Carved windows in the interior: delicate delicacy (24 photos)

Carved lace platbands on the windows are strongly associated with Russian folk art. Traditionally, Russian people decorated their homes in affordable ways. The most common of these is wood carving. Not a single house could do without carved decorations. They were performed in two techniques: blind thread and openwork. The former was previously rare due to complexity (it was carried out directly on a log), and now even more so - it is almost never found.

Another thing is openwork carving. It has become an integral part of Russian wooden architecture. Carved platbands for windows in a wooden house were ordered not only by noble and wealthy people. Simple peasant huts were sometimes decorated no less fancifully. The heyday of this type of folk art occurred in the XVII-XVIII centuries, it was from that time that most of the monuments of wooden art came to us. As, for example, the reconstruction of the wooden palace of Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye.

Each region, region or province has its own unique technique and methods of carving. You will never confuse houses with platbands and other decorative elements near Yaroslavl with village huts in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. In any design, windows with carved platbands make the house more airy and weightless. Graceful carving facilitates the squat appearance of a rustic log house. Depending on the art, masters sometimes look like works of art at home.

Although originally the platbands had a completely different function: they covered the gap between the window and the window opening, this saved heat in the house and protected from rain, small debris, which could eventually lead to decay or mold. Subsequently, advantages not related to the practical use of casters began to be designated. Now these advantages can be attributed to purely aesthetic:

• The very name "platband" speaks for itself, because it was located "on the face" of the house. That is, on that part of the house that looked out onto the street. Beautiful platbands emphasized the individuality of the owners, their taste and wealth. Please note that on those village houses where platbands have been preserved, their absence from the butt or behind the house is striking. Although conventional overhead wooden planks are available for practicality.
• Decorating windows, carved cashing can visually increase a squat house or stretch it up. Aerial lace of wooden windows and the whole house creates an atmosphere of weightlessness, hiding the heavy construction of the village hut.
• Now that the main directions of wooden architecture of different countries in different eras are known, a certain style can be created.
• It is possible to combine buildings harmoniously with the help of carving, even the fence on the site into a single ensemble.
• In some cases, when decorating a wooden house, only wooden platbands will be the only design option.

For a long time, when rural residents sought the city, and in the cities the private sector was demolished, platbands went out of fashion for a long time. If they built houses, they are mainly brick or frame-filled. There was nothing "superfluous" in them, especially carving.

They tried to make the house faster and cheaper. Now the general trend is very similar, but the fashion for everything Russian has somewhat changed the nature of the buildings. Many began to put log cabins and decorate them as before.

Carved home decoration

With the fashion for houses from timber, the fashion for carved home decorations came. Previously, carvings were applied to each element of the house. Cornices, shutters, poles, decorative balusters and supports could be decorated with carvings.

From time immemorial, the horse, which is located at the junction of two slopes of the roof, was decorated with a wooden sculpture of a horse, a rooster or another bird. Another decoration for the roof is the piers, which openwork go down and decorate the massive ends of the logs that hold the roof.

Like a lace cornice is decorated with a carved board - a frieze, along the edges of which hang beautiful carved towels, or in other words “earrings”, wing flaps. Going down from them, the gaze lingers on carved platbands.

They are mounted in two ways:

• Overlay. Such platbands are attached to glue or nails and are called consignment notes.
• Telescopic method. When installing in this way, you need to be prepared for difficulties in installation, but the result will please more. A beak is inserted into the groove of the box, which is made on the casing in the form of a protrusion.

Nowadays, those who are going to decorate their home with carvings most often stop at platbands, since they are the ones who catch their eye with their beauty. It is very important that at the same time, folk traditions are revived.

Platband details

Platbands consist of the following parts:

• carved kokoshnik, which is located above the window;
• vertically spaced strips;
• towels that are under the windows.

These names, as well as methods for their manufacture, are traditionally Russian. It is felt that they are not one hundred years old. There are additional details with the same speaking names: tiaras, shoulders, oversight, crackers.

If you put platbands on the windows of your house, this will give the house a national touch and express its individuality. Decorative whimsically combining patterns used to have applied value, now it's just an element of decor. Everyone can choose a pattern not only to their taste, but also considering the style of the site and the buildings located on it.

