/о
MUSEUM OF THE ETHNOGRAPHY
OF THE PEOPLES OF THE USSR
Jewellery
Aurora Art Publishers • Leningrad
Introduced by
Elga Torchinskaya
Compiled by
Galina Komleva
Translated from the Russian by
Sergei Volynets
Photographs by
Alexander Gronsky and Nikolai Kutovoi
Designed by
Nikolai Kutovoi
© Aurora Art Publishers, Ixningrad. 1988
Printed and bound in the German Democratic Republic
_ 490*000000-691 ... ив
’	011(01 )-88
ISBN 5-73OO-O235-1
The State Museum of the Ethnography of the Peoples of the USSR in Leningrad houses this country's
major ethnographic collection - a treasury of unique objects providing guidance to the history of cultures
and life-styles of all nations and nationalities of the Soviet Union.
Many Soviet museums possess collections of valuables illustrating a wide range of national schools
of jewellery. The State Hermitage in Leningrad contains the world-famous collection of unique jewels
produced by Russian and Western European masters, as well as oriental jewellery ranging geographically
from China to Egypt and dated from the first millennium B.C. and up through the twentieth century.
Extensive collections of jewels dated from different chronological periods are held at the Museum of
Oriental Art in Moscow and at a number of museums in all the republics of the USSR.
The Ethnographic Department of the Russian Museum was founded in 1902. Its institutors and
contributors of first exhibits were prominent scholars, such as Dmitry Clements (first head of the Ethno-
graphic Department), N.M.Mogilyansky, P.P.Semionov-Tianshansky, F.K. Volkov, K. A. Inostrantscv,
A.A. Miller. The first public exhibition opened in 1923 in the building designed by the architect
V.F.Svinyin and put up between 1902 and 1911. In 1934 the Ethnographic Department was reorganized
into the State Museum of the Ethnography of the Peoples of the USSR.
The collecting of articles for the Museum has been going on continually since its foundation. Thanks to
the efforts of several generations of contributors the Museum’s collection now comprises over 270,000
objects and as many as 172,000 documentary photographs.
The contents of the collection gathered over these years embraces virtually the whole spectrum of
traditions of material and spiritual cultures of this country’s nations and nationalities over the period
between the late eighteenth and twentieth centuries. Along with the objects illustrating types of economic
relations and ways of life, there is an affluent collection of works of art, for the artistic traditions have always
been deeply rooted in the national life-style and occupations of the people. They eloquently testify to the
profusion and diversity of forms of popular applied art as well as to their close relation to the national
history and age-old traditions.
With all the diversity of national schools of jewellery revealed in styles of design and techniques of
execution, some common tendencies can be traced which suffice to establish cultural and historical links as
well as ethnogenic relationships between separate groups of nations. Like no other folk art, traditional
jewellery was susceptible to influence and adoption. These processes were much furthered by home and
foreign trade relations Russia had developed for centuries, as well as by migration of peasants to towns in
search of living (in point of fact many Russian jewellers were of peasant descent), where they were coming
into contact with professional craftsmen.
The remarkable expressiveness of these craftsmen’s works takes roots in profound knowledge of
materials, proficient utilization of the natural properties of metals and gems and skilful application of
varied techniques. Completeness of composition, harmony of proportions, masterful blending of colours
6
RUSSIA
with the general character of the attire are present in every piece of national jewellery, be it elegant,
lacelike Russian filigree, the Caucasian jewels made into different shapes and by diverse techniques,
massive and statuesque adornments of the Turkmen and Karakalpaks, or originally designed fibulae of the
Baltic nations. The make-up and character of the jewellery collection at the State Museum of the Ethno-
graphy of the Peoples of the USSR were largely defined by the high level of development of this craft in
different regions of this country. The present book introduces the reader to jewellery that has particular
aesthetic significance and gives a comprehensive idea of the more characteristic traits of national attire
design as well as of the art-styles practised by different nations.
During the years of Soviet power the process of rapprochement and fusion of national cultures
has dramatically enhanced the achievements of folk artists in this multinational country.
This process has been conducing to the emergence of new forms, motifs and materials. Jewellers have
been trying to bring their works in line with modern flairs and fashions. The Museum collection features
such items produced during the past thirty years as pendants, earrings, brooches, bracelets, finger-rings,
bowls, cigarette-cases and caskets. Seeking new forms and means of expression contemporary jewellers
remain faithful to their national traditions, and the efforts to improve professional skills largely rely on
careful preservation of the national artistic heritage.
Most of the Russians live on the territory of the Russian Federation spreading out from the Baltic Sea
to the Pacific Ocean and from the Arctic Ocean to the Black and Caspian Seas.
The formation of the ancient Russian state with the centre in Kiev became a landmark in the develop-
ment of the Russian national culture. In Kiev Rus different arts flourished and gained from contacts with
other artistic cultures, primarily that of Byzantium. All this was propitious to the development of crafts, not
excluding jewellery-making. Objects from archaeological diggings dated from the tenth-eleventh centuries
provide abundant testimonies to the exquisite skills of the ancient Russian jewellers who seem to have been
in perfect command of many different techniques of metalworking. Objects from the diggings include
varied adornments for both women's and men’s garments. Particularly fascinating are the neck grivnas
consisting of a heavy hoop or two or three interweaving bars. In Kiev Rus grivnas were often presented as
decorations for military valour. Festive women’s attire often incorporated temple-pieces suspended from the
cap and called kolts. They were made round and hollow from within, consisted of two slightly protuberant
halves and were provided with the cutting at the top over which the suspension handle was attached. These
originally designed adornments were complemented with massive chains of pendants, bracelets and rings,
their shapes and ornamentation following the pagan symbolics of the ancient Slavs. The symbols included
horse and bird motifs associated with the sun, happiness and goodness. Similar motifs occurred in the design
of adornments dated from later periods.
From the sixteenth century all Russia’s independent principalities became united under Moscow which
furthered the rise of new craft centres and contributed to the improvement of jewellers' skills. By that time
RUSSIA
7
the basic types of Russian jewellery had taken definite shapes. In the eighteenth century excellent reputation
was gained by jewellery goods from Vladimir. Novgorod. Vologda. Veliky Ustiug, Solvychegodsk. Moscow
and St Petersburg. In the nineteenth century these centres of the leading manufacturers of jewellery were
joined by the village of Krasnoye near Kostroma and the Rybnaya Sloboda settlement on the right bank of
the Kama river.
These centres broadly supplied diverse adornments fitted for folk garments to further emphasize their
national distinctness. Jewels were predominantly designed for woman’s garments, although men also wore
finger-rings and, sometimes, chains.
Traditional woman’s garments in Russia featured a wealth of local distinctions and varieties, but still
they can be classified into two basic types: the North Russian and South Russian. Jewels were better suited
for North Russian garments that were designed in a limited range of colours. In southern regions feminine
dresses were usually embellished with colourful needlework and beads.
Jewels had particularly brilliant effect on festive and primarily wedding dresses. The adornments were
made of gold and silver as well as of gilt or silvered red copper, depending on the client’s wealth.
Adornments were of many different types, but earrings prevailed in all parts of Russia, the more
characteristic varieties being the so called singles, twins and triplets. These consisted respectively of one, two
or three bars strung in polychromatic gems or beads. Quite popular were hollow earrings called kalachiks.
Cast and filigree earrings were often designed into plant and bird shapes, for instance the so called orlik and
golubets rings (meaning eagle and pigeon). Evidently these motifs arc traceable to the symbolics of the
ancient Russian adornments that by the sixteenth century had become purely decorative. From the late
eighteenth century earrings featured more intricate designs and began to incorporate filigree components
in the form of cumbersome flowers, bows and pear-shaped pendants. Central components of some earrings
were gems in metal settings. In northern parts of Russia earrings were embellished with pearls and designed
into the shapes of graceful bows, baskets, butterflies or just simple nettings. Several large pearls in a setting
called up the image of a blossoming flower or rays of the sun. Masterfully executed settings, shades and
opalescences of pearls, intricate interweaving patterns contributed to the seductive beauty of these jewels.
Pearls were used to decorate national headdresses called kokoshniks. Embroidered in gold and silver
threads and studded with pearls the kokoshniks emphasized the solemnity of festive garments.
The most wide-spread neck decorations were necklaces of amber, garnet, cornelian, pearls and glass
beads. Attractiveness was not the sole virtue of these stones. Wearing an amber necklace brought one good
health and happiness. Garnet and cornelian were ascribed healing and protective qualities. In the southern
regions of Russia traditional woman’s garments incorporated breast adornments of polychromatic beads,
sometimes complemented with metal plates imitating coins and icons.
Chains held a special place among Russian jewellery. The binding of chains belongs to the most antique
Russian jewellery crafts. Chains were made two- and three-dimensional, the latter including massive
8
THE UKRAINE
annulated chains of separate rings that were particularly fashionable with men. Flat chains were of many
different types, their links made of plain, ribbed or filigree wire. The use of beautiful filigree and sometimes
enamel components, fine and elegant lacework made these chains exceptionally ornamental and suitable
for both men and women not only to support crosses, icons and panagias but also as independent
adornments.
Finger-rings of various forms and executed in different techniques were very fashionable with all
sections of the Russian society. Poor peasants wore simple copper or low-grade silver rings, often supplied
by local craftsmen. Wealthy villagers acquired finger-rings bearing gems in gold settings.
Right up to the eighteenth century metal buttons were traditionally used to embellish both woman's and
man's garments. Buttons, made mainly of gold and silver, were decorated in various techniques. Some
buttons bore the finest filigree patterns painted in enamel. They were very expensive and greatly treasured
by their owners, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries buttons were often used as pendants.
Apart from purely decorative wares Russian jewellers produced a wide range of utensils, such as
snuff-boxes, toilet-boxes, spoons, salt-cellars and trays. The leading suppliers of these goods were artisans
of the town of Veliky Ustiug - the centre of the “northern niello” manufacture. The niello pattern was
beautifully set off by the ribbed gilt ground. Jewellers of Solvychegodsk and Rostov Yaroslavsky decorated
their makes with enamelwork.
Original design, perfect compositional arrangement, masterful coloration and integration of folk motifs
into the ornaments contributed to the remarkable artistic expressiveness of the jewels.
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic is situated in the south-west of the USSR. The Russians and the
Ukrainians are very close to each other in terms of origin and language, their cultures featuring traits
common for all the Eastern Slavs. Nonetheless the concrete historical settings, in which the Ukrainian
nation evolved, conditioned the shaping of some national and local distinctions revealing themselves in
various cultural spheres, not excluding traditional costume design.
