Published since 07.2002
Published on July 25, 2008
DISAPPEARING PROFESSION: “LAST MOHICAN” OF THE COPPER INDUSTRY CAN BE FOUND IN ECHMIADZIN
- Crafts in Armenia have always been highly esteemed and have appeared in the last names like Hatsagortsyan [baker], Brutyan [potter], Darbinyan [blacksmith] and have survived centuries… But the development of science and technologies resulted in that a number of those crafts disappeared. In former times the home kitchenware was made of only copper and clay. People used to tin copper vessels; otherwise rust would make them unavailable for use. Those who did the tinning were called a kleykchi. When aluminum and other materials intruded in the kitchenware industry, copper industry and tinning vanished. Vaghinak Manukyan, a resident of Echmiadzin says he is the last Mohican of the copper industry. There used to be coppersmiths in Echimadzin before the 70-80s, whose sons however did not continue the family trade; and Manukyan was the only one to keep the tradition. He says he is the only kleykchi not only in Echmiadzin, but also in both Armenia and the South Caucasus. Hovhannes Hovhannisyan Street in Echmiadzin is known as tinsmiths’ street. Craftsmen who used to occupy the Tumanyan Street in front of the market moved here in the late 1970s. Where their shops used to be, now stands a red tufa stone 3-storied building, known before the 1990s as the House of Crafts. Manukyan, whose family came from Van, has been working since he was 12, learning the craft from his father coppersmith Serob. But Manukyan considers a Turkish Armenian Harutyun Atchemyan, who lived in Yerevan to be his teacher. “I have apprenticed with him for about a year and a half. He opened me all the secrets. He used to take me to villages with him, where we worked together.” Manukyan is an 82-year-old man with bent back, shaking hands and dull look, who, nevertheless works: “I work not for money, but to be able to live. I will die if I don’t,” he says. Manukyan says he never forgets the specific smell of tin. “There is such an odor spreading when you do the tin. I will never forget it,” he recalls blissfully. “There is a specific smell with each vessel. When I tinned ambrosia cauldrons of the monastery I felt the smell of field flowers, but the old kitchen cauldrons smell somewhat unpleasant.” Once tinned, a copper vessel can be in use for about 15 years. Tinning a vessel of 2-3 liter capacity costs 1,500-2,000 drams (about $5-$7). Food prepared in a tinned vessel tastes differently, says Manukyan. “The water is as good as from a spring, when you drink it from a copper mug,” he says. Leaning on the corner of the former House of Crafts at Tumanyan Street Vagho has become an inseparable part of the town and the street. For more than 50 years he goes to the workshop on the corner of Tumanyan. Manukyan has equaled coppersmith’s work to art making cups, jugs, bracelets, trays engraving scenes and letters on them. Manukyan has tinned the 4 ambrosia cauldrons of Holy Echmiadzin – each about 400 liters of capacity. Many of his pieces created in the Soviet times were moved to the ethnographic museum in St. Petersburg, being shown on people’s arts exhibitions, awarded with diplomas and prizes. The master has passed about 120 valuable pieces to the Parakar branch of the Local Lore Museum of Echmiadzin. Manukyan has a family of 40. He has kept the ancestral tradition of gathering around the table with his seven children. He has 2 sons and 5 daughters. He is glad with the life he lived. His sons Arayik and Manuk continue their father’s trade – one of the ancient Armenian crafts.
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Today in Armenian history- 1826 Start of the two-month defence of Fort Shooshee.
- 1897 Assault of Khanasor against the Mazriks.
- 1922 Stepan Tsaghikian, Petros Ter-Poghosian and Artashes Gevorgian execute Jemal Pasha in front of the Cheka building. He was one of the three leaders of the Turkish Government that organized and implemented the Armenian Genocide.
- 1922 Petros Ter Poghosian and Artashes Gevorgian executed the Turkish Minister of the Navy, Jemal in Tbilisi. He was one of the three leaders of the Turkish Government that organized the Armenian Genocide.
- 1928 Maxim Gorky (author) visits Soviet Armenia.
- 1930 The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR makes elementary education compulsory.
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