A MOKHOVIK [MOSS-MAN]

Mokhoviki [Moss-men] were distinctive toy dolls originating from the Vyatka, Vologda and Kostroma regions in Russia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Wooden toys in Northern Russia date back to the ninth century and the practice of making moss dolls is related to the ancient Slavic tradition of creating amulet toys with purported protective powers. Indeed, the dolls reflect a common belief in the Leshii, a forest deity in Slavic mythology.
Mokhoviki were hand made from moss (hence their name), pine cones, bark, wooden chips and other materials found in forests. The moss dolls were particularly popular at the turn of the century and were displayed at numerous exhibitions in Russia and abroad to exemplify North Russian crafts. The production of moss dolls began to slow down after the 1930s, such that nowadays these moss dolls are rather rare, with only a few preserved in museums, including a small number of dolls in the collection of the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg.
It is possible that the distinctive red-painted wooden toys - the cockerel, carriage and horse - were designed by Iakunchikova herself as sketches for similar toys can be seen in archival photographs of her posthumous exhibition in 1905. Furthermore, a number of wooden toys were displayed by Iakunchikova at the L'exposition universelle de 1900, Paris (see lot 22).