The Ukrainian national dress, both man’s and woman's, is distinguished for affluence and colourfulness
of needlework patterns decorating shirts, outer clothings and headdresses. Girls had their headdresses
bedecked with natural and artificial flowers, bright ribbons and in some regions - with bird feathers. Apart
from performing decorative functions, embroideries and other garnishes were indicative of locality, age
and social distinctions. But the original function of these decorations is related to the antique beliefs in magic
and protective symbols that can still be found in embroidered ornaments. Garments bearing colourful
needlework were pleasantly complemented with multiple necklaces ofcorals, shells, cereal grains and glass
beads. Particularly fashionable were necklaces of bright Venetian beads sold at local fairs. Often necklaces
incorporated a small cast buckle made by local artisans. Central components of many necklaces were real or
imitation ducat coins, usually strung on lace or chain. In some parts of the Western Ukraine small icons and
BALTIC REGIONS
9
copper crosses were worn instead of ducats. They were made by local craftsmen who worked both in town
and country and marketed their products at Sunday fairs. Various adornments of copper, various alloys of
silver and. less often, gold were usually made by casting and subsequent light engraving to suit the
Ukrainians’ general liking for massive decorations.
Since olden timesearrings were most favoured jewels with the Ukrainians. Earrings consisted of a hook,
dilated on the right side, and a plate with glass insets attached to it.
The West Ukrainian Huzuls embellished their garments with cast copper buckles bearing deep
engravings and called agrafs. The Ukrainians were also very fond of all sorts of finger-rings decorated
with plates and glass insets.
The Baltic region of the USSR lies in this country’s western part at the coast of the Baltic Sea.
The cultural distinctions of the Estonians. Latvians and Lithuanians are rooted in the specific historical
conditions in which they matured as nations. At different moments of history the Baltic nations were strongly
influenced by the Germans, Swedes and Poles. For many centuries they neighboured on the Slavic tribes.
The Setu culture, having developed at the border of south-eastern Estonia and Russia, provides a perfect
example of cultural interaction between the Estonians and the Russians.
The art of metalworking was practised by the Baltic craftsmen since olden times. Forms and ornaments
of many adornments can be traced back to hoary past as evidenced by diverse objects from archaeological
diggings.
The wide use of breast-buckles is to some degree related to the make-up of traditional costume
consisting of a white shirt w ith a breast cut and a shoulder cloak. The buckles of different sizes were popular
throughout Estonia but the Setus are known to have used particularly massive breast-buckles designed into
conic shapes. Such a buckle was passed on from mother to daughter and worn starting from girlhood.
Besides the buckles women adorned themselves with multiple necklaces of hollow silver beads, also sup-
porting leaf-shaped pendants or buttons. Breast and neck pieces of the Setus included massive twisted
chains and openwork chains with pendants of silver coins and a cross. The twisted chains were borrowed by
the Setus from Russia where such chains had rather wide currency.
With the Setus plentiful adornments signified well-being and prosperity. Rich women would put on as
many as 6-7 pounds of breast pieces, usually made of low-grade silver called Polish. A type of breast-buckle,
broadly occurring in many regions of Estonia and Latvia, was a ring-shaped clasp-brooch, flat or with
patterned borders, embellished with bulky stamped ornament and an “eye-spot” of cut glass in high setting.
Quite often woman's attire in Estonia and Latvia incorporated varied combinations of buckles running
from the collar of the shirt down to the breast or across the shoulder cloak. Small clasp-brooches were used
to decorate collars of man’s festive shirts. In Latvia such brooches, called saktas, were ascribed the power for
cementing the family. Made of brass, copper or silver, saktas were offered as presents to close relatives.
10
THE CAUCASUS
Popular in Estonia were also necklaces with pendants of coins and needles in openwork metal settings.
In some parts of Estonia and Latvia women wore leather girdles supporting needle-cases and sheathed
knives.
Finger-rings of most varied design occurred throughout the Baltic region as indispensable components
of decorative attire. All kinds of adornments made by forging, stamping, engraving and filigree techniques
were supplied either by village craftsmen or by city corporations of professional jewellers.
Elaborating their designs, jewellers usually combined metal with amber, called "the sun stone” and
regarded as national Baltic symbol. The Lithuanians are known to be particularly keen on amber as one
learns from many tales they composed about it. Amber may have many different colours, ranging from light
yellow to red. There also occurs white and green amber. This stone combines beautifully with metal in many
jewels. In fact each of the two materials seems to accentuate the splendour of the other.
The decorative art traditions of the Baltic nations have gained shape in the course of many centuries. At
present these traditions are a source for decorative imagination to the contemporary designers of the Baltic
republics. Skilful craftsmen proficiently apply all different methods of metalworking to create a wide range
of elegant adornments for women including necklaces, pendants, brooches, bracelets, rings and carrings as
well as various objects of interior decor, like vases, candlesticks, ornamental cups.
The historical and geographical territory of the Caucasus is situated between the Black and Caspian
Seas on the northern and southern slopes of the Grand Caucasian Mountain Range, at the meeting place of
Asia and Europe.
One of the earliest hearths of civilization, the Caucasus since olden times was in the focus of cultural and
economic ties between the nations of east and west. The ethnic map of the region is unusually variegated due
to turbulent history and migration of the population. A relatively small territory of the Caucasus is a home of
over fifty nationalities speaking different languages: the Georgians, the Armenians, the Azerbaijanians, the
nationalities of Daghestan (the Avars, the Lezghians, the Darghians, the Kumyks, the Lakhs), of Western
and Eastern Caucasus (the Ossetes, the Kabardins. the Adighes. the Chircassians, the Balkarians. the
Karachais. the Chechens, the Ingushes).
The archaic elements steadily prevailed in the cultures of the Caucasian nations, much owing to natural
causes, like poor accessibility of the highland regions. Traditions were also adhered to in the arts. Meanwhile
the age-long sharing of the same territory, the economic ties and similar geographic conditions accounted for
community of the regional economies and businesses. For instance, metals were extensively deposited in
different parts of the region which was conducing to the early rise of the art of metalworking. Archaeological
diggings offer a wealth of evidence to the effect that jewels were made here back in the third millennium B.C.
A variety of bronze objects dated from the second millennium B.C. (the Bronze Age) have been found on the
territory of Azerbaijan. There are finds indicating that the art of jewellery thrived in Armenia at about the
THE CAUCASUS
II
same period. In the ninth and eighth centuries B.C. artisans of the ancient state of Urartu that used to
spread out on the Armenian Upland, employed the techniques of casting and filigree to produce various
adornments. These methods of metalworking were also applied by jewellers of Mtskhcta, the ancient capital
of Georgia. Relics of medieval culture testify that master craftsmen of the famous Kubachi aul (mountain
village) in Daghestan practised goldworking as long as 1000 years ago.
In Daghestan it was customary to employ goldsmith as a matchmaker - an obvious sign of respect
stemming from belief that his participation in the wedding ceremony was to ensure well-being of the newly-
weds. Jewels, conceived as symbols of wealth and prosperity, were invariably offered as presents to the bride.
Almost every Caucasian nationality had a custom by which the groom's parents were to present the bride
with a silver or gold belt - a tradition traceable to the antique religious notion of the circle and to the perfor-
mance of engirdling ritual with the purpose of warding off the evil powers and expressing the idea of
continuity and long life. With some nationalities of Daghestan very interesting are fascinating bridal dresses
covered all over with silver pendants and massive plates bearing chains and pendants sewed on them. Many
adornments were patterned in animal, bird, wheat, barleycorn and pomegranate motifs traditionally
associated with fertility and well-being. The eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century jewels included
originally designed amulet-cases shaped like tubes or triangular boxes.
Magic qualities were ascribed to many stones and especially to cornelian that was believed to have
powers for ridding of tumours, healing wounds, ensuring safeguard against intrigues of the enemy and
easing delivery. Nephrite was considered to be helpful for those who suffer from heart disease and also to
protect against the effects of lightning and earthquake. Jade or gisher (in Armenian gisher meaning night-
stone) was used to make amulets in the form of triangular plates regarded by many Caucasian peoples as
capable of sharpening one’s eyesight and driving out evil spirits. Among the Caucasian amulets there often
occurred the so called “eye necklaces” made of paste and bearing dark spots. Usually these necklaces were
sewed on child’s clothing together with metal amulet plates. In Azerbaijan it was customary to decorate the
cap of a newly born child with a plate showing a hand “for him to be strong” if it was a boy. or the moon "for
her to be beautiful” in case of a girl.
Characteristic techniques and art styles were evolving in the course of centuries at different centres
and schools of jewellery in Georgia. Armenia. Azerbaijan and Daghestan.
The arts of chasing and cloisonne cnamelwork reached their height in Georgia. Unique articles manu-
factured by eighteenth-century Georgian jewellers were closely related to the national way of life. Georgia
is the country of vine-growing and wine-making. The ceremonies of sharing meals and drinks date back to
the distant past. Indispensable utensils at such ceremonies were silver wine-bowls, jars with twisted mouths
called karkars. large wine-horns in silver facings, trays and cups.
A major role for the development of jewellery in the region was played by Armenian craftsmen who
worked in many Caucasian towns. Yet their makes reflected the influence of other national schools and
12
HIE CAUCASUS
flairs. Masterfully applying many techniques, the jewellers produced varied articles ranging from massive
church utensils to elegant woman's adornments featuring the finest filigree patterns. Interestingly and
originally designed were the indispensible components of the traditional woman’s garments and head-
dresses - headbands with openwork ball pendants decorated with corals, chains with hooks for attaching
head-clothes, massive diadems worked in precious stones, breast pieces consisting of several lines of stamped
or filigree plates shaped as snakes and fish.
Almost in every town of Azerbaijan there was a street, usually not far from the market-place,
accommodating small jewellers' shops offering goldwares for the nobility and gilt, silver and brass articles for
the less affluent. Filigree and stamping were the favourite techniques of Azerbaijanian jewellers. Painted
enamelwork was the speciality of craftsmen of the city of Baku. Azerbaijanian masters turned out a wide
range of woman's adornments: head, temple, neck and breast decorations, earrings, girdles, finger-rings,
bracelets. It was customary for the groom to offer goldwares as presents to the bride. Special significance to
such presents was imparted by ornamental details usually occurring on breast pieces and made into the
forms of star and crescent - the symbols of the Moslem religion and poetic metaphors of beauty and love.
