Kalofer bobbin lace - the white magic of Bulgarian crafts and one of the finest women's needlework, preserved even today
- Stefan Ivanov
- Aug 14, 2024
- 16 min read
Updated: Jan 17
I walk with great love in my heart for my Bulgaria, and one beautiful and sunny August day my path takes me to Kalofer - the creative center of Kalofer lace.
More than 100 years have passed since the appearance of one of the finest women's needlework, rightly called white magic - Kalofer lace. During this time, it has not only been preserved, but has also undergone development, turning from a craft that provided a living for caloferki into an art.
The multi-functionality of its use also contributes to the sustainability of Kalofer lace. It is not only a decoration in the interior of the Bulgarian home, but also elegantly complements women's clothing and accessories.
Despite its beauty and uniqueness, even today the Kalofer lace remains little known and rarely practiced as needlework by Bulgarian women.
Cylinder shuttle lace is mostly made in Western Europe and is more commonly known as Brussels lace. It is on the basis of the Brussels lace that the Kalofer lace was developed. The weaving technique is the same, but here, too, the Bulgarian woman has expressed her views on beauty by borrowing directly from our wonderful nature. This is how typical Bulgarian motifs appear - roses, edelweiss, leaves, tulips, sunflowers, which give a new and different look to Kalofer lace.
In 1877, the pride of the Strem Valley - Alton Kalofer was completely burned down. The flourishing city has been razed to the ground and reduced to ashes. The war and Turkish atrocities forced its inhabitants to leave their homes and many of them never returned. Those who returned after the Liberation found the city in ruins and tried unsuccessfully for years to revive the old crafts.
In 1902, the prominent resident of Kalofer and one of the founders of the Kalofer cultural and educational friendship in Sofia, Minko Fetvadzhiev, published the brochure The livelihood of the city of Kalofer and means for its upliftment. In it, he offers several guidelines for improving the livelihood of the residents. One of the ideas is aimed specifically at women to get into lace knitting. Making hand lace requires great dexterity and skill, and caloferkas were famous for precisely these qualities.
The appearance and development of Kalofer lace is connected with the names of two Kalofer women - Elisaveta (Eka) Karaminkova and Donka Shipkova. The first made her contribution to raising the role of the Bulgarian woman during the Renaissance, and the second was the head of the first lace courses, creator, artist and popularizer of the Kalofer lace, famous for its uniqueness.
The first samples of this type of lace were brought to Kalofer by Eka Karaminkova and even then they were liked and appreciated by Kalofer women.
In 1909, with the help of the Kalofer cultural and educational friendship in Sofia, it was decided to accommodate several Kalofer girls to be sent to the then Art and Industrial School in Sofia (now the Art Academy). The choice falls on Donka Shipkova, whose initiative, alert mind and dexterity are the best certificate for the undertaking.
Donka Shipkova is enrolled in the Department of Applied Arts, where she studies the technique of creating and making Brussels lace. Her teacher is the Czech Tereza Holehova. The course is two years long, but Donka finished it in one year and after successfully passing the exam, he graduated. He returned to Kalofer with a great desire to find like-minded people and to pass on his new knowledge and skills to them.
Donka Shipkova
Her life is a successful mission in lace art.
Vasil Opev
Donka Shipkova was born in 1882 in Kalofer. She was left without parents at an early age and was raised by relatives in Stara Zagora and Plovdiv. She graduated from the School of Economics in Plovdiv and received the right to teach needlework, after which she returned to Kalofer.
In 1909, she graduated from the State Drawing School in Sofia, where at that time two-year courses for female teachers were held in the needlework and lace studio. In one year, Donka Shipkova mastered the theory and practice of shuttle lace and the ability to create patterns. He immediately took up the preparations for the opening of a lace school in Kalofer - he prepared the documents for its registration with the Ministry of Trade and Agriculture, ordered the necessary tools and materials from the Czech Republic, registered those who wished to enter the school.
On September 5, 1910, the only lace-industrial school "Trudolyubie" in Bulgaria was opened in Kalofer. Donka Shipkova is the first teacher there and devotes herself entirely to her work. In practice, she takes care of everything - from the training of the students and the creation of models to the search for funds, the provision of materials and the realization of the laces. In a very short period, she built a school in which products were knitted, comparable in artistic value and quality to samples made in countries with centuries-old traditions in shuttle lace knitting.
