Jewellery

Jewellery

Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...

 as an art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

 form originated as an expression of human culture

Culture

Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

. Body ornamentation, one purpose of jewellery, has been known since at least the Stone Age

Stone Age

The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

. The history of jewellery in Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 reflects the influence of many cultures and peoples who have occupied the territory in the past and present.

Contribution of autochthon cultures

The first known jewellery from the territory that is now Ukraine dates back to the Mousterian

Mousterian

Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools associated primarily with Homo neanderthalensis and dating to the Middle Paleolithic, the middle part of the Old Stone Age.-Naming:...

 period (Old Stone Age). It is represented by two bracelets made of Mammoth

Mammoth

A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...

 ivory

Ivory

Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...

, decorated with the earliest known meander ornamentation, and a shell necklace found at the Mizyn archeological site. Archeological data prove the presence of many precursory cultures (Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

 Corded Ware culture

Corded Ware culture

The Corded Ware culture , alternatively characterized as the Battle Axe culture or Single Grave culture, is an enormous European archaeological horizon that begins in the late Neolithic , flourishes through the Copper Age and culminates in the early Bronze Age.Corded Ware culture is associated with...

, Globular Amphora culture

Globular Amphora culture

The Globular Amphora Culture , German Kugelamphoren-Kultur , ca. 3400-2800 BC, is an archaeological culture preceding the central area occupied by the Corded Ware culture. Somewhat to the south and west, it was bordered by the Baden culture. To the northeast was the Narva culture. It occupied much...

, Yamna culture

Yamna culture

The Yamna culture is a late copper age/early Bronze Age culture of the Southern Bug/Dniester/Ural region , dating to the 36th–23rd centuries BC...

, pre-Slavic Cherniakhiv culture

Chernyakhov culture

The Sântana de Mureș–Chernyakhiv culture is the name given to an archaeological culture which flourished between the 2nd and 5th centuries in a wide area of Eastern Europe, specifically in what today constitutes Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, and parts of Belarus...

, Zarubyntsi culture

Zarubintsy culture

The Zarubintsy culture was a culture that from the 3rd century BC until 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...

, Przeworsk culture

Przeworsk culture

The Przeworsk culture is part of an Iron Age archaeological complex that dates from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. It was located in what is now central and southern Poland, later spreading to parts of eastern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia ranging between the Oder and the middle and...

 and others) that have existed on Ukrainian terrain. These cultures were advanced in metal craft techniques. Some of them co-existed with the Trypillian

Cucuteni

Cucuteni is a commune in Iaşi County, Romania, with a population of 1,446 as of 2002. It is located 45 km from the city of Iaşi and 10 km from the town of Târgu Frumos. Neighbouring villages and communes are Todireşti , Târgu Frumos and Cotnari and Ruginoasa...

 farmers and nomadic tribes. Copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 production workshops have been found at Yamna culture archaeological sites. Forging

Forging

Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it is performed: '"cold," "warm," or "hot" forging. Forged parts can range in weight from less than a kilogram to 580 metric tons...

, Lost-wax casting, and casting in forms

Casting

In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...

 became common techniques. Artisans of the Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 made armlets, hairpin

Hairpin

A hair pin or hairpin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place.Hairpins made of metal, ivory, bronze, carved wood, etc. were used in ancient Assyria and Egypt for securing decorated hairstyles. Such hairpins suggest, as graves show, that many were luxury objects among the Egyptians...

s, pendant

Pendant

A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, when the ensemble may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. In modern French "pendant" is the gerund form of “hanging”...

s, and fibulas.

