In one of fine parts of the capital Yerevan, in Paronyan street there is situated the Woodcarving State Museum where woodcarving, one of national branches of the Armenian culture, has found its best manifestation. The Woodcarving Museum was founded in 1977 owing to the efforts of Albert Stepanyan, the minister of wood-industry, and the painter Vanik Sharambeyan whose collection of pottery, carpet, metal, ladle and spoon samples, gathered for many years, became the basis of the museum.
In the course of time the museum is getting richer in new samples, and today it has 25-30 collections consisting of about 3000 exhibits. The exhibition consists of three parts where alongside with the works made of different types of wood there exist other works like carpets, woman-shaped Armenian salt-cellars and various other articles used in the Armenian lifestyle. The museum is unique in its specialization, and many exhibits are exceptional and cannot be found in other museums. Among them there are wooden shuttles for lace-making, comb-formed gat? ornaments, sticks for checking the dough which are master pieces of minor plastics. Here one can see a big collection c various stamps for gata, magic amulets which were considere to be evil-hindering and were meant for protection of the hear and family.
The museum exhibition is adorned by the subtle engravii of the pillars with ornamented birds, by book-supports an musical instruments. The stocking-moulds and spindles, th inlaid cradle and couch in the center of exhibition are of grea interest. The museum also restores wooden works, and owing to it a great number of things keep on impressing and enrapturing the visitors. Among those things there are engraved trays, cigarette-cases, wine jugs. There are a lot of book-covers, ink-pots and pencil-boxes. One of important parts of the museum exhibition is the wooden sculptural works.
It is already more than three decades that the Woodcarving Museum works, the wholly devoted employees of which keep an saving the rich traditions of national woodcarving and mak-B them develop.