Religious Russian Stumpwork on Velvet

Two questions on this piece, which measures about 16x24 or so and is mounted with masking tape to a piece of paneling. From auction many years ago here in SC. Burn test says back is cotton. Didn't burn the embroidery though but feels like either silk or silky cotton on the back which is tightly done fine stitches in rows, almost looks machine made.

As near as I can tell, this is stumpwork? Is that right? Realizing that doesn't necessarily date it, I believe this to be Russian -- well, in the Russian language -- possibly done in a Russian settlement in the US as opposed to the Soviet Union. I've had it longer than the return to Russia and the myriad old countries we have now.

At first I thought Ukrainian, but it doesn't translate other the first word which is Cross. In Russian, it's better, basically saying, I think, Christ (rather than Cross) Thee We Worship -- but the last word doesn't translate although it's possible I entered it incorrectly. владнко or владико. Vladik?

 

Hi
Not part of the Orthodoxy since the cross would have the extra horizonial arm.
greg

 

Thanks Greg, I got hung up on the alphabet since my browser "identified" it as Russian. So I'm looking in the wrong country. Back later after keyboarding other possibilities -- Serbia? Ukraine? Bulgaria?

 

I can make out basically what it means if it's in Russian, except that last word. And there is a similar word in Russian, but slightly different.

The first three words say something like, "We bow before your cross" -- the last word I'm not finding in Russian, but it seems similar to владыка, which means lord, ruler, or sovereign (according to one of my Russian dictionaries). That meaning seems to go along with the rest of the sentence.

So it might mean something like "We bow before Your cross, Lord" -- either in a language similar to Russian, OR that last word is an acceptable Russian variant on the Russian word I found.

When I first saw that last word I thought it was an adverb because of the KO ending... and it's possible that it is a more obscure word that's an adverb, perhaps.

 

Another possibility... if the last word is a variant on the Russian word, perhaps that would be because a settlement in the US could develop their own dialect and variants on their native language?

 

Hm, I just re-read your earlier post and see that you suggest хресту is "to Christ" rather than "to cross." In my dictionary Christ in Russian is Христос -- so shows I need to think about this a little more. I don't think the structure of it lends itself to being "to you, Christ" but also the word хресту isn't coming up. (Of course it has a prepositional case ending on it so it is not the actual word we are looking for.)

If only there was some way to pretend that initial X was actually a K. Then it would be very close in Russian...

 

I can't read Russian for beans, but .... could it be from one of the Baltic states?

 

владикоI. I am thinking it's probably something like Bulgarian.

It's punch-needle embroidery, done with a little needle very much like the shuttle used for yarn hooked rugs.

 

I thought that was an exclamation mark at the end, due to the bulbous lower end of it, the squared top, and the larger space between it and the preceding letter compared to the way the other letters in that word are spaced. But, it could be an I. It's good to stay open to possibilities until it is firmly ID'd.

 

Haven't had time to keyboard anything, but I do think that is an exclamation point for the reasons fig pointed out. It is also possible that someone did this who didn't spell well or who was not familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet. Thanks for your efforts and time, fig -- amazing how much work it can take (although I enjoy this part of antiquing more than many others!)

6rivets, any thoughts on age? I'm thinking maybe 1920s or so?

 

Ah - yes, now with my glasses on, I see it. "!"

Yeah, I'd say 1920s too. Very nice.

 

Georgia?

 

Doubtful, since it's not St. Nino's Cross (my cousin's wife is Georgian and was raised in that country's Orthodox church).

 

I asked a Bulgarian-born friend, who speaks perfect English and German, to look at this thread and she replied: "This is Russian actually – the church language in Russia and Bulgaria follows slightly different grammar rules than the official languages … they sound much closer to the old Bulgarian and Russian languages, as they were spoken in the centuries between 1200-1600 … I guess this is because all major religious books and songs, as well as church laws/rules, were written back then … This means 'I bow in front of your Jesus, bishop' … “bishop” in the sense of someone of high rank in the church system–not sure if this would be the best translation given the US system ..."