Russian satirical Lubok engraving of Peter the Great. “ Царь летодки “ - “ the king of summer “ 128/200

Russian satirical Lubok engraving of Peter the Great.

“ Царь летодки “ - “ the king of summer “ 128/200

“БОРОДА НЕ В ЧЕСТЬ, А усві и у кота Есть “

“A beard is not in honor, but even a cat has a whiskers”

hand Signed - With original metal frame.

Size: 19 cm L x 13 cm W
Size: 24 cm L x 18 cm W with frame

Lubki (singular lubok) are the woodblock prints which served as folk literature and graphic art in Russia until 1917. Lubki could be purchased for a kopeck or two, black and white or coloured, in the streets, marketplaces, church doors and in front of monastery gates of old Russia. They were used to decorate the homes of the poor, often substituting for more expensive painted wooden icons.

Peter had visited Versailles and was charmed by the elegance of Louis XIV’s courtiers, Tsar Peter issued a ukase (edict) forcing Russian boyars to shave off their beards or pay a hefty fine of 130 rubles. The ultra-conservative boyars resisted being shorn, claiming that without their beards they would not be allowed to enter Paradise and they declared that Tsar Peter was a heretic. On Peter’s death the Boyars had their revenge with this satirical lubok. Few lubok satirising the Tsars survive because Tsar Nicholas 1 (1825–55) established strict censorship of the topics depicted on lubki and those prints which offended the Tsar, his family or the Russian Orthodox church were ordered to be destroyed.