«Secrets of ancient jewelry: regional jewelry heritage» based on the materials of the Foundation of the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Research Article

Abstract

The article presents information about the jewelry of the Kazakh people based on the analysis of the collection of the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Jewelry, being an important component of the material culture of the Kazakhs, reflects not only aesthetic ideas but also craft traditions, as well as socio-cultural characteristics of the population. Jewelry, being one of the most stable and conservative elements of a traditional costume, carries not only valuable, but often "dumb" information. This work is devoted to the publication and primary analysis of women's metal jewelry of the 19th-20th centuries. The work is the first stage of a comprehensive study aimed at studying the regional features of jewelry and identifying parallels between archaeological materials from the Bronze Age, the Early Iron Age, and the Early Middle Ages with products dating back to Modern Times. The relevance of the research is due to the need to preserve and systematize the accumulated information about the traditional forms of decorative and applied art of the Kazakh people. In the current conditions of globalization and unification of cultures, the detailed significance of regional variations is of particular importance. In the course of the research, special attention was paid to the study of the books of receipts, which are documentary materials documenting the history of the collection's formation. The use of these data made it possible to clarify the origin of a number of products, to identify the geography and features of the acquisition of museum collections. Based on the information collected, the article provides generalized statistical data, presents a classification of jewelry by category: head ornaments, neck and chest ornaments, hand ornaments, etc. For each category of jewelry received from the region we are interested in, one representative example has been selected, described in detail in terms of technology and ornamentation. Special attention is paid to the issues of symbolism and the functional purpose of jewelry. It was found that most of the products had not only a decorative value, but also carried a magical function. The jewelry was made of silver, which translates the value of this metal for the Kazakh people. The methodological basis of the article is semiotic and culturological approaches, as well as source studies, typological, and comparative historical research methods. The analysis of the stock collection of the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan shows the stability of craft traditions and the continuity of artistic forms reflecting the cultural specifics of the region. The obtained materials can serve as a basis for further scientific research on the traditional jewelry art of Kazakhstan.