Even today rushnyky are an important part of the marriage ceremony (the literal translation of the Ukrainian phrase "to be married" is "to stand on a rushnyk"). The bride and groom's mothers would lay out two crossed rushnyky in front of the altar for the couple to stand on and their hands are bound together with another. Rushnyky were also given as gifts to wedding guests, members of the wedding party, and the matchmakers.
Rushnyky also have less joyous uses. Long ones would be used to lower a coffin into the grave. When a soldier went off to war, his mother would give him a rushnyk. If it was returned to her, she knew he had been killed.
Originally rushnyky were tied to trees as offerings to the gods. When Ukraine converted to Christianity, rushnyky were used to decorate icons.
The earliest reference to an item like a rushnyk is in The Domostroi, a housekeeping manual from 16th century Russia. In a section on wedding preparations the author writes of shirinki, translated as "ritual towels", which are used like rushnyky are today.
This rushnyk was made for Aleksandr Ruslanovich, called Yevsha, on the occasion of his elevation to the Order of the Laurel. As he is Ukrainian (from the famous city of Kiev) and recognition as a peer is certainly a life passage, I thought this an appropriate gift.
The rushnyk is made of a single piece of linen (about 40 threads to the inch) 18 inches wide by 6 feet long. This is an average width for rushnyky, but somewhat on the short side for length.
All threads used are silk. Most of the rushnyky I have found (19th and 20th century) are embroidered in cotton of linen thread. I did find one 17th century example of an embroidered Russian towel which was done with silk threads (Treasures, page 64). Most extant rushnyky are peasant or folk embroideries, but this one was from the noble class, as is the one I was making.
The rushnyk is hemmed with a decorative hemstitch in red silk. I pulled 2 threads on each side and did a hem stitch around 4 threads to make a decorative border. Usually hemstitch is done in a color to match the ground fabric, but I wanted this to stand out, so I used red, the predominant color in Ukrainian embroidery.
The first row of the design is done in long-armed cross-stitch, some times called Slav stitch, with black silk.
The next row is of laurel wreaths done in cross stitch in green and black silk. Cross stitch was not originally the most prevalent stitch in Ukrainian embroidery (although it is today); more often was found a type of pattern darning called nyz' stitch. However, I am experienced with cross stitch and therefore can work faster with it. Given that I had very little time to do the embroidery I chose speed over accuracy.
The final row is a border from an embroidered "spring ritual cloth" from the catalog for Goddesses and Their Offspring, an exhibition of Eastern European embroideries. It was done in double running stitch in red silk. Because I simplified the design for the sake of speed, unfortunately it is not reversible.
I was pleased to be able to create a gift appropriate to Master Aleksandr's culture to commemorate this special occasion.
Kelly, Mary B. "Embroidery for the Goddess", Threads Magazine, Number 11, June/July 1987, pages 26-29.
Murphy, Marilyn. "The Embroidered Life of Anna Kuczma", PieceWork, Volume 1, Number 1, March/April 1993, pages 36-40.
Pouncy, Carolyn Johnston (trans. and ed.). The Domostroi: Rules for Russian Households in the Time of Ivan the Terrible. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1994.
Rushnyky: Ukrainian Ritual Cloths. New York: The Ukrainian Museum, 1981.
Krynytzky, Tatjana. "Ukrainian Embroidery: Every Woman Could Do This", PieceWork, Volume II, Number 3, May/June 1994, pages 30-31.
Traditional Designs in Ukrainian Textiles. New York: The Ukrainian Museum, 1977.
Treasures of the Czars from the State Museums of the Moscow Kremlin. London: Booth-Clibborn Editions, 1995
copyright 1999 Abigail Weiner