Folk Furniture of Canada's Doukhobors, Hutterites, Mennonites and Ukrainians

Abstract

Folk Furniture of Canada's Doukhobors, Hutterites, Mennonites and Ukrainians. John Fleming and Michael Rowan. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2004, 155 pp., including notes, bibliography, and index; $60.00 hc. The publisher appears to have made use of the latest in technological advances to present beautiful pictures featuring traditional designs of furniture unique to the four ethnocultural communities studied. The result is one of the most exquisitely illustrated books I have encountered in recent years. Folk Furniture is divided into six major sections, the first of which offers a discussion of utopian ideology and folk traditions. The authors readily admit that the origins of the Doukhobors, Hutterites, Mennonites, and Ukrainians are very different, but atone time they all shared a common fate under the dictatorship of Russian tsars. All four groups were basically peasant folk and shared a love of the land, suffered economic hardship, and longed to leave the country where they were persecuted for their religious beliefs. All eventually made it to North America, the utopian dream, where their communities are still easily identified. Not long after their arrival, their utopian ideology and craft traditions gave way to products of industrialization and the principles of early capitalism. The next four sections (chapters, actually) of the book describe and illustrate the crafts of the four groups, beginning with the Doukhobors. Originating in Russia, 7,500 Doukhobors migrated to Canada in 1899 with the blessing of Count Leo Tolstoy and the Quaker organization. Clifford Sinon, Canada's Minister of the Interior, made the arrangements. Featured themes of Doukhobor craftwork include their houses, furniture, picture frames, cupboards, chests, tables, cradles, spinning wheels, and even doors. The authors note that after arriving in Canada, the Doukhobors appear to have transformed their crafts to less heavy forms and made less use of embellishments such as diamonds, pinwheels, and rosettes. The origin of Hutterites and Mennonites is similar, both having grown out of the Anabaptist wing of the Protestant Reformation in Europe in the early part of the sixteenth century. During the late 1700s, they migrated to Russia to escape religious persecution, accepting the invitation of Catherine the Great. Eventually they made their way to the United States, but some soon opted to go to Canada to escape America's military mindset. …