Kholmogory bone carving

Kholmogory bone carving (Russian: Холмогорская резная кость) is a traditional handicraft practiced in the villages of Kholmogorsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast, in the north of Russia.

It has been first mentioned in connection with the fact that two Kholmogory carvers, brothers Yevdokim and Semyon Sheshenin, were invited to work in the Kremlin Armoury, which performed orders for the tsar’s court.

The famous 18th-century Russian sculptor, Fedot Shubin, started his career at Kholmogory as a walrus ivory carver.

The local authorities made an attempt to save the handicraft, and in 1885 in the village of Lomonosovo, close to Kholmogory, a master class in bone carving opened.

The next attempt to revive the handicraft was made in 1934, when the Central Executive Committee of USSR adopted a special decree on measures to develop Kholmogory bone carving.