IVAN KHRUSTACHEV, CARVER.
.WOOD AND IVORY CARVINGS FROM THE LAST THIRD OF THE 19TH—EARLY 20TH CENTURIES
.Ivan Semenovich Khrustachev, carver and painter of miniatures (1841/42-1914), lived and worked in Sergiev Posad. His primary occupation was the production of small icons, crosses, and triptychs for pilgrims to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. He is also known as the author of unique pieces that have been exhibited at Russian and international artistic and commercial expositions, where Ivan Khrustachev invariably received awards. For special merit in the development of icon carving, by order of Emperor Nicholas II Ivan Khrustachev was awarded personal nobility. Other members of his family— his children and nephews—likewise practiced the art of carving.
.This catalog includes eleven signed works by the artist himself, seven works by his sons and nephews, and twenty pieces attributed to carvers of the Khrustachevfamily. These historic pieces are preserved in the collections of the Andrey Rublev Museum, the Russian State Library, the Museum of Decorative, Ornamental, and Folk Art, the Abramtsevo Museum Preserve, the Yegoryevsk History and Art Museum, the Ecclesiastical Archeology Department of the Moscow Theological Academy, and in a private collection.
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