Shkribliak

Shkribliak [Škribljaky]. The family name of a group of Hutsul folk artists from Yavoriv, Kosiv county, Galicia (now Kosiv raion, Ivano-Frankivsk oblast), who have specialized in wood carving and inlay. Yurii Shkribliak (b 28 April 1822, d 1884) was the founder of the family tradition. He made wooden flasks, miniature barrels, goblets, plates, spoons, crosses, cups, axes, pistols, rifles, and powder horns decorated with geometrical carvings and copper-wire or sheep-horn inlay. Noted for their original forms and fine technical execution, they were displayed at agricultural fairs in Vienna (1872), Lviv (1877), Trieste (1878), Stanyslaviv (1879), and Kolomyia (1880). Yurii taught his craft to his sons, Vasyl (1856–1928), Mykola (1858–1920), and Fedir (1859–1942). Vasyl specialized in flat carving and inlay of variously colored wood, beads, metal, and mother-of-pearl. His best works are plates, shelves, and furniture. In 1905–15 he taught at the provincial wood carving school in Vyzhnytsia. His works were shown at exhibitions in Ternopil (1884), Cracow (1887), Lviv (1894, 1905), and Kolomyia (1880, 1912). Mykola introduced a pitted background to heighten the contrast with the carved design. His favorite motif was the rosette. Mykola taught the family craft to his sons, Fedir (b 28 April 1893, d 10 November 1960) and Vasyl (b 1900), and Fedir passed it on to his son, Dmytro (b 20 October 1925). Similar work has been done by the Korpaniuk brothers (the sons of Kateryna, the daughter of Yurii Shkribliak) and their descendants. An album of works by the Shkribliak family was published in Kyiv in 1979.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]