A Hawker of sacred pictures 1815
Traditional russia folk costume of a hawker of sacred pictures.
To supply the peasantry with sacred pictures, that are generally painted upon wooden boards, and crosses, old men travel about the country bareheaded, and barter or exchange them; for, according to their ideas of their sanctity, no price can be put upon them, and therefore they are never sold. Nor are they ever burnt or destroyed: when too old for use, the sacred picture is given in charge to a running stream, which carries it away from the view of its former possessor ; and whosoever finds it, returns it again to the waters, until it is seen no more.
Village Amusements of the Russians by Robert Pinkerton in 1816. Published in London by Seeley & Sons, 1833. Miscellaneous Observations on the Past and Present State of that Country and its Inhabitants. Compiled from Notes made on the Spot, during Travels, at Different Times, in the Service of the Bible Society, and a Residence of Many Years in that Country. Octavo.
