SIRIN AND ALCONEST
Sirin and Alconest were sisters, half-bird women who symbolized Good and Evil in peasant Russia. Sirin, the Bird of Joy is shown with a halo and no arms. Her sister, the Bird of Sorrow is shown below her. Embroidered lettering on the cloth from which these images is taken identifies the figures.
Embroidered valence in linen using tambour stitch. Mid nineteenth century. Kostroma Province, Russia. Image taken from Boguslavskaia can be found in the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, #13-2563.