RUSSIAN SCHOOL, 19TH CENTURY Portrait of a bride in traditional Toropets costume

old label of Ch. Hoffman’s Moulding and Frame Factory, St. Petersburg, from 1882 (on the reverse) oil on canvas 65 x 71 cm The young bride is depicted wearing a traditional costume consisting of a white muslin blouse, a brocade sarafan adorned with bows and a pearl-studded ‘shishak’ kokoshnik. This festive headdress, specific to the Toropets district in the Pskov province, was worn by married women. The most decorative part of the kokoshnik is the ‘shishki’ (pine cone-shaped ornaments) which symbolise fertility. According to oral tradition, when the matchmaker placed this headdress on the bride, she would wish her to have as many children as there were ‘shishki’ on the kokoshnik, and to live with her husband in love and harmony for many years. Each ‘shishka’ was adorned with fine pearls sourced from the local Torop River.