Miscellaneous SIG Headdress Notes
Kikas, kokoshniks, ventsy, oh my!:
"I am so swamped with mail right now I can't go into details, but are
you sure, Mordak? From what I've read I became convinced that kika
was strictly a married woman's weadwear (as was kokoshnik, actually).
Kika does not look like a diadem, venetz does, and was worn by
maidens. "
'dak responds:
Interesting question, Mila. My honest belief is that they are two
sides of the same coin ....or hat , in this case. Time and the usage
of names is the culprit here I suspect. I have a great miniature icon
picture from the 16C showing the various headcoverings, but that does
little to distinguish names. The problem lies in name use between
period and peasants in the 19th & 20th centuries, when most of the
current artifacts were collected for the Historical Museum in St.
Petersburg.
My take has always been that many Russian headresses of
this ilk obviously had origins in Byzantine styles. So even by late
period, many of them were already considered very old fashioned and
worn mostly on special occasions.
Maybe the venetz and the kika are differentiated only in size, weight
and formality but serve the same purpose for unmarried maidens.
Liudmila responds: I really need to look this up -- but one piece of
support for my position is
in Domostroi's wedding ritual part. I know that we are not sure if this
part is even period, but it certainly isn't 18th century. Before the wedding
the bride is wearing a venetz, and during the wedding her hair is rebraided
as befits a married woman, and a kika is put on. During the wedding married
women guests wear "ubrusy" with pearls, and "kaptury" in winter (a kaptur is
a
kind of a fur hat). In a "small" wedding ritual ubrus is prepared for the
bride to be worn after she is married.
From MHoll@aol.com: Here's what my favorite historian (N. Pushkareva) says:
"The distinctive feature of married women's headdress was that it covered
her hair completely. Maidens were free of this severe stricture. They often
wore their hair lose or braided it into one braid; the crown was always
uncovered.
In the wedding ritual, from times immemorial, was the rite of changing the
hairdo and the headdress of the bride was one of the most important: a
maiden
became a woman in the eyes of the society not after her first night with
the groom, but before that, when she was adorned with a "baba's kika" -- the
headdress of a married woman." [Note by Predslava: "baba" means woman (as opposed to man AND maiden}, not
peasant woman or grandmother].
"Finds in excavations of "koruny", "venki", "ventsy", and "venchiki" [PV:
all refer to crown-like shapes: "koruna" = "korona" = crown], although rare,
allow us to form an image. A narrow band of metal or cloth circled the
forehead and was fastened at the nape. The more complex and fancy
"venchik"
was called a "koruna". A representation of the can be found in
the
1073 _Sviatoslav's Izbornik_ ("Virgo" of the Zodiac). [PV: the _Izbornik_
is an illuminated manuscript, sort of a prayer book cum almanac]. The
"koruna" had a stiff base covered with fabric (sometimes a roll was placed
under
the fabric), and had particular ornaments. "Koruny" were mostly
special-occasion
headdresses of unmarried city women, whereas in the countryside, women
wore before their marriage mostly maiden's "ventsy". There are three distinct
variants of "ventsy": made of plates (silver, more rarely bronze); a
headband made from brocade, or even wool or linen cloth, embroidered and
richly trimmed; "venets" made from metallic disks threaded on yarn or leather
cords.
A maiden's "venets" was a specific ornament of a girl's hair style: often
two small braids were plaited at the temples near the , and then
threaded
through temple rings; another example showed loops of hair held up by the
venets in front of the ear (in this case the hair was like a "padding" for
the temple ornaments). The woolen maiden's headband was often decorated
with fringe (apparently as part of a costume including a woolen skirt, the
"poneva"), which is confirmed by a female burial from a XIII Viatich
burial mound."
Further on, Pushkareva notes that married women's headdresses were even
more richly ornamented. This is page 163-164 in P.'s book _Zhenshchiny drevnei Rusi_.
[My translation of this section is available at pushkareva.html.]
She documents her statements by references to articles which are mostly
the descriptions of archeological finds or publications of manuscripts.
