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Jewellery as an art form originated as an expression of human culture. Body ornamentation, one purpose of jewellery, has been known since at least the Stone Age. [1] The history of jewellery in Ukraine reflects the influence of many cultures and peoples who have occupied the territory in the past and present.
The first known jewellery from the territory that is now Ukraine dates back to the Mousterian period (Old Stone Age). It is represented by two bracelets made of Mammoth ivory, decorated with the earliest known[ citation needed ] meander ornamentation, and a shell necklace found at the Mizyn archeological site. Archeological data prove the presence of many precursory cultures (Neolithic Corded Ware culture, Globular Amphora culture, Yamna culture, pre-Slavic Cherniakhiv culture, Zarubyntsi culture, Przeworsk culture and others) that have existed on Ukrainian terrain. These cultures were advanced in metal craft techniques. Some of them co-existed with the Trypillian farmers and nomadic tribes. Copper production workshops have been found at Yamna culture archaeological sites. Forging, Lost-wax casting, and casting in forms became common techniques. Artisans of the Bronze Age made armlets, hairpins, pendants, and fibulae.
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In the Neolithic, the Trypillians in Ukraine made jewellery of naturally occurring metals such as copper. The pieces included spiral armlets, rings, diadems, and necklaces from shells, copper tubes, and mother-of-pearl discs. In the 8th to 6th centuries BCE, the Cimmerians brought new artistry to jewellery making. Made of bronze and iron, many of their pieces had floral and animal based themes.
Fertile soils and a favorable climate along the Black Sea coast and the Dnieper River attracted Greeks as long ago as the Iron Age. Scythians, who had come from Iran and displaced the Cimmerians, appeared in the territories around the Black Sea around 500 BCE. They prospered in the area for a long time, and were trading partners with the Greeks. Many masterpieces created by Greek and Scythian goldsmiths are widely known. For body, armament and harness ornaments, they employed all of the metalwork techniques common at the time. These consisted of casting, chasing, engraving, gilding, inlaying, stonesetting and others. The images of fantastic animals, (griffins, sphinxes, winged animals, and beasts with human heads) were depicted in their works with a distinctive style. Stylization of images developed into a realistic method of interpreting complicated zoomorphic compositions. Techniques improved considerably during the prosperous times of the Scythian state.
The Sarmatians conquered and then occupied the Scythian kingdom. This culture brought along new traditions, including Polychrome style, an example of which is a process by which an image of an animal's body is covered with inserts of blue paste or turquoise in soldered mountings
Greek art of the Black Sea region influenced the Sarmatian style. Most notably it increased the color range. Together with precious metals and gems, glass is found in the jewellery of this time. Greek brooch-fibulas were often made in this style.
By the 3rd century BCE Celtic art began to penetrate into southern regions of Ukrainian territory. In Roman provinces a renaissance of Celtic handicrafts took place, in particularly in the form of jewellery. These ornaments were introduced near the Black Sea and points further north. Another entry point for Celtic jewellery into the present day territory of Ukraine was trade and cultural contacts with northern tribes. Celtic art and culture spread into the British Isles, Germany and the Baltic Sea coast and from there into Ukraine. Every region in Ukraine shows some Celtic influence in the styles of arms and jewellery production. Jewellery making traditions of Ukraine also influenced other cultures. For example, the Goths came to the area sometime before 400 CE and adopted some of the techniques prevalent in Ukraine, including polychrome and animal styles later reflected in the Merovingian style of jewellery.
The Goths left the Black Sea region under pressure from the Huns. These Asiatic people brought a somewhat different version of the polychrome style, which was characterized by color inlays in soldered partitions and the presence of background patterns of filigree and granulation. Also during this time, migration of other Asiatic people (including Avars, Bulgars, Khazars, Ugrs and Pechengs) influenced and were influenced by the culture of Ukraine.
The early 6th century saw the spread of Slavic people, and the state of Kyivan Rus was founded in around 880 CE. Traditions of previous inhabitants did not vanish, and this was quite apparent in the jewellery. Alongside original autochthon forms, there is a mix of Scythian, Sarmatian, Hun, Greek, Celtic and Viking influence on Slavic jewellery. The techniques which were familiar to the ancient Slavs included forging, stamping, chasing, granulation, lost-wax casting enameling, and niello. Artisans reached a very high level of technical proficiency. The Benedictine monk Theophilus rated jewelers of Kyivan Rus second only after the Byzantines [ citation needed ]. Besides the pendants, rings, torques, armlets, fibulas, necklaces and other such jewellery, which had been common to all nations, Slavs had original jewellery – silver armlets of a distinctive Kyiv type, temple rings, enameled kolt s and diadems. Slavic metal amulets such as spoons, hatchets, horses, ducks, zoomorphic and anthropomorphic sewed plates are also well known.