Jewellery artifacts from the Bronze Age found in Ukraine

Jewellery of peoples that migrated through Ukraine

In the Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

, the Trypillians in Ukraine made jewellery of naturally occurring metals such as copper. The pieces included spiral armlets, rings, diadem

Diadem

Diadem may refer to:*Diadem, a type of crown-Military:*HMS Diadem was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line in the Royal Navy launched in 1782 at Chatham and participated in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1787...

s, and necklace

Necklace

A necklace is an article of jewellery which is worn around the neck. Necklaces are frequently formed from a metal jewellery chain. Others are woven or manufactured from cloth using string or twine....

s from shells, copper tubes, and mother-of-pearl discs. In the 8th to 6th centuries BCE, the Cimmerians

Cimmerians

The Cimmerians or Kimmerians were ancient equestrian nomads of Indo-European origin.According to the Greek historian Herodotus, of the 5th century BC, the Cimmerians inhabited the region north of the Caucasus and the Black Sea during the 8th and 7th centuries BC, in what is now Ukraine and Russia...

 brought new artistry to jewellery making. Made of bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

 and iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

, many of their pieces had floral and animal based themes.
Fertile soils and a favorable climate along the Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

 coast and the Dnieper River

Dnieper River

The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...

 attracted Greeks

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 as long ago as the Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

. Scythians, who had come from Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 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 goldsmith

Goldsmith

A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...

s are widely known. For body, armament and harness

Harness

A harness is a looped restraint or support. It can also be referred to as an "hitcharness", especially by the Jordanian Armed Forces. Specifically, it may refer to one of the following harness types:* Bondage harness* Child harness* Climbing harness...

 ornaments, they employed all of the metalwork techniques common at the time. These consisted of casting, chasing, engraving

Engraving

Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...

, gilding

Gilding

The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...

, inlaying, stonesetting

Stonesetting

Stonesetting is the art of securely setting or attaching gemstones into jewelry. Stonesetting can also be used in referring to setting a stone or orb believed to have magical properties into a staff.-Cabochon and facet:...

 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

Scythian art

Scythian art is art, primarily decorative objects, such as jewelry, produced by the nomadic tribes in the area known classically as Scythia, which was centred on the Pontic-Caspian steppe and ranged from modern Kazakhstan to the Baltic coast of modern Poland and to Georgia...

. 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

Sarmatians

The Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....

 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

Turquoise

Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue...

 in soldered

Soldering

Soldering is a process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, the filler metal having a lower melting point than the workpiece...

 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

Gemstone

A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...

, glass

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

 is found in the jewellery of this time. Greek brooch

Brooch

A brooch ; also known in ancient times as a fibula; is a decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold but sometimes bronze or some other material...

-fibulas were often made in this style.

By the third century BCE Celtic art

Celtic art

Celtic art is the art associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and stylistic similarities with speakers of Celtic...

 began to penetrate into southern regions of Ukrainian territory. In Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 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

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

 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

Goths

The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....

 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

Merovingian art and architecture

Merovingian art and architecture is the art and architecture of the Merovingian dynasty of the Franks, which lasted from the 5th century to the 8th century in present day France, Benelux and a part of Germany....

 style of jewellery.

The Goths left the Black Sea region under pressure from the Huns

Huns

The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...

. These Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

tic 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

Filigree

Filigree is a delicate kind of jewellery metalwork made with twisted threads usually of gold and silver or stitching of the same curving motifs. It often suggests lace, and in recent centuries remains popular in Indian and other Asian metalwork, and French from 1660 to the late 19th century...

 and granulation

Granulation

Granulation can refer to:*Granulation is the act or process of forming or crystallizing into grains*Granulation tissue, a product of healing in major wounds;*Granular synthesis, a sound synthesis method;...

. Also during this time, migration of other Asiatic people (including Avars

Eurasian Avars

The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...

, Bulgars

Bulgars

The Bulgars were a semi-nomadic who flourished in the Pontic Steppe and the Volga basin in the 7th century.The Bulgars emerge after the collapse of the Hunnic Empire in the 5th century....

, Khazars

Khazars

The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...

, Ugrs

Samoyedic languages

The Samoyedic languages are spoken on both sides of the Ural mountains, in northernmost Eurasia, by approximately 30,000 speakers altogether....

 and Pechengs) influenced and were influenced by the culture of Ukraine.