Donka Shipkova develops many models. Her merit is the creation of a sustainable style of Kalofer lace. The analysis of the Kalofer models in terms of style and composition shows that the main part of them are most likely the work of one painter (the expression is hers) and this is undoubtedly Donka Shipkova. Many of the basic patterns have been used by her students and by subsequent generations of knitters to create new patterns that build the distinctive look of Kalofer lace.
Touching memories are told about the teacher from that time, when she held each one's hand in her first attempts, when she taught, encouraged and supported... until late at night she ironed, mounted, packed and prepared the orders made for the market, or she composed and copied new models. With a subtle artistic flair, she painted models with Kalofer motifs, the likes of which are not found in any album.
Elisaveta (Eka) Karaminkova
Elisaveta Ivanova Karaminkova (née Pulieva) was an educated woman, translator, public figure and mother of five children, born on December 24, 1849 in the town of Karlovo. She was the daughter of Ivan Goranov from the famous Karlovo family of Pulievs. She was the sister of Bogdan and Maria Goranov, a relative of Hristo Botev and the brothers Evlogi and Hristo Georgiev. She studied in Karlovo with Hristina Pecheva. In 1859, her family moved to Galati, where she continued her education with Hristo Vaklidov. In 1867, she graduated from the Higher Girls' School in Prague, after which she returned to Karlovo. She married the Kalofer merchant Hristo Karaminkov and moved to live in Kalofer. On her initiative, on November 16, 1869, the women's educational society "Enlightenment" was founded, of which she was the chairman until 1873. Her speech on the occasion of the founding of the society was printed in the newspaper "Macedonia". In 1873 she settled with her family in Constantinople. In 1875 she joined the board of trustees of the Constantinople Women's Society and promoted its activities. She published "A Letter on the Annual Exams in the Girls' School at the Constantinople Community Center". After the defeat of the April Uprising, she organized the collection of aid for the victims and became a free teacher of Bulgarian language, history and geography for the orphans brought to Constantinople. After the Liberation, she lived with her family in Plovdiv, where she became involved in the activities of the local women's society. On September 5, 1910, she opened the only Lace-Industrial School in Bulgaria "Trudolyubie" in Kalofer, in order to create a livelihood for poor women. At the end of 1919, on the occasion of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Bulgarian language, history and geography school, she was elected to the post of the head of the Bulgarian language school "Trudolyubie". of the women's society in Kalofer, Eka Karaminkova as honorary chairwoman delivered a speech, preserved in manuscript and kept in the private archive of her granddaughter Elisaveta Karaminkova-Koledarova. Eka Karaminkova published in translation from Czech the article "On the Female Gender", dedicated to the issues of education and upbringing of modern women. The translation was very well received and a review by Exarch Joseph was published in the magazine "Chitalishte", which emphasized the great importance of this issue for Bulgarian society, the high education and intelligence of the translator and the wonderful language of the translation.
Elisaveta Karaminkova died on September 1, 1920 in the city of Sofia.
"Trudolyubie" Lace School
On September 5, 1910, the first and only Lace School "Trudolyubie" in our country was opened in Kalofer. It has a two-year training course and is supported by the Kalofer Municipal Government, the Kalofer Friendship in Sofia and the Women's Society "Prosveshchenie" in the city. Later, its management was entrusted to a civil committee. In this school, about 1,800 women and girls received knowledge and professional skills in the creation and production of shuttle-type lace.
Donka Shipkova was the first teacher of modeling and making shuttle lace at the school. Energetic and proactive, with a restless Revival spirit, Donka Shipkova was not content with just mechanically applying and teaching according to the imposed standards. She not only transformed the lace imported from abroad, but also created new models. They intertwine purely Bulgarian stylized motifs - a blooming rose, clover, a branch with oak leaves, a vine leaf, sunflower cakes, edelweiss and many other elements. Some of the motifs were borrowed from the original Bulgarian woodcarving - ears of wheat, sun, peacock. The tradition of enriching lace with new ornaments and decorations was continued by her students, as well as by subsequent knitters. Thus, a new, purely Bulgarian art was born in Kalofer - Kalofer lace. It preserves the shuttle knitting technique of Brussels lace, but with a new, own, original and unique appearance.