Around this time, Ukraine also began to feel the influences of the Byzantine Empire, most notably in world view, culture and art. New types of creative works appeared, such as rich book settings, often embroidered with pearls (mainly from the Dnieper river), liturgical cups, crosses, icon setting frameworks, and later on boxes for storing relics, church chandeliers, cups, and plates. In 1240 the Mongol invasion of Rus led by Batu Khan completely destroyed Kyiv. [2] The artisans of Rus' were made prisoners and forced to work for the Tatars [ citation needed ]. The Mongol occupation lasted for several centuries. Revived centres in Halych and Volodymyr tried to continue Kyivan traditions. Simultaneously, small colonies of north-eastern Slavs along the Volga River and its tributaries were borrowing some of the better Rus' handicraft traditions. In combination with local cultural traditions as well as under the influence of Baltic people they contributed to the new culture that would later be called Russian.
Traditional jewelry in Hutsul and Pokuttya regions includes beadwork and Ukrainian embroidery.
In Slavic mythology amulets play a large role in keeping away evil spirits. During the eleventh and twelfth century, snake medallions were very popular. The medallion was round, oval or octagon in shape. On the outside, it had an image of one or more Christian saints, but on the inside facing toward the wearer and unseen by the public, it had an image of a snakelike Slavic female deity, possibly Melusine. This is an example of a "double faith" in the culture of ancient Rus.
A further stage of development of jewellery art in Ukraine happened under the period of Polish-Lithuanian State rule and is characterized by the expansion of a new style of the Renaissance period. The most powerful centers of jewellery making at the time were Lviv, Kyiv, and Kamianets-Podilskyi. Lviv was the leading center for a substantial period of time. The main feature of Renaissance jewellery in Ukraine was technical sophistication using ancient decorative elements. Some of the most famous Ukrainian jewelers whom we know of today were Nykolay, Lavrentiy, Symon, A. Kasiyanovych, and H. Ostafiyevych. They worked hand in hand with Poles, Germans, Jews, Hungarians, Armenians, Italians and Scotsmen. The independent goldsmiths' guild in Lviv was founded more than four centuries ago[ citation needed ]. Jewellers of this period were involved both in the production of items for monasteries and churches, and the production of items for secular use such as dishes and jewellery. Silver belts were a specialty of the craftsmen of Lviv. They had characteristic silver or gilded engraved alternating oval and rectangular plates.
Cutting of diamonds and other gemstones was invented in the mid 14th century. This allowed for lighter settings that covered less of the stone. The arrival of the first imported cut diamonds therefore were of great interest to the merchants in Ukraine.
Ukrainian jewellery was also influenced in this period by works originating in Augsburg, Nierenberg, Turkey and Poland. Jewelers supplied the local market and filled orders from as far away as Moldova and Moscow. Ukrainian products were available in the foreign markets of Poland, at fairs in Ukraine, and elsewhere.
The techniques that were used in jewellery making continued to be perfected. Jewellery became smaller and lighter. Earrings were more often worn in pierced ears rather than at the temple or plaited into hair. The form of armlets changed, becoming light solid bands or chains made of gilded niello with diamonds or pearls. Pearls, buckles and decorative buttons became popular among men and women of all social classes.
Along with goldsmiths' guilds jewellers also worked in private workshops. The masterpieces of Baroque from the studios of I. Ravych, M. Yurjevych, P. Volokh, I. Zavadovskyi include a tsar gate [ where? ] made of solid pieces of silver, altar framework in Kyiv Pechersk Lavra and Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. This era also brought considerable interest in precious stones. Masters of diamond and gem faceting began appearing.
In the countryside, the production of rural, non-professional jewellery became more common. It drew ideas from ancient heathen forms and patterns. At the turn of the 19th century master jewellers arose in the Carpathian Mountains, especially among the Hutsuls. Among them were brass masters Dudchak, Medvidchuk, and Fedyuk. In the eastern regions of Ukraine, dukach (stamped medallions or golden coins hanging on a chain) became common. In Western Ukraine a popular item was zgarda (a rope of silver coins in the form of necklace).
World War I and the Russian civil war stopped any progress in the development of jewellery making in Ukraine.
Under the Communist regime, Soviet goldsmiths largely copied old-fashioned patterns of the 19th century. Instead of expensive adornments intended for wealthy people, specimens made of relatively inexpensive materials with inlays of cheap stones and glass became the norm. This change was a result of a ruling of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR “Regarding the Elimination of Excessiveness in Design and Construction”. This set the task for artists – to find new forms and techniques with the use of allowed materials.
