TECHNICAL, MORPHOLOGICAL AND STYLISTIC FEATURES OF SIBERIAN TILES AS A HISTORICAL SOURCE

Abstract

Tiles are ceramic products with a front plate and a vertical framed rib (1 inch or higher) on the back side, intended for architectural or stove lining. They became a completely new phenomenon in Siberia in the 17th–18th centuries. Their distribution is associated with the process of civilizational modernization, which entailed the emergence of new industries, technologies, and specialists. Buildings and stoves with tiled decor have not been preserved in the region, written information is scarce, so the main source for the study of Siberian tiles is archaeological materials. The most representative archaeological collections of tiles are from Tobolsk, Tyumen, Tomsk, Yeniseisk, single fragments of tiles were found in Beryozovo, Kuznetsk, Irkutsk and the village of Kemerova. The technical and morphological characteristics of tiles include: the composition of the dough, the quality of fi ring, the size and shape of the front plate, the method of processing and decorating the face, color, rib design. All types of tiles are represented in Siberia: relief terracotta, glazed green and multi-color, single-color smooth, multi-color painted smooth. Relief polychrome tiles dominate quantitatively. All types of tiles are made of red clay. A fragment of a stamp for imprinting an image on an adobe oven was found in Berezovo. Siberian tiles, influenced by the Moscow tiling school, represented at the same time one of the peripheral variations of the transformation of the metropolitan tradition. In the technical and stylistic features of the Siberian tiles, the influence of the European tradition was also reflected. The spread of tile decor and tile trade in the region is a significant manifestation of the transfer of technologies, intercultural exchange and interaction, a vivid embodiment of the process of development and civilizational transformation of Siberia.