Characteristic of Kalofer lace is its special compositional structure: a light openwork, called the "middle", is surrounded by dense elements and vice versa - the dense center is surrounded by loose peripheral parts. The dense part, filled with colorful motifs and small elements, and the various openwork parts, are linearly intertwined with each other. The specific arrangement of the individual elements is achieved by the large fields, knitted with a half-mesh "sieve", being connected to smaller decorative fields, by means of braids.
The high artistic value and craftsmanship of the laces produced have been duly appreciated by the relevant institutions. At the exhibitions that she has organized in Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, etc., she has received numerous diplomas and awards, including a gold medal.
After graduating from school, the graduates of the Lace School began to work at home. It was in this way that lace knitting gradually became a home industry. The exquisite Kalofer lace, made at the school and at home, soon became famous throughout the country. Orders were increasingly arriving from abroad - England, France, Belgium and Turkey.
In the first years of its appearance, lacemaking provided a livelihood not only to the women of Kalofer. Men also participated in this process by making the wooden looms and shuttles necessary for weaving the lace.
There are different techniques for knitting Kalofer lace. The main assistants with which the knitting is carried out are precisely the aforementioned cylinder and shuttle.
The cylinder is formed using a rectangular piece of fabric and is tightly tightened. The shape thus made is dressed with very thick cardboard. On it, with the help of pins, the model is attached, which is a sheet of paper and on which the model is drawn down to the smallest detail and with all types of braids. They are many in number and have specific names - openwork, chain, straight and broken shikrit, kiklichki, etc.
The shuttles with which Kalofer lace is knitted also undergo changes.
The shuttle is made by a master turner. The most suitable wood for its manufacture is hornbeam, but there are also shuttles made of elder, maple and beech. The wood must be strong and easy to work with.
The shuttle consists of a heart (on which the thread is wound) and the so-called coat.
Unlike those in Western Europe, the Kalofer shuttles are closed with a cylindrical movable coat. Its purpose is to protect the thread with which it is knitted from contamination. The inner barrel – the heart of the shuttle – is completely free and more thread can be wound on it, which makes knitting easier.
Always knit with an even number of shuttles, the most common models require between 8 and 12 pieces. There are also those that require 56 or more.
In the years from the establishment of the Lace School until World War II, lace production brought significant income, both for the knitters themselves and for Kalofer and contributed to its economic development. All the inhabitants of the town were involved in this profitable activity. Kalofer merchants returned from foreign markets with new sketches drawn on paper, the necessary yarn and orders for certain quantities. Every year, a cart loaded with lace traveled to the Gabrovo market. The "Morfovi" company specialized in the production and sewing of individual motifs of Kalofer lace to large tablecloths. With the profits from the sale of lace, Kalofer women brought significant income to support the household, and some were even able to buy a house for their family.
In the development of Kalofer lace, as in any art, there are periods of prosperity and decline. In August 1935, the Lace School was closed and a lower Agricultural School was opened in its place. Only two classes were preserved in the new school, in which the knitting of Kalofer lace was studied. After they were also closed, the making of lace was transferred entirely to home conditions. The skill of creating and knitting lace was passed down from mother to daughter, from grandmother to granddaughter.
Penka Opeva
Penka Stefanova Opeva was born in the town of Kalofer on October 1, 1914, into the family of a woodcarver and furniture maker. Her father, Vasil Genkov Vasilkov, participated in furniture exhibitions in Chicago, Moscow, and Plovdiv. Penka's mother was a skilled dressmaker who knitted lace.
In the 1928/1929 school year, Pena graduated from the Agricultural School in Kalofer. In addition to the main subjects, Kalofer lace was also studied there. Her first teachers there were the gifted Elena Radulova and Maria Grueva. In November 1948 to February 1949, the Ministry of Education and Culture organized a four-month course in lacemaking, and Penka graduated from it. On the instructions of Donka Shipkova, she created the famous images of the rose, the carnation, and the narcissus. Her successful graduation promoted her to become a teacher of lace art. In the fifties, she trained and taught lace knitters. She had over 360 students of various ages. Penka Opeva became a worthy companion of the eminent Bulgarian Donka Shipkova-Karanova and successfully developed this work until her death in 1998.
Anka Bozukova
Anka Bozukova was born on November 6, 1928, into a family of farmers. After completing her primary education, she enrolled in the Agricultural School in Kalofer. There, tailoring was studied, and some wanted to learn to knit Kalofer lace. They made their own top hats, bought shuttles and began to learn from the great lace masters of the time – Ivanka Batsova and Penka Opeva.
