Birch-bark, the so-called Beresta, is a unique natural material that has been used in ancient Russia since time immemorial. Owing to its very special properties as well as usage opportunities, birch-bark strongly built in the household of Russian people, who used to apply birch-bark to make ingenious variety of everyday utensils, such as fisherman’s canoes (oblasoks), baskets, boxes, cases, as well as footwear (lapti) and fine jewelry. At all times, and especially nowadays, when articles of birch-bark serve mostly as souvenirs, this material is worth its weight in gold. Whatever stuff may have replaced birch-bark, people still pay tribute to the material that has been that indispensable to their everyday lives for many centuries.
Birch-bark is harvested from the birch-tree only during a brief interval: two days in spring and three days in autumn, and only from the trees that will be felled for timber. It is neither wood nor paper, but it can be made into sheets, printed or bent into flexible shapes like paper, yet it is durable, waterproof and can be carved like wood. Because of the natural properties of the bark, this wood can be worked in a similar manner to leather. Likewise, goods made of specially processed birch-bark are well compared to those made of leather. Birch-bark has a velvet smooth surface and is very pleasant to the touch. It bears a great number of natural color tints; its wide color range varies from dark chocolate brown to golden or even creamy white.
None of useful birch- bark properties was missed; people tried to find helpful and effective application for every feature. Specially made waterproof containers (barrels and baskets) were used to keep liquids -- milk, sour cream, cedar oil, different animal fat, honey, and salted fish. Boxes, cases and caskets provided excellent storage for all dry products -- flour, corn, grain, cereals, berries, and bread. Due to the fine bactericidal properties and natural silver components of birch-bark, utensils produced of it preserve goods for extended periods, so it is hardly accidentally that the air in a birch-tree forest is many times more sterile than in an operating-room. Birch-bark jewelry has no substance to irritate your skin; combs and barrets are good for your hair, because they do not create static electricity. Beresta is referred to as a ‘warm’ tree, meaning that even in a cold room; it is warm to the touch, assumably for its great positive power. Moreover, birch-bark can be used as medicine to treat wounds, malaria, pneumonia and dropsy, to normalize blood pressure and relieve headaches. They say that it takes merely looking at the birch-bark or holding it in your hands for a while to calm down at once.
Nearly every article is the author’s work, which is absolutely unique. Furthermore, birch-bark articles are absolutely ecologically safe, since they are hand made of natural materials only, without any glue to be used. Our principle goal is to revive the art of old craftsmen. We, the Bogara Company, in the person of our skillful craftsmen, do our best to realize this difficult task. Together with the wealth of experience of old masters, we use chronicles, different literature, tracing every grain (nugget) of information available… Thus we hope for your interest to keep our good undertaking…
Bogara LLC is honored to offer its goods made of beresta. Artful boxes, baskets, cases, present sets and still many other items are presented to your judgment. Our manufacturing method is simple, but productive at the same time, which makes possible to supply a system of cities and regions with the goods we produce. We suggest placing your order with our company. Terms to perform orders can be additionally discussed. All you need to do is to take a step toward our cooperation, and for our part we can guarantee decency, quickness and quality.

With best wishes, Director of company "Bogara"

Salischeva Oxana Yurievna.

634057 Russia Tomsk Govorova Str. 8
Fax (3822) 77-14-37 Tel (3822) 76-46-55
Our internet address: www.bogara.ru
E-mail: bogara@mail.tomsknet.ru