The bone abacus in a painted wooden frame was produced on the lathe by craftsmen from the village of Kholmogory near Archangel in the early 1700s. In the 17th century Kholmogory was one of the most important Russian artistic centres for bone carving. Craftsmen from there were constantly being summoned to Moscow, to the Armoury Chamber, to make combs, pointers, chess sets, goblets and staffs. In the early 18th century interest in the works by the northern bone-carvers still endured. Bone toilet articles were in great demand with St Petersburgers.
For inexpensive everyday items the long bones of cattle were used after being scoured of fat and sawn into narrow plates. More expensive items were made from walrus tusks and the fossilized tusks of mammoths.