While working, Anka did not have much time for knitting, but after she retired, Kalofer lace became her main occupation. She knitted many models as a memory for her loved ones.
Vasilia Petrova
Vasilia Petrova was born on November 6, 1922 in Kalofer. She completed her education, at that time, at the agricultural school in the city.
Her passion for Kalofer lace was ignited by her older sister. She, together with her friends, would gather at gatherings and knit on a top hat. Vasilia did not have a top hat, but she really wanted to learn to knit and started on a pillow and instead of shuttles - with sticks on which she wound the threads. She watched from the older ones and so she learned little by little. Then they made her a top hat with real shuttles. Throughout her life she never stopped knitting and her love for lace did not diminish. She collects, searches and copies new models. With great diligence she passes on her knowledge to young knitters who will continue to preserve the traditions. She participates in the Kalofer lace festival "Top hat under the plane tree". Her laces are photographed for a catalog abroad. The lace that Vasilia leaves to her children and grandchildren is a great treasure that will be preserved over the years for generations.
Kuna Chonkova
Baba Kuna is my teacher. I will always treat her with the deepest love and respect, adoration and gratitude!
I love standing behind her, watching her play the shuttles with the beautiful movements of her hands in an incomprehensible dance. They hit each other and their sound makes the most beautiful music I have ever heard...
...She never missed a day asking me:
"Have you thrown the shuttles a few times?
You will not lie down until you have knitted, no matter how tired you are.
The lace wants the place where you sit to be warm!"
And another time, when I have extended the time between lessons, she will meet me at the door, look at me reproachfully and immediately shout:
"Why haven't you come for so long?
Come on, hurry up while I can show you.
I want to give you everything for the lace, and you to hand it over to young women's hands. This beauty must not go with us..."
Velichka Radulova
Man is perishable, only what he creates remains impermanent. Man is perishable, and art remains eternal. It is what connects the present with the previous years with an invisible but strong connection.
For Velichka Radulova, this connection is in her striving to preserve for future generations an art "born" in Brussels, but transferred and interpreted in a purely Bulgarian way by the original Kalofer masters - knitters...
She herself creates her own style, guided by traditions. Under her skillful hands, this original art sounds in a new way and reveals the impulses of a special temperament. It was decisive in the petite teacher's quest to pass on her skills to over 200 Bulgarian women who attended her courses in Varna, Ruse, Smolyan, Plovdiv, Karlovo and Banya...
Velichka Radulova is the author of the only published guide to Kalofer lace, which methodically assists those wishing to master the secrets of artistic knitting.
Hristina Kostova
She was born on October 26, 1922 in the town of Kalofer. She completed primary education in her hometown and from a child mastered the craft of knitting a top hat and making Kalofer lace, which at that time were exported abroad. She had the ability to improve and modernize knitting patterns, as well as create new ones. She worked on patterns by the artist Vasil Opev, also from the town of Kalofer.
In the 1990s, Hristina Kostova became a member of the National Association "Cooperative of Masters of Folk and Artistic Crafts" in the city of Sofia.
In addition to her excellent abilities as a knitter, she also became a respected teacher and mentor for anyone wishing to learn the craft. People from the town of Kalofer and other towns in Bulgaria have embarked on the path of lacemaking, thanks to her lessons and donated patterns for knitting lace.
Hristina Barbova
Hristina Barbova was born on October 16, 1925 in Kalofer. She graduated from the agricultural school in her hometown, where she mastered the knitting of delicate lace by the age of 16. After her retirement in 1980, she used her free time to work with pleasure on small and larger lace patterns. Her skillful hands produce beautiful lace roses, carnations, honeycombs, leaves, edelweiss. Kalofer lace is used to decorate pillows, tablecloths, napkins and clothes.
Hristina is one of the most famous masters of Kalofer lace not only because of the skill and precision with which she makes her favorite laces, but also with her radiance and vitality with which she demonstrates and talks about the craftта.
Hristina Dimitrova
Hristina Ganeva Dimitrova was born on December 16, 1930. She graduated from the agricultural school in her hometown of Kalofer. She worked at the "Hristo Botev" factory, where she spent her entire working experience. At home, she loves to sew on a machine - clothes for herself and her daughters. She copes with this activity, which requires dexterity and aesthetic sense, with great diligence and skill.