Slavic jewellery

The early 6th century saw the spread of Slavic people, and the state of Kievan Rus'

Kievan Rus'

Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....

 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

Stamping (metalworking)

Stamping includes a variety of sheet-metal forming manufacturing processes, such as punching using a machine press or stamping press, blanking, embossing, bending, flanging, and coining. This could be a single stage operation where every stroke of the press produce the desired form on the sheet...

, chasing, granulation, lost-wax casting enamel

Vitreous enamel

Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...

ing, and niello

Niello

Niello is a black mixture of copper, silver, and lead sulphides, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal. It can be used for filling in designs cut from metal...

.
Artisans reached a very high level of technical proficiency. The Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

 monk Theophilus

Theophilus Presbyter

Theophilus Presbyter is the pseudonymous author or compiler ofa Latin text containing detailed descriptions of various medieval arts, a text commonly known as the Schedula diversarum artium or De diversis artibus , probably first compiled between 1100 and 1120...

 rated jewelers of Kievan Rus second only after the Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

s . Besides the pendants, rings, torques, armlets, fibulas, necklaces and other such jewellery, which had been common to all nations, Slavs had original jewellery – silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 armlets of a distinctive Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 type, enameled and three-bead earrings, 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

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

, most notably in world view, culture and art. New types of creative works appeared, such as rich book settings, often embroidered

Embroidery

Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....

 with pearls (mainly from the Dnieper river), liturgical cups, cross

Cross

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...

es, icon

Icon

An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...

 setting frameworks, and later on boxes for storing relic

Relic

In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...

s, church chandelier

Chandelier

A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...

s, cups, and plate

Plate (dishware)

A plate is a broad, concave, but mainly flat vessel on which food can be served. A plate can also be used for ceremonial or decorative purposes.-Materials:...

s. In 1240 the Mongol invasion of Rus led by Batu Khan

Batu Khan

Batu Khan was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Ulus of Jochi , the sub-khanate of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde , which ruled Rus and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies...

 completely destroyed Kiev. The artisans of Rus' were made prisoners and forced to work for the Tatars

Tatars

Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...

. The Mongol occupation lasted for several centuries. Revived centres in Halych

Halych

Halych is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The town gave its name to the historic province and kingdom of Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, of which it was the capital until the early 14th century, when the seat of the local princes was moved to Lviv...

 and Volodymyr

Volodymyr

Volodymyr may refer to:* Volodymyr-Volynskyi - Ukrainian town* Volodymyr - Ukrainian given name...

 tried to continue Kievan traditions. Simultaneously, small colonies of north-eastern Slavs along the Volga River

Volga River

The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...

 and its tributaries were borrowing some of the better Rus' handicraft

Handicraft

Handicraft, more precisely expressed as artisanic handicraft, sometimes also called artisanry, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or by using only simple tools. It is a traditional main sector of craft. Usually the term is applied to traditional means...

 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.

The Renaissance period

A further stage of development of jewellery art in Ukraine happened under the period of Polish-Lithuanian State

Polish-Lithuanian Union

The term Polish–Lithuanian Union sometimes called as United Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania refers to a series of acts and alliances between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that lasted for prolonged periods of time and led to the creation of the Polish–Lithuanian...

 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

Lviv

Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...

, Kiev, and Kamianets-Podilskyi

Kamianets-Podilskyi

Kamyanets-Podilsky or Kamienets-Podolsky is a city located on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine, to the north-east of Chernivtsi...

. 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

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

, Germans

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

, Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

, Hungarians, Armenians

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

, Italians and Scotsmen. The independent goldsmiths' guild in Lviv was founded more than 4 centuries ago. 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

Diamond cut

A diamond cut is a style or design guide used when shaping a diamond for polishing such as the brilliant cut. Cut does not refer to shape , but the symmetry, proportioning and polish of a diamond...

 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

Augsburg

Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...

