In one of the Ukrainian museums, there is an old weaving loom that still works just fine and any visitor can try working on it. The museum is situated in a small town Bohuslav near Kyiv. This authentic loom dates back to the mid or end of the 19th century, and it has a lot of lovely details. Bohuslav was one of the cultural and handicraft centers in Ukraine, specializing in weaving. It even has its own traditional weaving technique. So, thousands of people who want to learn weaving on a vintage loom come to this little but picturesque town.
This weaving loom is rather complicated. It has 8 pedals and an intricate system of sheaves, so it allows to create very complicated and multicolored patterns. Such a construction is typical for Ukrainian traditional wooden looms.
Its history is also interesting. Once upon a time, somewhere around the 19th century, in Bohuslav, there was a large craft shop with multiple 4-post looms. It produced a lot of fabric that was delivered to different cities and customers. But then, the craft shop was closed and most of the looms were either stolen or destroyed. Not so long ago, the museum workers found this particular weaving loom in disassembled form, just a pile of pieces. It’s probably the only loom left from that old craft shop that survived to modern times. It was built up and arranged by professional craftsmen. And today, it works perfectly.
It’s amazing how such old and beautiful masterpieces can still be in a perfect condition after years and years of lying in pieces in some dark corner. Every single wooden detail shows the traces of hand labor and the working surfaces are polished to shine after so many years in use.
Here are a few photos of this authentic weaving loom and its charming details.
