Mari Wedding Scarves: Function, Design and Decorative Features (Based on the Material from the Russian Museum of Ethnography)
This article is devoted to Mari wedding scarves, their constructive and decorative properties and ceremonial role. The rich collections of the Russian Museum of Ethnography include various types of towel products from a traditional Mari wedding and serve as the material for this research. Consideration of the design and decorative features of the bride's wedding veils, wedding headscarves and waist scarves, as well as of their use during the wedding ceremony, allow us to draw conclusions about the diversity of both local forms and the ways they function. The article examines the connection between headdresses and wedding shawls, analyzes their functions as well as the relationship to their decorative features. Headscarves are considered both as part of the costumes of actors performing symbolic functions and as a tool of ceremonial action, in particular, in practices of giving and exchange. This research, based mainly on artefacts of the late 19 th - early 20 th century, is promising from the point of view of studying the current state of tradition. Field research shows that despite external modification scarves still play an important role in Mari weddings.