The most common ornaments in carved platbands are floral. Russian masters in their desire to capture herbs, flowers and leaves reached tangible heights in their skill. Until now, we have found houses with similar ornaments on the windows. And we can admire the carved windows, which are more than half a century old.

Platbands with geometric carvings are very common. It is believed that this is one of the most ancient types of home decoration. Before mastering the floral ornament, the wood craftsmen carved rhombuses, squares or triangles on platbands.

Sometimes with the help of a drawing on platbands plot scenes are created. Every element, every detail emphasizes the attitude of the owner to the world around him. Their meaning is deciphered as follows:

• if during the external decoration of the house the symbol of the wings was cut out, then they wanted to emphasize the force with this;
• bird means the source of unification of different times;
• the sun personified life;
• the image of the snake was interpreted as the pursuit of wisdom;
• the cross is a Christian symbol of spiritual rebirth;
• vegetation personified the admiration of man by nature, the desire to capture the imperishable beauty for the whole year.

In addition, in winding carvings, you can sometimes guess geese-swans, horses, deer and other wild and domestic birds and animals.

Wood species

Carved window frames are made primarily of wood. First of all, they use the wood of those tree species that are least affected by changes in temperature, humidity, and other atmospheric influences. However, each tree has its own advantages and disadvantages. Below are the most common types of trees that are used to make platbands at home.

Linden

The most suitable material for wood carving. The linden is soft and supple, with its help you can realize any fantasy, but the platbands almost never make from it.It is not suitable for cashing at home for the reason that it easily absorbs moisture and is not suitable for those products that are on the street. Sometimes craftsmen undertake such work, but it takes a lot of time to carefully process the wood from moisture. Another drawback of linden is that it is not strong enough.

Aspen

Its strength is used, using aspen as the handles of agricultural implements, other household items, for example, axes were made from this wood. Aspen is not afraid of frost, high humidity.

Products from aspen retain all their positive properties in the open air: high elasticity (aspen beams do not bend and are lightweight), resistance to wormholes and rotting. Unfortunately, aspen is a very raw tree, and it is difficult to achieve conditions for its drying, therefore, products from it are not cheap.

Birch

She is loved not only because this tree is a symbol of Russia. Firstly, its wood is classified as coreless, which means that the inner and outer parts on the cut do not differ from each other in color.
Another plus for wood characterization: tree rings are almost invisible. The wood has a uniform white color with a slight tint. Birch lends itself to processing and during drying practically does not crack.

In the open air, without thorough processing, the birch quickly rots. Therefore, in the manufacture of platbands, a special and multi-stage processing of the finished product is required.

Larch

This material easily withstands all atmospheric phenomena, but is unsuitable for carving because of its fragility.

Oak

Its wood is durable and hard. Oak products bend well, so barrels, tubs, runners and rims were made from it. Oak is resistant to moisture. Oak is heavily cut, but is still used to make carved parts. True, to see carved oak windows is a rarity.

Pine

Pine has a sufficiently high strength, easy to process. It is not prone to cracking during drying. Due to its exceptional resistance to atmospheric phenomena, pine is used both for internal work (floorboards, windows, ceilings, floors, railings), and for exterior decoration. It is a good choice for performing platbands.

Alder

She has brightly colored wood. It's wonderful, like linden, cut thanks to its softness. It is also well polished and amenable to processing. Another plus is that alder does not crack when dried.

Ash

The wood of this tree is not inferior to oak in hardness. But in other physical and mechanical characteristics even surpasses it. Today it is one of the most fashionable representatives of wood for interior decoration, carved furniture, railings and parquet. Due to its properties, ash is a suitable material for the manufacture of carved platbands for the windows of a house.

Beech

Beech is very similar in its characteristics to oak and ash. It also bends well, so it is suitable for the production of bent furniture, stairs, railings. By strength, beech wood is practically not inferior to oak. True, in the ability to rot, inferior. Beech does not like high humidity either. In the case when platbands are made from beech, they are processed with special compounds at least twice.

As we can see, there is a large selection of different types of wood, which are to varying degrees suitable for the manufacture of carved platbands. There are those that are convenient in processing, but are used only indoors. Others - cope well with loads in the form of precipitation and frost, but at the same time are not easy to cut or dry.