Multinational Daghestan is nowadays referred to as the folk arts reserve. It owes its world-wide
reputation to its goldsmiths whose shops were to be found in many settlements. But especially far-famed
were craftsmen of the auls of Kubachi, Kazi-Kumukh. Gotsatl and Chokh. The word “Kubachi” in Persian
and Turkic means “Gunsmiths’ Town”. It is known that the making of weapons was the chief occupation of
the Kubachi villagers already in the eleventh century. No inferior to them were armourers of the Lakh aul of
Kazi-Kumukh. The goldsmiths of Daghestan were in perfect command of almost all jewellery techniques,
but it was through their masterful application of the engraving, chasing, filigree and granulation methods
that they made such a big name for themselves. Deep engraving blended with niello patterns and gold-
plating, gold chiselling on the ground of bone or horn created beautiful decorative effects. Jeweller's profes-
sional secrets were passed on from fathers to sons. It was said in the Kubachi aul that a man was really bom
when he first took the chisel. Daghestan jewellery strikes one with amazing diversity of forms and
ornamental patterns, the most favourite ones having survived through many generations. Every nationality
and even every aul followed its own traditions and artistic flairs. In some south-western regions of Daghestan
women for centuries wore the same kind of massive cast adornments crafted by local Avar artisans.
There was hardly anything the Daghestan jew'ellers were unable to do, their products ranging from
weapons and household utensils to woman’s adornments of most diverse forms and designations. Archaic
elements prevailed in the design of forehead and temple adornments, earrings and breast-pieces. There
broadly occurred bracelets and finger-rings.
Caucasian jewellers also manufactured sets of adornments for men’s garments. Their general character
was largely defined by the form of the North-Caucasian costume that in the late nineteenth and early
tw entieth centuries was shared by many nationalities of the region. The costume consisted of a long-waisted
CENTRAL ASIA AND KAZAKHSTAN
13
Chircassian coat with breast-pockets for powder eases that were called gazyrs. The silver caps of the gazyrs
were decorated with engraved and niello patterns. An indispensable component of the costume was a leather
belt embellished with silver plates and a buckle and usually supporting a dagger or a sabre.
Nowadays the art of Caucasian jewellers has gained wide popularity throughout the Soviet Union.
Many old crafts have been revived at the newly-built factories. The reputation of Daghestani jewellers has
spread far beyond this country’s boundaries. Woman’s adornments and decorative utensils manufactured by
the Kubachi craftsmen have been turning up successfully at many national and international exhibitions.
Central Asia and Kazakhstan occupy the south and south-eastern areas of the Asian part of the USSR.
The peoples inhabiting the region are much varied in culture and languages, the most numerous of them
being the Uzbeks, the Kazakhs, the Tadjiks, the Turkmen and the Karakalpaks. These nations' territories of
residence, cultural identities and ways of life had taken shape by. approximately, the ninth-twelfth
centuries. In large oases cities sprang up and grew, their residents engaging in various crafts, among which a
distinguished position was held by jewellery and metalworking.
Jewellery articles crafted in Central Asia and Kazakhstan arc numerous and diverse, most of them being
woman’s adornments. Every woman had to have a complete set of adornments that she kept throughout her
lifetime. A popular Turkmen saying held that at the first opportunity a man just acquire a horse for himself
and adornments for women of his family.
Bridal attire was particularly rich in jewels that were regarded not just as safeguards against evil spirits
but also as talismans ensuring the young couple's happiness and well-being.
Images of the sun and the moon that were worshipped as supreme deities, arc clearly visible on many
adornments. In the ancient state of Khorezm that was situated in the Amu-Darya river basin, Turkmen and
Uzbek women wore temple decorations bearing the archaic image of Anakhita - the goddess of water and
fecundity. By popular beliefs the presence of this adornment in the attire of the bride and future mother was
to ensure continuation of the family. In the course of time the decorative qualities of many adornments
gained importance over their religious meaning and jewellers began to try and impart their own aesthetic
sensibilities to the designs.
Adornments were designed to match the general character of traditional dress which in its turn was
largely shaped by essential occupations and national lifestyles. This accounts for dissimilarities between
adornments that occurred with agrarian nations (mainly the Uzbeks and the Tadjiks) and the nomadic ones
(primarily the Kazakhs, the Turkmen, the Kirghiz and partly the Karakalpaks). Uzbek und Tadjik jewellers
predominantly employed the techniques of forging, stamping, gold-plating, granulation, filigree and gem
and glass insets. Some adornments were made up of gilt foil components filled with resin. Others were
embellished with pearl, cornelian and turquoise insets. In Central Asia turquoise was believed to bring
victory in fight and luck in business. Mother-of-pearl was also held in great favour owing to its dull lustre
14
CENTRAL ASIA AND KAZAKHSTAN
reminiscent of moonlight since the moon was the object of worship. Insets featured both imported precious
stones and pieces of coloured glass melted and supplied by local craftsmen. Polychromatic insets enhanced
the brightness and splendour of the adornment and also contributed to blending it with the fibre of silk and
silk mixture fabrics of which the Uzbek and Tadjik woman's dresses were made, and with embroidered
ornamentation decorating these dresses.
Turkmen adornments were designed in characteristically statuesque and laconic manner. Most of them
were silver wares bearing cornelian and nephrite insets and patterned in engraved or stamped ornaments,
nicely set off by thin layer of gilding.
National dresses of the Kazakhs and Kirghiz were designed in restrained colours and combined
pleasantly with the statuesque expressiveness of the jewels that were predominantly made in chiselling,
stamping and granulation techniques. From the second half of the nineteenth century jewellers began to
employ the niello technique.
The Karakalpak jewels were decorated with chased patterns. In Central Asia and Kazakhstan the most
complete sets of jewels were the attribute of bride's attire. A young wife would wear them for a year after
the wedding and put most of them off only with the birth of her first child. Special importance was attached
to headdresses. Originally designed Uzbek and Tadjik headdresses were of two varieties: the bottom part of
the koshitillo headdress followed the line of the brows; the bodom-oye had a moon-shaped foundation
decorated with three almond-shaped figures.
Turkmen women wore hard-framed shawled headdresses made into the shape of a truncated cone and
bearing a wide silver plate at the front. Temple pendants completing the attire were shaped like human
figures. Girls went about in small silverplated domed hats topped with a tube that held feathers of the sacred
eagle-owl and owl.
An ancient bridal headdress of the Kazakhs and Karakalpaks, which survived till late nineteenth
century, was called saukele. It was a solid helmet-shaped hat abundantly garnished with metal plates,
pendants and beads and incorporating a plait adornment falling down the back.
The decorative headdresses of the Uzbeks. Tadjiks and Turkmen included plentiful plait adornments,
like laces braided into the hair and supporting silver medallions and domed tubes.
Earrings of most varied design and made in different techniques, were very fashionable throughout the
region. Women of almost all Central Asian nations wore nose-rings beautified with granulation details and
turquoise insets, or made into the form of a rosette plate with a hook attached to it.
Breast and neck decorations were popular with all nations of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. These
included necklaces, diversely shaped pendants and fibulae attached to clothing. Uzbek and Tadjik women
wore four- or five-threaded necklaces of corals alternating with gilt silver details, the central component
being an amulet-case called turner or tumor. It contained a scroll with invocative prayer or just a pinch of
salt that was believed to have magical protective qualities and bring well-being. A special pendant called
VOLGA REGIONS
15
peshauz contained a toilct-set of brow-tweezers, toothpick, earpick and scent bottle. The peshauz was
attached to the flap of the collar or to the front cut of the dress. In some parts of Turkmenia girls wore massive
neck pieces made up of a hoop bearing a heavy plate with pendants. Clasp-brooches shaped like multi-petal
rosettes occurred all across Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Traditional attire of a rich Kazakh woman incor-
porated a breast piece with sewed-on metal plates. Karakalpak women attached to the breast-cut of their
dresses an adornment consisting of an amulet-case topped with rounded ramhorns, and a hollow semisphcric
pendant supporting chains with bells.
In Central Asia and Kazakhstan bracelets and rings were indispensable components of decorative attire.
Bracelets were usually twins, one for each arm. Originally designed massive silver bracelets of the Turkmen,
arranged in several lines and embellished with cornelian insets were matching the general character and style
of the decorative attire as a whole.
Women wore finger-rings even in very old age. According to beliefs rings “cleaned” woman’s hands of
traces of dirty housework. In many parts of Central Asia and Kazakhstan men also wore different kinds of
finger-rings.
Girdles were accessories of both woman's and man's attire.
A characteristic Uzbek man's adornment called jiga consisted of a needle topped with gilt silver plates
shaped like tulip blossoms and decorated with glass and turquoise insets. Jiga was usually further bedecked
with eagle-owl feathers inserted into the tube-shaped top part.
Saddles and horse’s harness were also lavishly decorated with jewels, which was only natural, since
horses and weapons were not merely marks of their owner’s wealth but also symbols of his glory and dignity.
Very often the horse-cloths were embroidered and plated in gold. Jewellers supplied the nobility with
weapons in gold and silver casings.
Nowadays the outstanding masters of metalworking in Tashkent, Khiva. Bukhara. Samarkand and
Baisun - all traditional jewellery centres of Uzbekistan - carefully follow the traditions of the past trying to
bring them in accord with contemporary flairs and thus making their own contribution to the development of
decorative and applied arts.
The territory of the Central Volga region and the foothills of the Ural mountains were of old shared by
the local Finnish-speaking population and the Turkic-speaking nomads who had been migrating from East
Asia and from western and south-western parts of Eastern Europe. The ethnic, historical and cultural bonds
between the nations of the region largely affected the complex processes of formation of their cultures.
Nowadays the Central Volga region and the foothills of the Urals are populated by several major national-
ities: the Udmurts, the Maries, the Mordvinians, the Chuvashes, the Volga or Kazan Tatars and the Bashkirs.
One of these nationalities' principal ethnic indication was characteristic clothing, particularly woman’s,
its design steadily preserving national distinctions. All the above nationalities made their clothing of home-
16
VOLGA REGIONS
woven white linen embroidered in dark red thread, the only exception being the Tatars and the Bashkirs
who. in the late nineteenth century, mainly used factory-made textiles. Traditional feminine dress was
decorated with varied adornments. The Maries, the Mordvinians, the Udmurts and the Chuvashes embel-
lished their garments with beads, corals, buttons and kauri shells, the latter believed to have powers for
warding off evil spirits. Metals occurred in the decorative attire chiefly in the form of coins that were thickly
sewed on the breast piece - an indispensable component of the dress. The Udmurt and Chuvash girls went
about in small hats embellished with lines of coins alternating with glass beads.
