EMBROIDERED NAPKINS AS A SOURCE FOR THE STUDY OF URBAN CULTURE IN UKRAINE IN THE EARLY 1970s

Abstract

The article for the first time examines material from the author’s personal archive – embroidered napkins, the woven basis for which was cotton remnants from knitting and sewing production in Cherkasy in the early 1970s. The white square 40x40 cm pieces were often not used for their intended purpose – to clean equipment and tools. The thrifty workers at the Fotoprylad plant, where this ‘consumable’ was brought in, would take this free product outside the factory and give it away to their friends. Khrystyna Hiznichenko (1917–2010), a resident of Cherkasy, turned cotton fabric into exclusive decorative napkins. The squares were randomly cut with scissors to a circle shape and made 37–38 cm in diameter, with the edge tied with a hook. The craftswoman used her granddaughter (the author of the article) to search for images from magazines and postcards. Preference was given to images of flora and fauna, as well as household items (a kettle, a glass, an umbrella, etc.). Complex shapes were transferred onto the fabric through copy paper. In some cases, when the desired image was not available, a grandmother or her granddaughter created a drawing on the fabric. Therefore, the figures on the napkins were of two types: realistic, intricately detailed (bee, ant, lion) and simplified to the point of primitiveness (ball, flower, balloon). The images were embroidered with a stem stitch with floss threads, sometimes with satin stitch to express individual elements. The napkins were used quite frequently, so their functionality with subsequent washing and ironing did not require sophisticated embroidery techniques. Drawing and the process of embroidery shaped the younger generation’s passion for creativity, and embroidered images were an occasion for communication between adults at the festive table. Multifunctional decorative napkins, created in conditions of total deficit from the remains of industrial production by the creative imagination of Khrystyna Hiznіchenko, became an integral part of the family life, a unique example that combined aesthetic, educational and communicative functions.