Vasilla says:
The style in Vladimir is one (but not "the") of the largest of the flat
"fan" shaped hats. It generally is loosely triangular (point at the top
center above head, points off to the sides extending from the ears. There's
a ornamented netting of metal or beads/pearls for the cap that covers the
forehead. These are the types of hats seen in the photos from the turn of
the century costume party [the 1903 Ball] that the royal family held prior to their demise.
My hat stands about 10 inches from the top of my head to the top of the peak
of the hat. :-)
Question: >My question is this -- is it the shape of the hat, or some sort of
infrastructure within the hat, that keps it on your head? - Tasha
proud owner of a highly wind-resistant (ie Big Blue Sail)crescent-shaped kokoshnik
Answer: Actually both. The fan portion is shaped to fit on my head much
like a modern headband (the u-shaped ones). The back fabric is constructed to
cover the back of my head and cup the lower back of my head, using my hair
as an anchor (I usually twist my hair into a bun under my pavoynik and
ubrus). And the beaded netting on the front also acts as a means to
stabilize the whole thing.
Liudmila says: Koruna is a distinct headdress of "venetz" type -- a venetz that has
"gorodki" on it, sort of embattlements, coronet-like. This use is late
period and post-period (XVIth century and up), though it seems that the
name
also applied to a venetz with a hat inside worn exclusively by tsaritsas.
"Roga" is another name for "soroka" headdress, also known as "kichka."
This
type of headwear for married women is known from XII century. The look of
the thing is too complex for me to explain in English corectly right now,
I will work on my translations and post them when I can...or maybe I can
scan the pictures, not sure if it is piracy or not.
Kokoshnik, and here is the scary for me part, is sort of like sarafan in
that there appears to be no real evidence of it as such until 1600s. While
soroka
was an everyday thing, kokoshniks were worn on holidays and were very very
dressy. My main reference distinguishes 4 types of them:
1) singlehorned, in three variations, on eof which is crescent-shaped.
Spread
in central Russia such as Vladimir, Moscow, Yaroslavl, as well as in
nearby
regions such as Vologda and Vyatka (hhmmm....are those period? must look
up)
2) cylinder-like, or pillbox. Used in North-West, including (of course)
Novgorod.
3) this one i can't even describe in English right now but since it
involved
wearing a kerchief I think it is not period (kerchiefs, so traditional in
Russia, are not).
4) Doublehorned, or saddle-like kokoshnik -- described pretty much as you
would expect by name. Used in Kursk, Orel, and in Kharkov region by
russians.
All kokoshniks had countless variations and were kept in familyes for
generations as valuables. Kika, by the way, is a Novgorod style of
kokoshnik: a pillbox with flattened back and ear flaps...known, again,
from
1600s. [Illustrations of regional headresses are available elsewhere on
this website.]
Liudmila says: A venets is a type of maiden headwear, and thus leaves the top of the head
open. In period it was most likely a highly decorated with pearls and
gems
cloth-of-gold ribbon, sometimes set on birchbark foundation, worn on the
forehead and tied at the back. This headwear is very ancient, though it
is
not clear to me whether it was called "venets" or not prior to XVIth
century.
It does not have to have points, You may even remember my complaints at
being "advised" not to wear an appropriate for my persona hat (it is not a
coronet because it is not metal!). However, in Rus' this style was not at all for
nobility -- peasants could wear it all they wanted.
On 1/18/01 LiudmilaV@aol.com answered the following questions:
<< Can anyone tell me the difference between a kokoshnik and a kika? >>
"I can try. The following is a direct quote from my Collegium class notes,
the late period headwear part. If anyone wants details on cited sources, let
me know, but beware -- they are all in Russian. I begin with ubrus, in
response to earlier discussion about veils. Note that all headdresses listed here
are for married women...