Metalworking was rather under-developed with most of the Central Volga nationalities, primarily as a
result of the royal edict that operated after the seventeenth-century peasants’ revolt under Stepan Razin and
right up through the eighteenth century and by which the non-Russians were prohibited to be engaged in
blacksmithing and silverworking. It was not before the second half of the nineteenth century that Mari handi-
craftsmen started making chains of low-grade silver and different alloys. The Chalomkino village of the
Gomo-Mari district became one of the centres of this craft and a supplier, on a small scale though, of
bracelets and various pendants.
Bashkir jewellers were predominantly engaged in ornamenting w-capons. harnesses and hunting outfits.
Of all the Volga nationalities the most spectacular accomplishments in jewellery-making were scored by
the Tatars who followed the folk craft traditions that had taken shape back in ancient Bulgaria-upon-Volga.
The historical and cultural relationships of the Tatars with the Moslem East on the one hand and with the
East European nations, particularly with the Russians, on the other, were central to the shaping of their
national style of jewellery-making. A major supplier of jewellery goods was Kazan. Since olden times
adornments for the Tatars were manufactured by Russian jewellers of the Rybnaya Sloboda village on the
Kama river. Tatar jewellers preferred to work with silver of varying standards and, less often, with gold. The
makes were usually gilt to achieve greater brightness and expressiveness. Jewellers employed a rather wide
range of techniques, of which the more characteristic one was relief filigree. It differed from openwork or
plated filigree in that every detail of the filigree pattern was slightly raised above surface and had the form
of a miniature conic knob made of the finest wire. Plant motifs of the filigree patterns beautifully set off the
gems that made the whole design particularly colourful and ornamental. Young women had their dresses
made of brightly coloured fabrics that matched pleasantly with the coloration of the jewels.
Tatar jewellery was exceptionally diverse. Particularly fascinating and distinctive were headdresses
consisting of headchains from which pendants hung down to the brows. Headdresses of this type had almost
completely disappeared by the late nineteenth century and are now to be found only in museums. More last-
ing proved to be plait pendants that were braided into woman’s hair and produced jingling sounds when she
walked, which gave currency to a saying that "a Tatar woman first made herself heard and only then seen”.
In great favour with the Tatars were earrings, both openwork and solid. Starting from the nineteenth
century their forms showed affinity with Russian and Central Asian designs. Purely Tatar style of jewellery-
SIBERIA
17
making is featured by the design of necklaces and breast pieces. More characteristic of these was a collar clasp
with pendants. It was made up of the clasp proper to fasten the collar ends, and chains with large plates and
coins hanging down to the breast. Married women were obliged to put on breast-pieces with metal plates
and filigree buttons sewed on the base cloth. Another characteristic decoration was a cloth baldric bearing
sewed-on gemmed plates, coins and shells. It was worn over left shoulder and under right arm, the lower end
sometimes supporting amulets or cases for the Koran. The baldric was usually worn on holidays. The
quantity and quality of embellishments attached to it were indicative of the wearer’s wealth.
Neck decorations included engraved or chased gilt plates made into the lunate shape and garnished
with lines of mounted turquoise and cornelian stones. Women from less affluent families made these adorn-
ments with their own hands, sewing coins, corals and beads on a hard cloth base. These adornments were
worn both on holidays and weekdays.
A widely spread decoration was a necklace consisting of metal chains that supported plate pendants
embellished with mounted gems, coins and openwork buttons. Very fashionable with the Tatars were
brooches that came to replace traditional collar clasps, obviously under the impact of city vogue. Craftsmen
broadly supplied all different plates and fastenings to meet the ever growing demand for these articles. Plates
were arranged in different combinations to create fascinating ornaments. Wide currency had buckles for
belts, camisoles and dresses. Decorative attire of a woman, regardless of her age, incorporated bracelets and
rings. Bracelets were usually worn in pairs, featured chased or engraved ornaments and could be solid,
lamellar or sectional. Rich woman wore filigree bracelets with gem insets. There widely occurred chain
bracelets bearing mounted semi-precious stones.
Both men and women wore rings with plates and mounted gems. It was traditional that a woman
wore two or three rings, and on holidays she would have fingers of both hands literally studded with rings.
This tradition can be traced back to the primitive beliefs in protective qualities of rings. Finger-rings were
often engraved and nielloed. Quite often plates bore engraved dicta from the Koran which were thought
to ensure the wearer’s well-being and successful business.
Original adornments made by jewellers of the region and reflecting the long-standing traditions vied
with the best specimens of folk art of other nations of Russia.
Siberia accounts for over a half of the Soviet Union’s territory and is populated by more than thirty
indigenous nationalities. Some of them, like the Buriats, the Yakuts, the Tuvinians, the Khakas, the
Altaians, arc quite large, others are comparatively small peoples. The formation of their material culture
was to a great extent affected by the natural conditions. Traditional elements prevailed in the design of
household utensils and religious objects. A widespread religion among the Siberian peoples was shamanism
centred around the figure of the shaman who was believed to have supernatural powers for communicating
with protective spirits who, in their turn, held sway over destinies of men. Indispensable attributes of the
(/ • “
IK
SIBERIA
shamanistic rites, besides distinctive garment, were a tambourine and a rattle. The numerous components of
the shaman’s attire always had symbolic meaning and included metal pendants attached to the clothing and
the tambourine. These pendants were usually made into the shapes of birds, animals or human figures.
Metal was chosen to make such pendants because of a special attitude towards this material and belief in its
magic qualities.
From the Buriat and Yakut folk tales one learns that an important role was assigned to the blacksmiths
who crafted shamanic outfits. They were generally held in great respect throughout Siberia and even
rituals were performed in honour of the guardian spirits of the forge and all the instruments therein, the
farrier himself often acting as a shaman.
The territory around Lake Baikal in East Siberia abounded in deposits of iron ore, silver and gold, where-
fore inhabitants of the region were of old engaged in metalworking. Renowned masters of this craft were the
Buriats and the Yakuts who had descended from the ancient inhabitants of these parts. Buriat handicraft
wares were distinguished for astounding variety of techniques and exquisite execution, obviously accounted
for by the age-long national experience. Since olden times Buriat craftsmen employed the techniques of
forging, casting, stamping, engraving, openwork carving, granulation and, starting from the nineteenth
century, also filigree. Depending on the materials they worked with craftsmen were classified into black-
smiths, silversmiths and goldsmiths. The character of the local handicraft goods, including household
utensils, harnesses, weapons, steels, tobacco pipes, shamanic accessories, all kinds of utensils and jewels,
largely stemmed from the national life-styles. Many ammunition pieces, decorated with metal details,
quivers or bow-cases for instance, had fallen into disuse by the nineteenth century and were utilized only to
enact the scenes of kidnapping the bride and fighting for her during traditional wedding ceremonies. Knives,
steels, pipes were indispensable components of national man’s attire. In the past there was a custom among
the Buriats to exchange tobacco pipes in token of friendship and to offer them as presents to guests of
honour. Therefore craftsmen put their entire ability and imagination into the making of these articles. Pipes
were made of wood or horn and usually toned in dark colours to set off silver details.
Traditional woman’s attire of the Buriats incorporated massive silver pendants chased in relief and
strung in corals. Bridal dresses usually featured the fullest sets of jewels. Intricately and originally designed,
bridal headdresses consisted of a fur-edged hat topped with silver cone, and a velvet or silk fillet on a birch-
bark base with sewed-on coral beads. The fillet supported temple decorations of metal plates and corals.
The headdress was complemented with velvet plait ornament bearing silver plates, pendants and chains. The
plait ornament was joined up with breast piece often made into the shape of a massive box or an amulet
medallion for keeping the Buddhist prayer scroll. A curious component of woman’s breast pieces and man's
girdles was an openwork cast pendant carrying a bunch of toilet requisites: a toothpick, ear-pick and
tweezers for removing splinters. Accessories of woman's and man’s garments also included leather belts with
sewed-on engraved silver plates decorated with chiselled patterns and coral insets.
SIBERIA
19
The South Siberian nationalities' preference for corals stemmed from their general attitude towards red
colour as the attribute of joy. fire and the sun. In the nineteenth century great value was set upon large corals
that signified the well-being of the family. The cost of such corals usually equalled that of a yearling calf. In
Khakassia women, having more than one child, usually wore coral earrings. Local handicraftsmen supplied
the less affluent with simple adornments made of low-grade silver, corals, beads and mother-of-pearl buttons.
Women from well-to-do families sported outlandish gold and silver necklaces, bracelets, earrings and finger-
rings. On holidays they usually put on two pairs of earrings taped overhead. The adornments were regarded
as family property and were passed on from generation to generation.
The Yakuts, now inhabiting the territory of North-East Siberia, are one of the region’s major
nationalities. Their provenance can be traced back to the Turkic nomads who at one time came from South
Siberia. This kinship is reflected in both the language and culture of the Yakuts and exemplified by such
indispensable attributes of the nomadic life-style as harnesses and horseman's accoutrements, as well as by
details of the attire and distinct metal adornments produced by local jewellers. Pommels usually featured
chased copper sheets, engraved silver plates and cast onlays. Festive rites and wedding parties invariably
featured various riding events and races in which women also took part. Women’s saddles were particularly
ornamental and usually offered as dowry.
Very fascinating were neck grivnas supporting multitudes of pendants. Right up to the twentieth century
the Yakuts used various types of adornments made of copper or low-grade silver.
It’s interesting to note that metals were chosen by no means at random. The Yakuts set no less value on
copper than on silver. Women wore grivnas over their coats, usually sewed of wide stripes of colourful
cloth and garnished with applique and bead embroideries. Festive and bridal attire incorporated necklaces
and head-bands bedecked with plentiful chains of openwork and engraved plates falling down lavishly on
breast and shoulders. Chains had as many as two hundred and even three hundred links. The production of
such chains required a very high skill and took a lot of time, and consequently cost much, so with the Yakuts
they were a measure of wealth.
Indispensable accessories of both woman's and man's attire were leather belts bearing engraved plates,
small bags, knives, needle-cases and steels.
Contemporary jewellers follow the traditions of fancy metalworking. Chasing generally prevails in
Buriatia. Quite often it is combined with filigree, niello and enamelwork. Modem Siberian handicraft wares
testify to continuity of techniques and styles of metalworking.
