This art doll is designed after 1648 and 1657 skomorokhs who where in Russian, in Old East Slavic, were medieval East Slavic harlequins, i.e., actors, who could also sing, dance, play musical instruments, and compose most of the scores for their oral/musical and dramatic performances. The skomorokhs appeared in Kievan Rus no later than in the mid-11th century, and the frescos in the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev are there to prove it. The Church often railed against the skomorokhi and other elements of popular culture as being irreverent, detracting from the worship of God, or even downright diabolical. The skomorokh art reached its peak in the 15th-17th century. Their repertoire included mock songs, dramatic and satirical sketches called glumy, performed in masks and skomorokh dresses to the sounds of domra, balalaika, gudok, bagpipes, or buben (a kind of tambourine). I believe that these skomorokhs were the beginning of what we call fairy people today. They are the people who love to dress up in costumes and perform, dance and general love childhood pleasures.

Sculptured from professional artisan polymer clay. Inserted glass eyes, which have been enhanced painted by the artist. This is a 22" doll, from boots to hat 27”. Fully pose-able with a soft sculptured body with pose-able body inner-skeleton armature designed by me. Neck, arms, wrists, elbows, knees, ankles, spine, etc. All joints move in the motion of a human skeleton. His head, hands are hand sculptured from professional artisan polymer clay. His suit is hand made from the finest velvet and silk, as well as his velvet boots, with silver accessories. He plays his a Domra. Hand made by artist. He also has a face mask hand made from professional artisan polymer clay and a jester stick.

This Russian Skomorokh Figurative Sculpture is presently at my photographers and I will be update his photos soon.

All images are copyright © Kassity Allison Creations of Mysticism 2008