, Nierenberg, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 and Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. Jewelers supplied the local market and filled orders from as far away as Moldova

Moldova

Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

 and Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

. 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.

The Baroque period

Along with goldsmiths' guilds jewellers also worked in private workshop

Workshop

A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...

s. The masterpieces of Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 from the studios of I. Ravych, M. Yurjevych, P. Volokh, I. Zavadovskyi include a tsar gate made of solid pieces of silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

, altar

Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...

 framework in Kiev Pechersk Lavra

Kiev Pechersk Lavra

Kiev Pechersk Lavra or Kyiv Pechersk Lavra , also known as the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Orthodox Christian monastery which gave its name to one of the city districts where it is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine....

 and Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev is an outstanding architectural monument of Kievan Rus'. Today, it is one of the city's best known landmarks and the first Ukrainian patrimony to be inscribed on the World Heritage List along with the Kiev Cave Monastery complex...

. This era also brought considerable interest in precious stones. Masters of diamond and gem faceting began appearing.

Later periods

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

Carpathian Mountains

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...

, especially among the Hutsuls

Hutsuls

Hutsuls are an ethno-cultural group of Ukrainian highlanders who for centuries have inhabited the Carpathian mountains, mainly in Ukraine, the northern extremity of Romania .-Etymology:...

. 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

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and the Russian civil war

Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...

 stopped any progress in the development of jewellery making in Ukraine.

Soviet times

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

Central Committee

Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...

 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

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 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.

Modern era

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

Art gallery

An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...

 and artistic critics makes it difficult for individual artists to realize their works. The lack of regular exhibition

Art exhibition

Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...

s 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

Copyright

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

 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

Art exhibition

Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...

 "Treasures of Ukraine" in the newly created museum of the National Bank of Ukraine

National Bank of Ukraine

National Bank of Ukraine is the central bank of Ukraine. Its headquarters building, constructed between 1902 and 1934, is located at no. 9 Institutska St., in Kiev-History:...

 in Kiev. In 1999, the "Jeweller-Expo" exhibition was held in Kiev for the first time. In Ukraine, there are four state jewellery factories

Factory

A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...

, two state factories of stone cutting, and one state enterprise of the mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 and processing of amber

Amber

Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...

. 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 Kiev, 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.

Sources

• Brepohl, E. Theophilus Presbyter und das mittelalterliche Kunsthandwerk. Cologne, 1999. (2 volumes).
• Untracht, O. Metal Techniques for Craftsmen. New York, 1968
• Rybakov, B
  Boris Rybakov
  Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov was a Soviet and Russian historian who personified the anti-Normanist vision of Russian history....
  
  . Ancient Slavic Paganism. Moscow, 1981.
• Rybakov, B
  Boris Rybakov
  Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov was a Soviet and Russian historian who personified the anti-Normanist vision of Russian history....
  
  . Craft of Ancient Rus. Moscow, 1948.
• Bezpalyi, L. Jewellery. Moscow, 1950.
• Kiz', Ya. Industry of Lviv During Feodalism Period, XIII — XIX c. Lviv, 1968.
• Utkin, P. Russian Jewellery. Moscow, 1970.
• Aseev, Yu. Sources of Art in Kievan Rus. Kiev, 1980.
• Zholtovskyi, I. Art life in Ukraine in XVIII c. Kiev, 1983.
• Українська минувшина: ілюстрований етнографічний довідник. – К.: Либідь, 1993. – С. 130–132
• Катерина Матейко. Український народний одяг: етнографічний довідник. – К.: Наукова думка, 1996. – С.149–159
• Хведір Вовк. Студії з української етнографії та антропології. – К.: Мистецтво, 1995. – С.129–131

External links

• Ethnic jewellery by Liubart Lyschynskyy
• Ukrainian jewellery at Ars Ornata Europeana
• Slavic jewellery techniques in Russian art metal (in Russian)
• Reconstruction of Slavic costume (in Ukrainian)