20
GLOSSARY
Basma
The process of making a complete relief pattern on metal by forcing, by a blow of a mallet, a punch with the desired
pattern in relief into a metal sheet placed over a corresponding depressed mould. With many nations this process
permitting the making of a number of identical objects was an early method of mass production.
Casting
The process of shaping metal objects by pouring molten metal into a hollow mould which has been made from a model
of the desired article. When the metal hardens the mould is cut away.
Chasing
The most labour consuming method of working metals with the help of a chasing hammer and die. This is a technique
of decorating the front surface of metalware, by indenting it and so raising the design without cutting into it.
Dies or punches
Steel rods with diversely shaped points.
Enamel
A pigment of a vitreous nature composed usually of powdered potash and silica, bound with oil and applied to metals,
glass etc. as a surface decoration by low-temperature firing.
Engraving
The technique of decorating the surface of a metal by incised lines, patterns etc. cut into the surface by means of a
sharply-pointed steel tool (called a burin or graver). The depth of engraving depends on the form of the article and
character of pattern.
Filigree
A type of decoration on metalware made by use of fine wire of gold, salver or copper. The wire was cither affixed
by soldering to a metal base or used with a metal foundation, thus forming an openwork design.
Forging
The oldest method of working metals utilizing the malleability of many metals, including silver and gold . There are
methods of cold and hot forging. The craft process involves the use of anvils and diversely shaped hammers and
coining dies.
Gagat (Gisher)
A variety of jade capable of taking on lovely lustre as a result of polishing.
GLOSSARY
21
Granulation
A method of working gold and silver involving soldering of minute balls on the filigree pattern.
Grivna
Gold or silver neck piece.
Inlaying
The method of decorating bronze or steel wares by inlaying them with silver or gold. The method is based on the ability
of precious metals to fuse with other metals.
Kalachiks
Earrings made into the shape of popular Russian fancy bread called kalach.
Kokoshnik
Ancient headdress worn by married women in the northern regions of Russia.
Niello
An inlay used in decorating in black on silver. The alloy of silver, copper, and lead is powdered and filled into the
grooves of engraved pattern, after which it is heated until it becomes fused in the grooves.
Shamanism
One of the earliest religions professed by the Siberian peoples. The shaman was believed to hair powers for mediating
between spirits and men.
Steels
Iron or steel objects used to obtain fire by striking on stone. Steels were usually carried in special cases attached to the
belt and also containing flint and tinder.
Talisman
Derived from the Arabic taiaim meaning "charm". While amulets were meant to protect against evil powers, talismans
were conceived as magic media capable of affecting the outer world and bringing good fortune.
RUSSIA
BOX. Late 17th century
Russians, Vologda province. Solvychcgodsk
Silver decorated with filigree and painted
on enamel. No. 2304 -1
24
RUSSIA
I he Russian*
I \RRI\GS, 17th century
Russians, Kostroma province
Silver decorated with granulation and chased
ornament; pendants of mother-of-pearl and
glass. No 233-42 '1-2
RUSSIA 25
EARRINGS. 17th century
Russians, Novgorod province
Silver decorated with granulation; pendants
of almandine and cornelian. No. 220- 23/1-2
26
RUSSIA
I he RiKsiun*
EARRINGS. 17th century
Russians. European Russia
Silver decorated with granulation and glass
insets. No. 5818-197/1-2
EARRINGS. 17th century
Russians. European Russia
Chased silver decorated with corals and
pendants of glass. No. 5818-188/1-2
RUSSIA
27
CHUSYEARRINGS. 17th century
Russians, Vologda province, Solvychegodsk
district
Gilt silver with glass insets, decorated with
granulation and chased pattern.
No. 744-56/1-2
28
RUSSIA
The
BUTTONS. 17th- 18th centuries
Russians. European Russia
Filigree silver decorated with gold plating
and granulation: turquoise and glass insets
on button No. 4844-192. Nos. 4844-71, 127,
185. 186. 187. 192; Nos. 5580-131,132.136.
140. 141; No. 5818-217
BODY CHAINS. 18th century
Russians. European Russia
Silver filigree and laccwork. Nos. 2176-4,
3778-2.5818-1,2, 20. 39,41
RUSSIA 29
30
RUSSIA
The Кнчмягь
-»	—И*
RUSSIA
31
EARRINGS. 18th century
Russians, Mogiliov province
Engraved gilt metal with pearls, turquoise and
cut-glass insets. No. 1201-70/1-2
EARRINGS. 18th century
Russians. European Russia
Threaded pearls attached to brass base and
shaped like basket and decorated with cut-glass
insets. No. 5580-75/1-2
EARRINGS. Early 19th century
Russians. Olonets province
Threaded pearls attached to copper base.
No. 7025-2/1-2
52
RUSSIA
The RtisMun-
RUSSIA
33
EARRINGS. 19th century
Russians. Northern Russia
Silver decorated with turquoise and pearl insets.
No. 6771-230/1-2
BREAST PIECE. 19th century
Russians. Northern Russia
Gilt silver decorated with turquoise and pearl
insets. No. 5818-252
FINGER-RING. 19th century
Russians. Northern Russia
Chiselled gold decorated with ruby and
diamond insets. No. 6771 - 268
FINGER-RING. I9thcentury
Russians. Northern Russia
Gilt metal decorated with turquoise, pearl
and red glass insets. No. 5818-316
34
RUSSIA
the Кичмап.
EARRINGS. Late 18th-early 19thcenturies
Russians. Nizhny Novgorod province
Gilt silver decorated with granulation,
engraved and chased pattern and turquoise
insets. Pendants are of aventurine and pearls.
No. 1680-8/1-2
EARRINGS. Late 18th-early 19th centuries
Russians, European Russia
Gilt silver decorated with granulation,
engraving and glass insets. Pendants arc of
almandine and pearls. No. 5818-208/1-2
MEDALLION WITH CHAIN. Late
19th century
Russians, Vologda province
Silver decorated with filigree. No. 288-2
MEDALI.ION WITH CHAIN. 1950
Russians. Kostroma province
Gilt silver decorated with cnamelwork.
No. 6602-12
RUSSIA
35
RUSSIA
The Russian.
NECK PIECE. Late 19th century
Russians. European Russia
Faceted amethysts mounted in gilt silver
chained up with silver necklace. No. 1558-138
NECKLACE. Late 19th century
Russians, European Russia
Faceted garnet and cornelian stones in engraved
silver setting, linked bv silver rings,
No. 6771-258
POWDER FLASK. 19th century
Russians, European Russia
Chased gilt silver decorated with engraved
pattern. No. 3778-1
RUSSIA
37
I HE UKRAINE
The Huz.il.
В RE AST-В UCKLE. 19th century
Huzuls. Eastern Galicia
Chiselled copper decorated with engraved and
fretted pattern. No. 1060 - 79ав
EARRINGS* 19th century
Ukrainians. Chernigov province
Engraved gilt silver decorated with glass insets.
No? 1388-163/1-2
EARRINGS. 19th century
Ukrainians. Kharkov province
Silver filigree decorated with glass insets.
No. 1573-154/1-2
EARRINGS. 19th century
Ukrainians, Yekatcrinoslavl province
Silver decorated with engraved pattern and glass
insets. No. 2908-26/1-2
EARRINGS. 19th century
Ukrainians, Yekatcrinoslavl province
Silver decorated with fretwork and engraved
pattern. No. 2908-27/1-2
THE UKRAINE
59
40
THE UKRAINE
The Ukrainian-
THE UKRAINE
41
BREAST PIECE. I .ate 19th century
Ukrainians. Yekatcrinoslavl province
Coloured glass and gilt silver decorated with
turquoise insets and coins. No. 1726-75
DUKACH BREAST PIECE. 19th century
Ukrainians, Kursk province
Gilt silver decorated with coloured glass
and turquoise insets. No. 2408-37
DUKACH BREAST PIECE. 19th century
Ukrainians, Kharkov province
Engraved silver with turquoise insets.
No. 1573-152
42
BALTIC REGIONS
The 1лЫм»
SAKTA BLICKLES FOR FASTENING
SHOULDER CLOAK. 18th century
Latvians, Vidzeme
Silver decorated with chased and engraved
ornament. No. 8738—2,1
-оипч-Setu
BALTIC REGIONS
43
WOMAN'S BREAST-BUCKLE. 1871
Estonians-Sctu, Estland province
Silver decorated with engraved and chased
ornament. No. 10211-4
44
BALTIC REGIONS
ТЫ Estonians-Sria



- -auns-Sctu
BALTIC REGIONS
45
CHAINLET WITH PENDANTS. 19th century
Estonians-Setu, Estland province
Silver decorated with fretted and engraved
ornament. No. 6697-56
BREAST PENDANTS. 19th century
Estonians-Sctu, Estland province
Cast silver decorated with engraving.
No. 6697-16/1-2
BREAST PENDANT. 19th century
Estonians-Setu, Estland province
Cast silver decorated with engraving.
No. 6697-147
46
BALTIC REGIONS
I lie Estonians-Sct«
CHAINLET WITH PENDANT. 19th century
Estonians-Setu. Estland province
Silver decorated with engraved ornament
on intricately bound chainlet. No. 6697-36
FESTIVE NECKLACE. I9ih century
Estonians-Setu, Estland province
Silver decorated with chased and engraved
ornament. No. 6697-6
> an** Seta
BALTIC REGIONS
47
BALTIC REGIONS
The Estonians-Setu
; .tunians
BALTIC REGIONS
49
WOMAN’S NECK DECORATION.
Early 20th century
Estonians-Setu, Estland province
Chained up silver coins. No. 10104-25
PENDANT, RING, EARRINGS AND
BRACELET. 1970
By Kiitt Oie
Estonians. Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic
Nielloed silver decorated with alexandrite
insels. No. 7948-21,7948-22, 7948-20/1-2,
7948-23
50
BALTIC REGIONS
The l.ithuunu»-
BALTIC REGIONS
51
- - мл R-RING: MORNING
rtier Yankauskitc
- cantons. Lithuanian Soviet Socialist
‘'lie. Klaipeda
decorated with chiselling, granulation.
>n filigree and amber inset.
- чгО93-14
RING. IQ78
Titter Rozmaite
mans, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist
- ч Klaipeda
decorated with amber inset, and
•rk rim with spiral ornament.
