distinct styles. The approach to painting these interiors also evolved over time, gradually becoming less formal and more intimate.

Joseph Satira, Study Room of Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, Russia (1835)

In the late 19th and early 20th century, a more impressionistic type of painting became popular and artists gradually began to depict more relaxed, domestic environments. Sometimes even residents were present in the paintings: the Polish Count Lankoronsky, for example, reading a book in his office in Vienna; a girl plays the piano in the room, and a dog lies next to her. Although these paintings were created to capture the way people decorated their homes, what furniture and fabric they chose, what they hung on the walls and what they collected, sometimes they resembled illustrations of everyday life, right up to the moment when in the early 20 century, this role was taken over by the camera.

James Roberts, The Queen's Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace, England (1848)

Henry Robert Robertson, Interior of one of the halls of the palace in Kent (1879)

Eduard Gaertner, Chinese Room in the Royal Palace, Berlin, Germany (1850)

Eduard Petrovich Hau, Living room of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna

Anna Alma-Tadema, Sir Laurence Alma-Tadema's Study Room, Townsend, London (1884)

Charlotte Bosanquet, Library (1840)

Karl Wilhelm Streckfuss (1860)

The other day I managed to visit an incredibly "delicious" ( for both gourmet and photographer) place - the house-estate of the manufacturer Dumnov in the village of Zarechye, Vladimir Region.

The manufacturer's house is at the same time a museum of weaving, an exemplary merchant's estate of the late 19th century, and a hotel. The recreated interiors of a rich merchant's house with antique items are very impressive...

Since we came to the estate more on museum business, we did not really manage to immerse ourselves in the most interesting history of this place.

Therefore, we will give its description from a third-party resource (strana.ru), decorating the text with our photographs: “The mansion of the manufacturer I.S. a wonderful garden visible from the street, pavilions, a real Russian bathhouse.

This splendor is not so old - at the end of the 20th century, a century-old house was not much different from other houses abandoned to the mercy of fate, left without owners. The estate was taken away from the Dumnovs in the wake of dispossession, almost the entire family was imprisoned and deported, and a village school was placed in the house, which closed in the nineties.

Already in the new era, the granddaughter of the last of the Dumnovs, Galina Maslennikova, returned to the District. She managed to buy the ancestral home and a piece of land under it. The goal was formulated right away: not just to equip a place to live, but to open a museum in the District.

With the help of sponsors and with the assistance of the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum, the Maslennikov family managed to put the estate in order, recreate the old interiors, lay out a garden and collect a collection of exhibits dedicated to the unique craft that the village of Zarechye was famous for.

The fact is that before the historic victory of the proletariat, the Dumnov factory produced silk, silk velvet and plush, and in the village almost every house had spinning wheels and machines. Everyone weaved - men, women, old people and children.

After the revolution, it turned out that luxurious fine fabrics were alien to the people, and the production was retrained for artificial plush and lining fabrics. The craft almost died if it were not for the enthusiasm of the Dumnov heiress, who was supported by the Zarechensk residents.

They willingly donated antiques for the museum collection - in almost every house in the attic some historical object was lying around, like a grandmother's spinning wheel, details of looms, various antique utensils. Something was found in other villages, bought from antique dealers. Today the museum is justifiably proud of, for example, the presence of a hand loom, which is extremely rare in the world's museums of a similar profile. The entire process of creating fabric, all the necessary devices for this device, were carefully collected and restored.

The exposition is located in two houses next to the main house of the Dumnovs. A typical peasant hut has turned into a small museum "The House of the Rural Weaver", and a copy of an old private factory, which was called a lighter, was built nearby: it is a two-story hut, only with many windows to make it brighter.

Interestingly, each window does not consist of the usual two or four glasses, but of a large number of small cells. This is explained by reasonable economy: the spindle often broke off, flew off the window, and in order not to change the entire expensive glass each time, they were prudently divided into fragments.