When the ubrus was not worn, a married woman's head was often adorned
with a "kika." A kika was a soft cap surrounded by a hard "podzor" - a
strip of varied width and shape, often wider on top. According to Giliarovskaia
(p. 101), fish paste was used to glue plain fabric to a stiff foundation, all
of which was then covered in satin or other silk fabric. The front of the
podzor (mentioned earlier chelo) was decorated as richly as the owner's income
allowed. At the back a piece of velvet or a sable skin covered the nape of
the neck, while at the front pearl riasy and a podniz emphasized the
whiteness of the wearer's skin.
"Soroka" and "kokoshnik" are the headdresses mentioned in XVI-XVIIth
century written sources, but the details of their construction in period
can only be inferred from headdresses of the same names worn in Russia through
the XIXth century (Rabinovich, p. 81). Rabinovich also suggests that some
kind of stiff-based headwear similar to a kokoshnik existed before the
XIIIth century, even if it was not known by that name. Sosnina and Shangina
(p. 309) refer to soroka as to one of the most ancient Russian headdresses,
spread all
over Rus' since the XIIth century. They describe post-period soroki as
multi-part headdresses incorporating a plain kika-like hat in various shapes
covered with a fancy shell, soroka proper. Like kika, it included a
pozatylnik. Soroka was sewn of several parts, known as "chelo," wings, and
a tail, the word "soroka" itself means "magpie" in Russian.
While soroki could be of any shape in any region, Sosnina and Shangina
(p. 117) describe 4 territorial types of kokoshniki. In Central Russia
(Moscow, Vladimir, etc.) there existed three variations of a single-horned
kokoshnik. The best known and probably oldest version had a soft back and
a high, hard front shaped like a crescent with rounded edges or sharp edges
lowered to the shoulders. The front of such a kokoshnik was adorned with
gold
and pearl embroidery, and sometimes with gemstones. The back was also
commonly embroidered in gold. Single-horned kokoshniki usually had pearl
podniz attached to cover the forehead almost to the eyebrows. In the
North-West (Novgorod, Tver', etc.) kokoshniki were cylindrical, or
pillbox-shaped. They also had podnizi, and pozatylniki (like kiki), as
well as small earflaps. The third type of kokoshniki also existed in some
Northern
regions, though not widely spread (and most likely not at all in period).
Such a kokoshnik had a flat oval top, a protuberance over the forehead,
earflaps, podniz, and a pozatylnik. Finally, in the South, a kokoshnik was
two-ridged, or saddle-like. Its top was slightly elevated in the front and
higher in the back, like a saddle. It was worn in combination with a
"nalobnik" - a narrow strip of ornamental fabric tied around the head, as
well as a pozatylnik. This type of kokoshnik also does not appear to be
period. All 4 types in the XIII-XIXth centuries were commonly worn with
"platok," a square of decorative fabric, which leads to a suggestion that
period forms of them could be worn with ubrus or other similar head
coverings. It is worth noting that kokoshniki were considered to be very
fancy headdresses, and were highly valued and passed down through
generations. "
Veils, ubrusi, etc.
Vasilla uses an ubrus that is really simple. Based on
research by Mistress Tatiana (not to be confused with Mistress Tatjana), the
ubrus is typically a rectangle that is 40-60 cm by 2 meters (if she
remembers her dimensions correctly...
she uses a width of about 50 or so cm - a lightweight cotton with a loose
weave and washed in really hot water and dried on high to make the weave
tighten. Then cut the rectangle and finish the edges. The ends of the
rectangle can be embroidered with designs.
As for the pavoynik, Mistress Tatjana devised a workable pattern that is a
3" band that encircles the head at the forehead, with a circle that is the
top of the cap. Then a third piece that is cut as an elongated semicircle
is attached to the back with the curve hanging down on the neck. A
drawstring is put on the edge of the curve so that you can gather the edge
up under your hair. We use brocades mainly for the band part that will show
and do a bit of beading on it. Remember to put an ubrus over it.
She is in the process of rethinking the pavoynik pattern because she
thinks there's a more accurate solution, i.e. that
the back of the pavoynik is a bit more decorative and
that the shape of the cap is a little more form fitting to the head.