During the period of Socialism a long list of restrictions existed. The right to manufacture any wares of precious metals and stones was granted only to a monopoly of State enterprises. Small workshops were allowed to exist exclusively for repairing items. The “classic Soviet” design (berries, flowers, leaves) became characteristic of industrially produced patterns. Due to the shortage of specialized designers, flexibility in reacting to the needs of the consumer as well as innovation in jewellery design was greatly lacking.
For many years Ukraine was deprived of the opportunity to participate in the processes of contemporary artistic jewellery creation. There were many reasons for this, such as ideological prejudices of the Soviet regime, lack of contact with craftsmen in other countries, prohibition of individual artists to work with precious materials, and a lack of artistic education in many artists.
At present, no college or university in Ukraine offers study of the design of specifically Ukrainian jewellery. However, five secondary art-oriented institutions exist where students can study the technology and design of jewellery. In the Lviv Academy of Fine Arts, at the only faculty of metal working in Ukraine, one semester is devoted to the small forms. It is still impossible to work officially with precious materials in the workshops of the Academy because of confusing and complicated legislation.
The absence of specialized galleries and artistic critics makes it difficult for individual artists to realize their works. The lack of regular exhibitions and competitions means that creative ideas are not being exchanged. A lack of tools and materials is present, even though the number of jewellery workshops during the post-Soviet period has increased almost tenfold. Legislation allows workshops to be opened by persons who are not professionally skilled. Copyright laws are not enforced. Goldsmiths in Ukraine are isolated from each other since there is no union or association. There are few contacts with colleagues from abroad, and there is still no professional literature in Ukrainian.
The first attempt to congregate jewellers from different regions of Ukraine was the 1997 exhibition "Treasures of Ukraine" in the newly created museum of the National Bank of Ukraine in Kyiv. In 1999, the "Jeweller-Expo" exhibition was held in Kyiv for the first time. In Ukraine, there are four state jewellery factories, two state factories of stone cutting, and one state enterprise of the mining and processing of amber. Only recently Ukraine began to extract its own gold.
Some small private companies have been founded in recent years. Also, some personal and group exhibitions of jewellery have taken place in Kyiv, Lviv and other cities. Ukrainian artists participate successfully in competitions and exhibitions abroad. Every year, many young artists are joining the search for new forms and innovative materials.
Jewellery consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western perspective, the term is restricted to durable ornaments, excluding flowers for example. For many centuries metal such as gold often combined with gemstones, has been the normal material for jewellery, but other materials such as glass, shells and other plant materials may be used.
Ukrainian is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the native language of Ukrainians.
A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word pendere and Old French word pendr, both of which translate to "to hang down". In modern French, pendant is the gerund form of pendre and also means "during". The extent to which the design of a pendant can be incorporated into an overall necklace makes it not always accurate to treat them as separate items.
A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together. The great majority are open at the front, although some have hook and ring closures and a few have mortice and tenon locking catches to close them. Many seem designed for near-permanent wear and would have been difficult to remove.
A necklace is an article of jewellery that is worn around the neck. Necklaces may have been one of the earliest types of adornment worn by humans. They often serve ceremonial, religious, magical, or funerary purposes and are also used as symbols of wealth and status, given that they are commonly made of precious metals and stones.
Ukrainian culture is composed of the material and spiritual values of the Ukrainian people that has formed throughout the history of Ukraine. Strong family values and religion, alongside the traditions of Ukrainian embroidery and folk music are integral aspects of the country’s culture. It is closely intertwined with ethnic studies about ethnic Ukrainians and Ukrainian historiography which is focused on the history of Kyiv and the region around it.
Scytho-Siberian art is the art associated with the cultures of the Scytho-Siberian world, primarily consisting of decorative objects such as jewellery, produced by the nomadic tribes of the Eurasian Steppe, with the eastern edges of the region vaguely defined by ancient Greeks. The identities of the nomadic peoples of the steppes is often uncertain, and the term "Scythian" should often be taken loosely; the art of nomads much further east than the core Scythian territory exhibits close similarities as well as differences, and terms such as the "Scytho-Siberian world" are often used. Other Eurasian nomad peoples recognised by ancient writers, notably Herodotus, include the Massagetae, Sarmatians, and Saka, the last a name from Persian sources, while ancient Chinese sources speak of the Xiongnu or Hsiung-nu. Modern archaeologists recognise, among others, the Pazyryk, Tagar, and Aldy-Bel cultures, with the furthest east of all, the later Ordos culture a little west of Beijing. The art of these peoples is collectively known as steppes art.