U49J-15
BRACELET. 1973
By master Krikshtonavichene
Lithuanians. Lithuanian Soviet Socialist
Republic, Vilnius
Metal decorated with filigree, granulation and
amber insets. No. 8333-26
NECKLACE. 1983
By Vilhehnina Kurklcticnc
Lithuanians, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist
Republic, Vilnius
Metal decorated with filigree, granulation and
amber insets. No. 10556-2
NECKLACE. 1973
By Kazimicras Budraitis
Lithuanians. Lithuanian Soviet Socialist
Republic, Vilnius
Metal decorated with amber insets.
No. 8333-15
NECKLACE. 1976
By A.Dubovikiene
Lithuanians. Lithuanian Soviet Socialist
Republic, Vilnius
Metal decorated with filigree, amber insets.
No. 8566-4
52
THE CAUCASUS
The Lakha
THE CAUCASUS
53
BRIDAL DRESS. Ute 19th—early
20th centuries
Lakhs, Daghestan, village of Balkhar
Silk with silver and non-precious gilt metal
adornments, decorated with filigree,
granulation, niello, chiselled and engraved
patterns. No. 7836-1
WOMAN’S BREAST PIECE. Late
19th century
Lakhs. Daghestan, village of Kazi-Kumukh
Chased silver decorated with imitation filigree
and granulation, polychromatic glass insets and
pendants of coins. No. 8270-1
•»*«***
ГЫ I МН
THE CAUCASUS
55
56
THE CAUCASUS
IbeUUi
rw I Mb
THE CAUCASUS
57
THE CAUCASUS
I he kabscte
FLINTLOCK PISTOLS. 19th century
Lakhs, Daghestan, village of Kazi-Kumukh
Metal, leather and gilt silver decorated with
niello, chasing, engraving and gold fretwork.
No, 5181-15.5208-1
BRACELETS. Late 19th early 20th centuries
Kubachis, Daghestan, village of Kubachi
Twisted silver decorated with niello.
No. 8437-3. 4
SHEATHED DAGGER AND I IS DETAIL.
19th century
Kubachis, Daghestan, village of Kubachi
Dagger of steel; sheath (base materials -
wood and cloth) and handle bear silver plates
decorated with niello, bone insets with
ornamental carving and gold inlay.
No. 218авт
TV kab« hi\
THE CAUCASUS
59
60
THE CAUCASUS
Ihc \c*
rw Kuhitchis
THE CAUCASUS
61
WOMAN S BREAST-BUCKLE. Late
19th-carly 20th centuries
Aguls, Daghestan
Engraved and chiselled silver decorated with
niello; pendants of coins. No. 7870-28ae
BRACELET. Late 19th-early 20th centuries
Kubachis, Daghestan, village of Kubachi
Gold-plated silver decorated with minute gold
granulation, turquoise and almandine insets.
No. 3107-7
BRACELET. 19th century
Kubachis, Daghestan, village of Kubachi
Gill silver decorated with filigree, granulation,
almandine and turquoise insets. No. 215т
62
THE CAUCASUS
I he K>h«te
ГЬе Kubachis
THE CAUCASUS
63
WOMAN'S BREAST PENDANT. 1923
Kubachis. Daghestan Autonomous Soviet
Socialist Republic, village of Kubachi
Silver decorated with engraving and niello;
pendants of corals and coins on chainlets.
No. 8683-4
BREAST DECORATION AND BRACELET.
1975
Kubachis, Daghestan Autonomous Soviet
Socialist Republic, village of Kubachi
Gilt silver decorated with enamclwork.
engraving and granulation. No. 8438-1, 2
64
THE CAUCASUS
I he КиЬмШ
w kubadm
THE CAUCASUS
65
DECANTER. 1969
Kubachis. Daghestan Autonomous Soviet
Socialist Republic, village of Kubachi
Silver decorated with engraving and niello.
No. 7918-4ав
SUGAR-BASINS. 1975
Kubachis. Daghestan Autonomous Soviet
Socialist Republic, village of Kubachi
Gilt silver decorated with engraving and niello.
No. 6916-Зав. 8511-5ав
66 THE CAUCASUS
HEADDRESS PENDANTS. 19th century
Avars. Daghestan
Silver decorated with granulation, imitation
filigree and insets of coloured glass.
No. 501-9/1-2
DRESS FASTENING. 19th century
Avars. Daghestan
Engraved gilt silver decorated with niello and
turquoise insets. No. 2262-8ав
THE CAUCASUS
67
THE CAUCASUS
I he Mr
THE CAUCASUS
69
WOMAN’S BREAST-BUCKLE. 19th century
Avars. Daghestan
Engraved, decorated with silver, niello.
No. 7422-4ae
EARRINGS. Early 20th century
Avars. Daghestan
Engraved silver decorated with niello and paste
insets. No. 7422-32/1-2
THE CAUCASUS
I he Vjm
HEADDRESS DECORATION. 19th century
Avars, Daghestan
Silver decorated with niello, granulation, gilt
filigree onlays and turquoise insets.
No. 2262-1
APRON BREAST PIECE. Early 20th century
Avars, Daghestan
Coins and gilt silver, decorated with plated
filigree granulation, cnamclwork, chased
pattern imitating filigree and polychromatic
glass insets. No. 6992-4
THE CAUCASUS
7|

72
THE CAUCASUS
Ihc
THE CAUCASUS
73
BELT PENDANT. Early 20th century
Adighes. Kutaisi
Gilt silver decorated with filigree and
granulation. No. 4915-23
MAN’S BELT WITH COINS. Late 19th-
carly 20th centuries
Avars. Daghestan
Leather, silver and engraved brass, decorated
with niello and granulation; pendants of coins
of varied values. No. 10458-4
74
THE CAUCASUS
Ни К-in—
TEMPLE DECORATIONS. I ale I 9th-
early 20th centuries
Karalins. Daghestan
Silver decorated with engraved ornament «£
niello. No. 2034 -483/1 - 2:489/1 • 2
WOMAN’S BREAST DECORATIONS
SEWN ON DRESS AND A CUFF
BRACELET FOR THE DRESS. Late I' - -
early 20th centuries
Karachais. Kuban district
Silver decorated with filigree and granuUir*
imitations, and niello. Nos. 7291-11:
7291-9/1-2
Kmchais
CISCAUCASIA
75
76
THE CAUCASUS
Ibr
V к »h antin'.
THE CAUCASUS
77
WOMAN’S HAT. Laic )9th-carly
20th centuries
Kabardins, Northern Caucasus
l-accd velvet decorated with gilt silver details,
filigree, niello and granulation. No. 4453-11
GALOSHES - WOMAN’S FOOTWEAR.
Late 19th-early 20th centuries
Kabardins, Northern Caucasus
Wood in velvet coating decorated with gilt
silver onlays, niello and engraving.
No. 4453-19/1-2
THE CAUCASUS
I hr
WOMAN’S BELT. I ate 19th-early
20th centuries
Kabardins, Northern Caucasus
Laced girdle with gilt silver buckle, decorated
with plated filigree, granulation and turquoise
insets. No. 4453-18
DIADEM. 19th century
Armenians. Turkish Armenia
Silver decorated with stamped pattern, filigree,
granulation and coloured glass insets.
No.3737-190
»- \rmeniaiks
THE CAUCASUS
но
THE CAUCASUS
Пк‘ Апвгжии
tnncniam
THE CAUCASUS
81
TEMPLE DECORATIONS. Late I9thccntury
Armenians. Armenia
Silver decorated with soldered filigree,
granulation and coloured glass insets.
No. 866-1/1-2
EARRING. Nth century
Armenians, Armenia
Gill silver filigree decorated with granulation.
No, 3598-39
EARRINGS. Nth century
Armenians. Transcaucasia
Gilt silver filigree. No. 3208-7/1-2
82
THE CAUCASUS
I hr Ai
FINGER-RING. Early 20th century
Armenians. Armenia
Gilt silver decorated with filigree, granulation,
pearls and coloured glass insets. No. 3085-1
UNGER-RING. 19th century
Armenians, Armenia. Akhaltsikhe
Gold decorated with filigree, granulation, pearls,
almandine and turquoise insets. No. 3598-32
rw Armenian*
THE CAUCASUS
КЗ
NECKLACE. 19th century
Armenians. Armenia. Akhahsikhe
Stamped gold decorated with fretwork and
engraved ornament, with emerald, ruby and
coloured glass insets. No 3598-31
К4
THE CAUCASUS
lhe Vrmtwe
BRACELET. 1961
By Albert Simonian
Armenians. Armenian Soviet Socialist
Republic, Yerevan
Silver decorated with engraving and plated
filigree. No. 7383-7
BRACELET. 1959
Armenians. Armenian Soviet Socialist
Republic, Yerevan
Silver, decorated with filigree and granulation.
No. 7169-3
Т>е Чппгпшп*
THE CAUCASUS
85
DECORATIVE SET: BRACELET.
FINGER-RING, EARRINGS. 1969
By Zhirair E.Chuloyan
Armenians, Armenian Soviet Socialist
Republic. Yerevan
Silver decorated with filigree, granulation and
red glass insets. No. 7967-1.23/1-2
THE CAUCASUS
The \ rm i мм
Tte 4лмпкат
THE CAUCASUS
87
» U1 PL ATE. 1956
-	• Karo Abojan
-	- - -vans. Armenian Soviet Socialist
: г>-Нк. Yerevan
decorated with filigree and
.atxm. No. 6925-41
• QM 4 VS BREAST PIECE. 1978
 Aobert Ycsayan
• — . - ans, Armenian Soviet Socialist
1 Yerevan
decorated with filigree, granulation
-/ ..hire insets. Pendants ofcoral.
ч -чМ-38
THE CAUCASUS
I he Kt>r<k-> nrt
W OMAN'S NOSE-RING. 1930s - 1940s
Kurds-Yezidi, Armenian Soviet Socialist
Republic
Gilt silver decorated with granulation and
turquoise inset. No. 10307-16
EARRINGS. 19th century
Kurds, Azerbaijan
Silver filigree decorated with niello and corals.
Pendants of coins on chainlets. No. 1092 -3/1-2
THE CAUCASUS
89
90
THE CAUCASUS
Г ib
THE CAUCASUS
91
BRACELET WITH FOUR RINGS AND
A THIMBLE. 19th century
Tats. Baku province
Silver decorated with engraving, niello and glass
insets. Pendants of coins. No. 1735-45
WOMAN'S BELT. Late 19th-early
20th centuries
Tats. Baku province
Gilt silver decorated with filigree, granulation
and turquoise insets. No. 10522-1
THE CAUCASUS
WOMAN S BREAST DECORATION.
19th century
Tats. Baku province
Silver decorated with soldered filigree,
granulation, cornelian and coloured glass insets.