At a later age - over 50 years old - she showed flair and patience to learn to knit on a cylinder. For this purpose, she attended the Kalofer lace courses organized in the Chitalishte. With desire and pleasure, she always actively participates in the lace festival organized in the city.
Stefana Parvanova
Stefana Parvanova was born on February 17, 1920 in Kalofer. She got married at the age of 16 and at that age she could already knit Kalofer lace. Her relatives assume that she graduated from the "Trudolyubie" Lace School, opened in 1910 in Kalofer. They say that she loved to knit sitting in front of her house. That's how a group of foreigners once saw her. Fascinated by Stefana's skills, they bought up all of her knitted lace. In addition to gifts for her grandchildren, she also fulfilled many orders for cheeses, wedding and ball gowns.
Nadezhda Toromanova
Nadezhda Petkova Toromanova was born on September 10, 1910 in Koprivshtitsa, in the family of Petko Toromanov, a clerk in the city.
From 1926 to 1929, she attended the State Girls' School in the Revival town. There, under the expert guidance of teacher Ivanka Radukova, the young girl mastered the intricacies of various needlework, including shuttle lace.
Nadezhda devoted her entire life to making various patterns, some of which were her own, original. She passed on her knowledge and experience to the younger women in the family. Her niece and granddaughter have kept the lace, paper patterns, and notebooks that Nadezhda received as gifts from the School of Economics.
Kalofer Lace Festival
The pride of Kalofer - the city of lace is also the Kalofer Lace Festival, which has been held annually since 1999, on August 15, on the day of the great Christian holiday - the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A "Golden Fund" of Kalofer lace was created at the "Hristo Botev - 1869" National Community Center in Kalofer. Thus, not only are the best examples of the works of the old masters preserved and exhibited in the "Hristo Botev" National Museum, but the tradition of collecting, studying and displaying lacemaking will not be interrupted.
Lace production in Kalofer has not been forgotten, but is once again finding its application, even in today's fast-paced and computerized modern times, because we all need beauty, grace and perfection. And the skillful Kalofer women give them to us by weaving into their lace their love for the Balkans, fragrant with geraniums and enchanting, for the legends and songs of their town. And only such a true, soul-stirring love for everything Bulgarian can create the white magic of Bulgarian crafts - Kalofer lace.
How to get to the town of Kalofer?
Kalofer is a town in Karlovo Municipality, Plovdiv District.
It is located in South Central Bulgaria near the Sub-Balkan Road*.
*The Republican Road I-6, also known as the Sub-Balkan Road, is a first-class road of the Republican Road Network of Bulgaria with a west-east direction, passing through the territory of nine districts: Kyustendil, Pernik, Sofia Region, Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Sliven, Yambol and Burgas.
Its total length is 508.5 km, making it the longest republican road in Bulgaria.
Kalofer is located at the foot of the southern slopes of the Stara Planina Mountain.
Kalofer is located:
156 kilometers (about 2 hours and 16 minutes by car) from the capital
66 kilometers (about 1 hour by car) from the city of Plovdiv
330 kilometers (about 4 hours and 17 minutes by car) from the city of Varna
230 kilometers (about 2 hours and 30 minutes by car) from the city of Burgas
17 kilometers (about 17 minutes by car) from the city of Karlovo
How do I get to the Kalofer Lace Creative Center?
The Kalofer Lace Creative Center is located in the city center.
What to visit in Kalofer?
Entering the city, you should not miss visiting the monument of Kalifer Voivode, the founder of Kalofer.
Nearby is the starting point for the "White River" eco-trail.
In the center of the city there is a Renaissance temple "Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary", which I recommend you to visit.
The temple is located to the right of the Hristo Botev Memorial Complex, at the foot of a hill on which the majestic monument rises. Take the stairs to the monument and enjoy the exceptional panorama opening from the place.
Located on the left bank of the Tundzha River, on the spacious and sunny central city square, at the base of the Hristo Botev Memorial Complex and next to the "200 Rifles" composition, rises the graceful white stature of the Daskal Botev School, today transformed into the Museum of Educational Work in Kalofer.
Let your sunny walk in this unique Bulgarian city take you to the Hristo Botev National Museum.
The Church of St. Athanasius the Great is located near the center of Kalofer. It is the only church in Kalofer, located on the right bank (south) of the Tundzha River.
And finally, my dear friends,
you shouldn't miss checking out
the special photo album with moments –
discovered, experienced, filmed and shared with you!
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