Niello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is pushed into the engraved lines in the metal. It hardens and blackens when cool, and the niello on the flat surface is polished off to show the filled lines in black, contrasting with the polished metal around it. It may also be used with other metalworking techniques to cover larger areas, as seen in the sky in the diptych illustrated here. The metal where niello is to be placed is often roughened to provide a key. In many cases, especially in objects that have been buried underground, where the niello is now lost, the roughened surface indicates that it was once there.
Migration Period art denotes the artwork of the Germanic peoples during the Migration period. It includes the Migration art of the Germanic tribes on the continent, as well the start of the Insular art or Hiberno-Saxon art of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic fusion in Britain and Ireland. It covers many different styles of art including the polychrome style and the animal style. After Christianization, Migration Period art developed into various schools of Early Medieval art in Western Europe which are normally classified by region, such as Anglo-Saxon art and Carolingian art, before the continent-wide styles of Romanesque art and finally Gothic art developed.
The Zarubintsy or Zarubinets culture was a culture that, from the 3rd century BC until the 1st century AD, flourished in the area north of the Black Sea along the upper and middle Dnieper and Pripyat Rivers, stretching west towards the Southern Bug river. Zarubintsy sites were particularly dense between the Rivers Desna and Ros as well as along the Pripyat river. It was identified around 1899 by the Czech-Ukrainian archaeologist Vikentiy Khvoyka and is now attested by about 500 sites. The culture was named after finds of cremated remains in the village of Zarubyntsi on the Dnieper.
Ukrainian architecture has initial roots in the Eastern Slavic state of Kyivan Rus. After the 12th century, the distinct architectural history continued in the principalities of Galicia-Volhynia and later in Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia and Žemaitia. During the epoch of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, a style unique to Ukraine developed under the influences of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The Kyivan Rus' Park is a historical park and cultural center focused on the Kyivan Rus', near Kyiv, Ukraine. It puts on shows, cultural and historical festivals, horse-stunt shows, and international championships in ancient martial arts.
John Donald is a British jeweller - designer whose work is strongly identified in the 1960s and 1970s in London. Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother purchased works by John Donald in the 1960s, having been introduced to him by Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon.
The Celtic brooch, more properly called the penannular brooch, and its closely related type, the pseudo-penannular brooch, are types of brooch clothes fasteners, often rather large; penannular means formed as an incomplete ring. They are especially associated with the beginning of the Early Medieval period in Ireland and Britain, although they are found in other times and places—for example, forming part of traditional female dress in areas in modern North Africa.
The National Museum of the History of Ukraine illustrates Ukraine's history from ancient times till nowadays. It is one of the leading museums in Ukraine. It holds about 800 000 items in its collection, approximately 22 000 exhibits on permanent display. The museum holds world-famous archaeological, numismatic, ethnographic and weapons collections, pieces of decorative and applied arts, manuscripts, prints, paintings and graphics, relics of the Ukrainian national liberation movement of the 20th century.
The Odesa Archaeological Museum is one of the oldest archaeological museums in Ukraine. It was founded in 1825; the current museum building was completed in 1883 according to a design by Polish architect Feliks Gąsiorowski.
The Middle Ages was a period that spanned approximately 1000 years and is normally restricted to Europe and the Byzantine Empire. The material remains we have from that time, including jewelry, can vary greatly depending on the place and time of their creation, especially as Christianity discouraged the burial of jewellery as grave goods, except for royalty and important clerics, who were often buried in their best clothes and wearing jewels. The main material used for jewellery design in antiquity and leading into the Middle Ages was gold. Many different techniques were used to create working surfaces and add decoration to those surfaces to produce the jewellery, including soldering, plating and gilding, repoussé, chasing, inlay, enamelling, filigree and granulation, stamping, striking and casting. Major stylistic phases include barbarian, Byzantine, Carolingian and Ottonian, Viking, and the Late Middle Ages, when Western European styles became relatively similar.
"Lobortas" Classic Jewelry House is a Ukrainian jewellery company.
Scottish jewellery is jewellery created in Scotland or in a style associated with Scotland, which today often takes the form of the Celtic style. It is often characterised by being inspired by nature, Scandinavian mythology, and Celtic knot patterns. Jewellery has a history in Scotland dating back to at least the Iron Age.
Latin Church in Ukraine (LCiU), also officially Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine (RCCiU) is the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Ukraine. The Latin Church is one of four sui iuris Catholic churches in Ukraine, the others being the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, and the Armenian Catholic Church, all in full communion with each other and the Pope. The Latin Church presence performs its liturgies according to the Latin liturgical rites.