No. 1735-43
rhiqanian»
THE CAUCASUS
95
EARRINGS. Late 19th-early 20th centuries
Azerbaijanians, Azerbaijan
Gold filigree. No. 9949-1/1-2
94
THE CAUCASUS
I he
EARRINGS. Early 2()th century
Azerbaijanians. Baku
Stamped gold decorated with pendants of pearl.
No. 3121-8/1-2
Чн \ zcrhnijunians
THE CAUCASUS
95
WOMAN S HEADDRESS. 1959
By Gasan Kuliyev and Geidar Ashumov
Azerbaijanians. Azerbaijanian Soviet Socialist
Republic. Baku
Gilt silver decorated with stamped pattern with
imitation turquoise insets and pendants of
imitation pearl. No. 7159-1
% THE CAUCASUS
The
BRACELETS. 1940
/\zerbaijanians, Azerbaijanian Soviet Socialist
Republic, Baku
Gilt silver filigree, decorated with granulation.
Nos. I4«T. 149T
w K/erfutjaniatB
THE CAUCASUS
97
EARRINGS. 1940
Azerbaijanians, Azerbaijanian Soviet Sodalist
Republic. Baku
Gilt silver filigree with a pendant of glass bead.
No. 155/1-2т
9Я
THECAUCASUS
TRAY WITH WEDDING SCENE.
Mid-19th century
By master Mamuloshvili
Georgians, Tbilisi
Silver decorated with chased pattern.
No 6997-13

THF. CAUCASUS
9<>
100 THE CAUCASUS

WINE FLASK. Late 19th century
Georgians. Tiflis province
Wood decorated with nielloed silver wit»
engraved and chased ornaments. No, 2
WINE FLASKS. Late 19th-early
20th centuries
Caucasus
Coconut and engraved and chased silver
No. 2063-1, 302т
THE CAUCASUS
101
102
'ГНЕ CAUCASUS
I he КЫ»
FLINTLOCK PISTOL. 19th century
Abkhas, Abkhasia. Kutaisi province
Metal and chased gilt silver with niello and gold
inlay. No. 1247-46
'*« ЧЬкИжч
THE CAUCASUS
103

КМ
THE CAUCASUS
lhe
' .ruffian*
THE CAUCASUS
105
WOMAN’S BELT-BUCKLE. Late
19th century
Georgians. Tiflis province
Gill silver decorated with filigree fretwork,
granulation, chased pattern and glass insets.
No. 6061-17ав
CIGARETTE CASE. 1930s
Georgians. Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Tbilisi
Silver with filigree. No. 6228-20
THE CAUCASUS
WINE SCOOP. Late 19th-early 20th centuries
Georgians, Caucasus
Chased silver decorated with niello.
No. 6702 -58
' coqttal»
ГНЕ CAUCASUS
107
WINE HORN. 1955
By Manaba Magomedova
Georgians, Tbilisi
Horn and engraved silver with niello.
No. 686X-I6

юн
TOE CAUCASUS
Пм А<
I Ъс Кв»пм«
THE CAUCASUS МИ»
CHAIN WITH AMULETS. Late 19th century
Adzharians. Batumi district
Gilt silver, decorated with coral insets,
granulation, chased pattern imitating minute
filigree. No. 1820-18
EARRINGS. Early 20th century
Assyrians, Turkish Armenia, town of Van
Silver, decorated with plated filigree
granulation, glass insets imitating turquoise.
No. 3736-61/1-2
110
CENTRAL ASIA
PLAIT PENDANTS. 19th century
Uzbeks, Khorezm
Gilt silver, decorated with stamped ora
and turquoise; pendants of corals. No.
NOSE-RING. 19th century
Uzbeks. Old Bukhara
Gold, decorated with granulation, erne
turmalines and pearls. No. 20-182
NOSE-RING. 19th century
Uzbeks, Old Bukhara
Gill silver, decorated with granulation,
turquoise insets and pearl pendants. No. 2ft
TEMPLE DECORATIONS. l9lhcen;a-«
Uzbeks. Bukhara
Silver, decorated with soldered filigree sad
granulation, glass and turquoise insets,
pendants ofcorals and mother-of-pearl
No. 531/1-2T
Ite t'sbrks
CENTRAL ASIA
111
112
CENTRAL ASIA
Tkl
I zln-кч
CENTRAL ASIA
113
SHEATHED DAGGER. 19th century
Uzbeks, Bukhara
Steel dagger in sheath, which bears stamped
gold plating, filigree, granulation, insets of
polished and faceted emerald and turquoise.
No. 4467-1ав
SHEA HIED DAGGER. 19th century
Uzbeks. Bukhara
Steel dagger with nephrite handle which bears
carved ornament; sheath plated in stamped gold
and decorated with filigree, granulation, ruby,
emerald and pearl insets.
No. 4467- 2au
FIGHTING AXE. 19th century
Uzbeks. Bukhara
Steel axe with gold chiselling, wooden handle
decorated with gilt silver plating, stamped
ornament and turquoise insets. No. 4467-5
MAVS BEIT. 19th century
Uzbeks, Bukhara
Velvet embroidered in gold threads; attached
to the belt are gold and silver plates bearing
turquoise, emerald and ruby insets. No. 4467-9
114
CENTRAL ASIA
I »Ьек*
CENTRAL ASIA
115
JIGA - DECORATION EOR BRIDE-
GROOM'S HEADDRESS. 19th century
Uzbeks, Bukhara
Gilt silver, decorated with stamped ornament,
turquoise insets, and coral and glass pendants.
No. 52IT
WOMAN’S TEMPLE DECORATIONS.
19th century
Uzbeks, Khorezm
Gilt silver decorated with stamped pattern,
filigree, granulation, glass and turquoise insets;
pendants of corah. No. 540/1 - 2T
116
CENTRAL ASIA
TbtL^i
BREAST PENDANT. 19th century
Uzbeks, Bukhara
Silver decorated with turquoise and glass
insets; pendants of balls of granulation and
corals on chainlets. No. 242—11
- libeb
CENTRAL ASIA
117
DIADEM. 19th century
Uzbeks. Bukhara
Gilt silver decorated with ornamental fretwork,
chased pattern, soldered filigree, granulation,
turquoise, coral and glass insets; woolen
lacework. No. 4651-2
ПК CENTRAL ASIA
TUMAR PRAYER SCROLL CASE.
19th century
Uzbeks. Khiva
Silver decorated with turquoise and glass insets,
imitations of filigree and granulation.
No. 6513-2
TUMORS PRAYER SCROLL CASES.
Late 19th century
Tadjiks. Samarkand
Silver, decorated with stamped ornament and
fretwork, pendants of corals and coins on
chainlets. No. 240-11/1-2
TV 1 ><t)ib
CENTRAL ASIA 119
120
CENTRAL ASIA
ТЫ 11
GIRI ’S HEADDRESS. Late 19th century
Tadjiks, Samarkand
Gilt silver, decorated with stamped ornament,
coral, turquoise and glass insets and feathers.
No. 240-44
ГЧ< 1 »djik*
CENTRAL ASIA
121
NECKLACE. 1947-49
Tadjiks. Tadjik Soviet Socialist Republic.
Leninabad
Silver decorated with stamped ornament,
soldered filigree, glass and turquoise insets;
chainlets of corals and mothcr-of-pcarl.
No. 7727-15
122
CENTRAL ASIA
EARRINGS. Late 19th century
Tadjiks, East Bukhara
Gilt silver decorated with stamped ornament
and turquoise insets; pendants ofcorals.
No. 604/1—2T
WOMAN’S PLAIT DECORATION.
19 th century
Kirghiz. Kirghizia
Silver, decorated with engraving, and niello:
Coral bead. No. 638т
•w Kirthi/
CENTRAL ASIA
123
124
CENTRAL ASIA
EARRINGS. Ude 19th century
Kirghiz, Kirghizia
Silver decorated with granulation and coral
insets. No 7096-6/1-2
EARRINGS. Late 19th century
Kirghiz, Northern Kirghizia
Silver decorated with filigree, granulation and
stamped ornament; coral pendants and insets.
No. 8666—8ав
>и Kirghiz
CENTRAL ASIA
125
126
CENTRAL ASIA
WOMAN’S FINGER-RING. Late
19th century
Kazakhs. Semipalatinsk district
Silver, decorated with granulation, cornelian
and turquoise insets. No. 1062-53
MAN’S FINGER-RING. Late 19th century
Kazakhs, Semipalatinsk district
Silver decorated with granulation and filigree
imitations and glass insets. No. 678т
(be Kazakh*
CENTRAL ASIA
127
BRACELETS. Early 20th century
Kazakhs. Semipalatinsk
Silver decorated with chasing, engraving and
niello. No. 620/1-2т
128
CENTRAL ASIA
WOMAN’S EARRINGS. 19th century
Karakalpaks. Turkestan General Governorship,
Amu-Darya department
Silver decorated with stamped ornament,
granulation, turquoise insets and coral
pendants. No. 7128-150/1-2
GIRL S BREAST DECORATION.
Late 19th century
By master Ashambek
Karakalpaks, Turkestan General Governorship.
Amu-Darya department
Gilt silver decorated with engraving, filigree,
turquoise insets and coral pendants.
No. 7128-185
I be Karakalpaks
CENTRAL ASIA
129
150
CENTRAL ASIA
TUMAR PRAYER SCROLL CASE.
19th century
Karakalpaks, Turkestan General Governorship,
Amu-Darya department
Gilt silver decorated with chasing, granulation
and filigree imitations, cornelian insets, one of
which bears hand-made ornamental inscription:
sides bear turquoise insets. No. 691т
Ibr Karakalpaks
CENTRAL ASIA
131
BREAST DECORATION. Late 19th century
Karakalpaks. Turkestan General Governorship,
Amu-Darya department
Gilt silver decorated with engraving, filigree,
granulation, cornelian and turquoise insets;
pendants of corals. No. 688т
132
CENTRAL ASIA
GIRL’S FESTIVE DRESS DECORATOR
Late 19th century
By master Ashambek
Karakalpaks. Turkestan General Govemoefd
Amu-Darya department
Gilt silver decorated with engraving, chass-x.
soldered filigree and turquoise insets; top
pendants made of silver and worked in confe
No. 7128-198
WOMAN'S BREAST DECORATION.
18th-19th centuries
Turkmen, Transcaspian district
Gilt silver decorated with ornamental fretwcwK
soldered on filigree, cornelian and nephrite
insets; woolen lace. No. 10411-19
•« lurimvn
CENTRAL ASIA
133
134
CENTRAL ASIA
Flic Islaa
1Ъс lurkmen
CENTRAL ASIA
135
TUMAR BREAST AML LET-CASE.