On 1/18/01 LiudmilaV@aol.com answered the following questions:
<< Can anyone tell me the difference between a kokoshnik and a kika? >>
"I can try. The following is a direct quote from my Collegium class notes,
the late period headwear part. If anyone wants details on cited sources, let
me know, but beware -- they are all in Russian. I begin with ubrus, in
response to earlier discussion about veils. Note that all headdresses listed here
are for married women.
Ubrus, one of the most ancient Russian head coverings, was an
embroidered rectangle of linen or silk (usually red or white) closely draped
around the head, with the ends left dangling over the woman's shoulders in
front and
back. Special decorative pins were used to hold the ubrus in place
(Giliarovskaia, p. 100). A XVIth century ubrus of Anastasia Romanovna,
first wife of Ivan the Terrible, is made of scarlet taffeta 2 meters long. In
the front middle part it is adorned with a blue silk damask rectangle, 40 cm
long and 16 cm wide. This rectangle, "ochel'ie," is richly embroidered in
pearls and gold with enameled inserts. The embroidery runs along the main body of
the ubrus towards its ends. The ends themselves are trimmed with the
endings made of 36.5 cm of the same fabric with slightly different embroidery
(Iakunina, p. 74 and Figure 32). Unfortunately, my source does not allow
establishing the width of the ubrus."
In March 2006, Nadya (hlaislinn@earthlink.net) shares:
"I wrote an ebay seller and asked if a rushnyk she was selling would work
for an ubrus. She confirmed my theory that ruchnyki were worn as ubrusy for
centuries and became modern-day table linens when the restriction on
covered hair were lessened last century... Here is her email on rushnyki:
"Stephanie,about ubrus, yes, this towel will be perfect for wearing on the
head. It'll look very nice, as ubruses that our ancestors had many
centuries ago. Usually the lenth of the ubrus was about 2 metres, so this
towel would be perfect for wearing as an ubrus. About plahtka? do you mean
an old style skirt??? It modern language it means blanket. You impress me
with your knowledge of very ancient Slavic words: Ukrainian and Russian,
Polish, Slovenian, Czech words. If you ask any modern Ukrainian or Russian
person about meaning of words: ubrus or plahtka , so 100 % of 100% people
will not know the meaning of those words. We don't use them in our language
any more. Slavik people used them many centuries ago during the times of
Kiev's Rus." - Nadya
Temple Rings and Kolti Actually, they are more different from each other than that. Temple rings
were flat metal pieces, and could be worn in the hair as well as on a
headdress. There was a lot of regional variety in their design. For
example,
for Slovenie in Novgorod they were made as large rings with diamond-shaped
decorations. Viatichi, residents of the Oka valley, wore seven (3 on one
side of the face and 4 on the other) seven-bladed rings. West of them,
Radimichi wore similar temple rings with seven beams on each. Still farther west,
Severyanie wore temple rings made of wire spirals. In many tribes, women
wore
one or two small wire rings, while Drevlyanie, who lived in the Volyn
region,
wore multiples of such rings. In Polesie, Dregovichi wore temple rings
with
added granulated copper beads. Beginning in the XIIth century, the temple
rings started to loose their regional specificity. For example, temple
rings
with three smooth or lacy beads, produced in Kiev, were known all over the
Ancient Rus' territory.
Kolty, on the other hand, were hollow metal ornaments (shaped
something
like closed clamshells or flat balls) decorated with enamel, granulation,
or blackening, and secured to the headdress at the temples. They developed
later than the temple rings, and were worn primarily by city women.
Most of this information is from:
Rabinovich, M. G. Drevnerusskaia odezhda IX-XIII vv. (Ancient Russian
dress of IX-XIII cc.). In Rabinovich, M. G. (ed.) Drevniaia Odezhda Narodov
Vostochnoy Evropy. Nauka, Moskow, 1986, pp. 40-62.
(this volume also has pictures of many regional varieties of the temple
rings)
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