The 18th-Century Udmurt Women’s Outfi ts Depicted in J.P. Falk’s Book: Interpretation and Attribution

The 18th-Century Udmurt Women’s Outfi ts Depicted in J.P. Falk’s Book:
Interpretation and Attribution

DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2019.47.1.119-126

E.E. Nechvaloda
Institute for Ethnological Studies, Ufa Federal Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Karla Marksa 6, Ufa, 450077, Russia

This study describes three engravings in the book by Academician Johan Peter Falk, showing Udmurt women in traditional outfits. Falk headed one of the most important expeditions of the 18th century, sponsored by the Russian Academy of Sciences. According to the figure captions, the women are Votyak, Bashkir, and Mishar, respectively; but ethnographic data suggest that two of these attributions are wrong. On the basis of comparison of the women’s outfits to those drawn by members of other 18th-century expeditions and of late 19th to early 20th-century ethnographic sources, relating to the composition of outfits, their construction, decoration, and ornaments, all the three women are Udmurt. The “Votyak” outfit matches that of the southern Udmurt, the allegedly Mishar woman is central Udmurt, and the one said to be Bashkir is northern Udmurt. The accuracy of detail allows us to specify not only the ethnicity of the women, but their social status as well. The so-called “Votyak” and “Bashkir” outfits are those worn by married women, and that of the alleged “Mishar” is a girl’s dress. Generally, accurate representations, such as those illustrating the proceedings of the 18th-century expeditions from the Academy of Sciences, are a valuable and underexplored source of information.

Keywords: 18th century academic expeditions, Johan Peter Falk, traditional outfit, early representations, Udmurt, graphic images attribution