18 th-19th centuries
Turkmen. Transcaspian district
Silver decorated with stamped ornament,
cornelian and nephrite insets; wooden cover,
woolen lace. No. 10411-20
AMI LET-CASE (WOMAN’S BREAST
DECORATION). 19th century
Turkmen, Transcaspian district
Gilt silver decorated with ornamental fretwork
and engraving, filigree and nephrite insets.
No. 10516-20
156
CENTRAL ASIA
Пи-Ti
I orkmen
CENTRAL ASIA
137
WOMAN'S BREAST DECORATION.
Late 19th century
Turkmen. Transcaspian district
Gilt silver decorated with fretwork ornament,
engraving, niello and cornelian insets.
No. 6847-2
AMULET (WOM AN’S DECOR ATION).
Late 19th century
Turkmen. Transcaspian district
Gilt silver decorated with ornamental fretwork
and engraving, cornelian and nephrite insets.
No. 10516-23
138
CENTRAL ASIA
WOMAN'S TEMPLE RINGS. Late
19th century
Turkmen, Transcaspian district
Silver decorated with ornamental fretwork,
stamped and filigree patterns, and cornelian
insets in the middle. No. 10516/1-2
COLLAR CLASP FOR WOMAN’S DRESS
Turkmen. Transcaspian district
Silver, decorated with stamped ornament and
coloured glass insets. No. 667т
COLLAR CLASP FOR WOMAN’S DRESS.
1957
Turkmen, Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic,
Nebit Dag
Gilt silver with stamped ornament, decorated
with glass insets. No. 7108-22
I h<- l urk men
CENTRAL ASIA
139
140
CENTRAL ASIA
ТЫ X
WOMAN’S FINGER-RINGS. Early
20th century
Turkmen. Transcaspian district
Gilt silver decorated with engraving,
imitation filigree, cornelian and turquoise insets.
No. 10516-17. 18
ENDS OF TEMPI E DECORATIONS. I92IK
Turkmen. Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
Silver decorated with cornelian and glass insets;
silk tassels. No. 7448- 3’1-2
I h« I urimcn
CENTRAL ASIA
141
142
CENTRAL ASIA
The Tatars
VOLGA REGIONS
143
WOMAN’S PLAIT DECORATION.
1940s-50s
Turkmen. Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
Gilt silver decorated with engraving, glass and
cornelian insets. No. 7751-3
BALDRIC (BREAST DECORATION).
19th century
Tatars, Kazan
Gilt silver decorated with filigree and amethyst,
topaz, turquoise and glass insets and pendants:
silk ribbons. No. 1415—7
144
VOLGA REGIONS
NECK DECORATION. Ute 19th-
early 20th centuries
Tatars. Kazan province
Gold-plated metal, decorated with chasing,
engraving, cornelian, glass and false turquoise
insets. No. 25405т
PLAIT PENDANTS. 19th century
Tatars. Kazan
Gilt silver decorated with filigree, granulation,
cornelian and turquoise insets and coin
pendants. No. 3281-30,33
I he Tatar»
VOLGA REGIONS
VOLGA REGIONS
GIRLS FOREHEAD DECORATION.
1 9th century
Tatars. Kazan
Gilt silver decorated with filigree and turquoise
and glass insets. No. 3100-13
COLLAR CLASP WITH PENDANTS.
19th century
Tatars. Kazan province
Gilt fdigrcc silver decorated with turquoise.
malachite and glass insets. No. 800
I he Tatяп
VOLGA REGIONS
147
14Я
VOLGA REGIONS
EARRINGS. 19th century
Tatars, Kazan
Gilt silver decorated with filigree, turquoise
and glass insets. No. 5221-23/1-2
BREAST PLATE. Mid-19th century
Tatars. Kazan
Gilt silver decorated with filigree, turquoise
and glass insets. No. 5539-25
BREAST PLATE. Mid- 19th century
Tatars, Kazan province
Gilt silver decorated with filigree, topaz,
turquoise and glass insets. No. 868т
BREAST PLATE. Mid-19th century
Tatars, Kazan province
Gilt silver decorated with filigree, agate and
turquoise insets and coin pendants. No. 828т
I he Tatar»
VOLGA REGIONS
149
150
VOLGA REGIONS
BALDRIC (BREAST DECORATION).
19th century
Tatars. Kazan province
Galoon bearing sewed-on gilt filigree silver
plates with cornelian, agate, glass and turquoise
insets. No. 788т
BREAST PLATE (MARRIED WOMAN’S
DECORATION). Mid-19th century
Tatars, Kazan province
Silk and galoon stripes bearing sewed-on silver
pieces, decorated with filigree, gold-plating,
engraving and glass, cornelian, turquoise and
coral insets. No. 787т
lh<- Talim
VOLGA REGIONS
151
152
VOLGA REGIONS

EARRINGS. Laie 19th century
Tatars. Kazan
Gilt silver decorated with turquoise and glass
insets. No. 1178-13/1-2
EARRINGS. Late 19th century
Tatars. Kazan province
Silver decorated with amethyst, turquoise and
glass insets. No. 937/1-2
EARRINGS. Late 19th century
Tatars. Kazan province
Gill silver decorated with ornamental fretwork
and glass insets. No. 1066-15/1-2
I he Tatars
VOLGA REGIONS
153
BRACELET. 19th century
Tatars. Kazan province
Silver decorated with filigree, granulation and
cornelian and turquoise insets. No. 360-12
BRACELET. Early 20th century
Tatars. Kazan province
Silver decorated with engraving and niello.
No. 1152т
BRACELET. Late 19th century
Tatars. Kazan
Silver, decorated with malachite insets.
No. 3281-40
BRACELET. 19th century
Tatars, Kazan province
Gilt filigree silver decorated with turquoise
insets. No. 5539-6
IM
VOLGA REGIONS
I he Bashkir*
VOLGA REGIONS
155
WOMAN’S FESTIVE ADORNMENT
(carrings linked up with necklace). 1920s
Udmurts, Viatka province
Silver decorated with stamped ornament and
imitation granulation; pendants of coins and
glass heads on chainlets. No. 7816-6
BRACELET. 19th century
Bashkirs, Perm province
Silver decorated with stamped ornament.
No. 1002-43
BRACELETS. 1951
By Mukhametkeldin Khataisi
Bashkirs. Bashkir Autonomous Soviet
Socialist Republic
Silver decorated with engraved ornament.
No. 7082-14/1-2
156
VOLGA REGIONS
FESTIVE BREAST DECORATION (attached
to collar of the shirt). Early 20th century
Mordvinian-Moksha. Tambov province
Copper decorated with stamped ornament,
framed in glass beads and silver coins.
No. 7330-18

Hu- Mordvinian-MoUhH
VOLGA REGIONS
157
FESTIVE BREAST DECORATION
(attached to collar of the shirt). Early
20th century
Mordvinian-Moksha. Penza province
Copper decorated with engraved ornament,
framed in paste beads and silver coins;
pendants of shells strung on horse hair, ends
bearing copper bells. No. 753т
158
SIBERIA
EARRINGS. Late 19th century
Yakuts, Yakut region
Silver decorated with engraved ornament.
No. 1203-25/1-2
EARRINGS. 19th century
Yakuts. Yakut region
Silver decorated with engraved ornament.
No. 437-18/1-2
BACK-PIECE FOR YAKUT BRID AL
DRESS (detail). 19th century
Yakuts. Yakut region
Silver decorated with engraved and fretted
ornament, leather embroidered in beads and
glass beads. No. 1203-19
Пм* Yakub
SIBERIA
16(1
SIBERIA
I be
The Yakats
SIBERIA
161
GRIVNA (BRIDAL DECORATION). IH72
Yakuts, Yakut region
Silver decorated with engraved and chased
ornament. No. 1459-14
GRIVNA NECK DECORATION.
19th century
Yakuts, Irkutsk
Silver decorated with engraved and chased
ornament; pendants of ornamental fretwork
plates and glass beads suspended on chainlets.
No. 313-6
162
SIBERIA
ТЫ
EARRINGS. Late 19th century
Khakas. Yenisei province
Silver with coral and coin pendants
No. 664-101/1-2
WOMAN'S UNGER-RING. Late
19th century
Khakas, Yenisei province
Silver decorated with engraved omamnt 
coral inset. No. 664-96
WOMAN’S FINGER-RING. 1920s
Khakas. Krasnoyarsk territory, Abakan
Silver decorated with engraved omamert 
coral inset. No. 7424-8
PLAIT PENDANTS. 19th century
Buriats. Irkutsk province
Silver decorated with chased ornament аде
coral pendants. No. 4039-56/1-2
I he Khaki»». I he KurwK
SIBFRIA
165
164 SIBERIA
The Burials
SIBERIA
165
STEELS. 19th century
Buriats. Irkutsk province
Silver decorated with stamped ornament, and
malachite and coral insets; leather; metallic
bottom part. No. 372т
STEELS. 19th century
Buriats. Irkutsk province
Metal, with silver plates, decorated with
stamped and chased ornament and coral insets;
silk braid. No. 37It
KNIFE IN BONE SHEATH. 19th century
Buriats. Irkutsk province
Steel knife with horn handle in bone sheath
coloured in green; handle and sheath bear
chased silver ornament, galoon baldric. No. 393
IM.

Tbe Buriats
SIBERIA
167
WOMAN’S PIPE. 1959
By Uladai Mayorov
Buriat». Buriat Autonomous Soviet Socialist
Republic
Silver and birch-tree burr, with silver and
plastic inlays. Plastic mouth-piece. No. 7197-7
MAN’S PIPE. Early 2(Hh century
Buriats. Irkutsk province
Silver and copper decorated with engraving,
and painted wood.
No. 7197-6
RING, BREAST PIECE. BRACELET. 1981
By Maxim Erdyneycv
Buriats. Buriat Autonomous Soviet Socialist
Republic. Ulan-Udch
Silver decorated with engraving, filigree,
granulation and coral insets. No. 10281—2,3.4
ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ МУЗЕЙ ЭТНОГРАФИИ
НАРОДОВ СССР
ЮВЕЛИРНЫЕ ИЗДЕЛИЯ
Альбом (на английском языке)
Издательство ..Аврора". Ленинград. 1988
Изд. № 1316. (5-40)
Printed and bound in the German Democratic Republic
ISBN 5-7ЛОО-41235