Treasures of Dnipropetrovsk: A local historian shares a fascinating tale about a unique wedding chest (PHOTOS).

Local historian Igor Lysenko shared a fascinating tale about a wedding chest crafted by artisans from the village of Igrenya, which is now part of the city of Dnipro. He wrote about this in the Facebook community "Native Novostepanovka (Interests in the History of the Novomoskovsk Region)," as reported by "Vidomo".

The historian noted that wedding chests, which were painted by masters from the town of Igrenya in the Novomoskovsk district since the mid-19th century, were quite popular among the peasants of the Yekaterinoslav province and far beyond its borders.

"I accidentally found one of these 'distant' traveling chests. Its story is particularly striking due to the number of famous individuals who have seen it in person", Lysenko writes.

This chest is preserved in the historic estate of "Abramtsevo." Its owner was the renowned writer Sergey Timofeevich Aksakov (1791-1859). Many notable figures often visited his home.

In the 1840s, M.V. Gogol frequently visited among them, and there was even a separate room for him in the estate. It was here that Gogol first read Chapter 1 from the second volume of "Dead Souls" to its owner.

Later, in the 1850s, S.T. Aksakov took care of another famous local figure – Taras Shevchenko, and later became personally acquainted with him.

Eventually, the estate was inherited by Aksakov's son, Ivan Sergeyevich. He was sent by the Geographic Society to Ukraine to research and describe Ukrainian fairs. It is likely that during this expedition, he acquired the wedding chest painted by Igrenya artisans.

In 1870, the estate "Abramtsevo," along with all its antique furnishings and items, was purchased by the well-known entrepreneur Savva Ivanovich Mamontov (1841–1918).

It is known that his wife, Elizaveta Grigoryevna Mamontova (1847-1908), had a passion for ethnography and folk arts. Additionally, she preserved the old artifacts from the previous owner of the estate and continued to add to the collection of antiquities. She also organized a circle of prominent artists of that time at her estate.

Many famous painters visited "Abramtsevo" to admire the beauty of our chest.

Among them was Ilya Repin, who worked there from 1877 to 1882. It is known that he created most of the sketches for his masterpiece "Cossacks Writing a Letter to the Turkish Sultan" there.

Vasnetsov also frequently visited the estate, where he painted his famous "Three Bogatyrs."

For instance, the artist Seryov enjoyed painting portraits of the estate's owners, particularly fascinated by the daughter of Elizaveta Grigoryevna – Vera. We can see her depicted in the well-known painting "Girl with Peaches." It is quite possible that this Vera kept her dowry in our chest.

The estate houses two interesting antique portraits of Shevchenko and Gogol.

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