Carpentry craft

Carpentry was not as widespread among the peasants. Carpenters made various furniture (tables, beds, stools, etc.), chests and boxes, window frames, looms, etc.

The furniture needs were small, as the peasants were content with the most necessary things. The main item in the peasant’s house was a table, which was made large. It was placed in front of the benches and covered with a tablecloth. The bed for the peasants was a bench, to which another bench was set up. Later, carpenters began to make beds, at the base of which there were boards, on top of which they put a feather bed.

Baby cradles (swings) were made. Cradles were made hanging, wide and long so that the child could grow up in peace. Various chests and boxes were made for storing things. Various women’s jewelry was stored in caskets, which were decorated with carvings or painted with paints.

They worked in their own premises and in carpentry workshops in their free time from agricultural work (4−5 months a year in autumn and winter) and when orders were available.

Types of joinery

Carpenters made a variety of wood products: tools (harrows, rakes, etc.), household items (shelves, hangers) and means of production (for example, a loom). In addition, carpenters made furniture and window frames.

Individual craftsmen were engaged in the production of transport. Sleighs were made in summer, carts in winter. Hence the saying that you should cook a sleigh in the summer. This is a complex production, because arcs and runners were needed, and then wheels. They were made by steaming the wood to a certain softness, bending and drying under tension. The work required not only skill, but also physical strength.

Craftsmen hollowed out dishes (bread cups, stupas) from wood, troughs were made, and in the old days coffins were also made. In addition, there were products not hollowed out, but carved from wood. Village turners, despite the fact that they worked on primitive beam-driven machines, made cups, bowls, spindles and so on.