JEWELLERY OF CENTRAL ASIA

  The huge region of Central Asian republics has many sided culture and art. At known distinctions of mode of life, languages of separate nations, keeping its national traditions and customs, historical experience of their development, permanent contacts and mutual influence, created similar or closely related features, which allowed to speak about unity of artistic tendencies. In many kinds of folklore that intimacy is especially perceptible. It can be observed in felt carpets, some kinds of ceramics and in jewellery. In all countries was popular filigree, among precious stones were popular turquoise, cornelian, corals and mother-of-pearl. The mob also was known to ancient jewellers of Central Asia.

  With any nations, jewellery played an important role in the life of women and girls. Almost since the birthday, girls wear the earrings while various brooches, bracelets, earrings and necklaces of nice patterns, forms and colors were finishing festival female clothes decorated with golden embroidery and silk fabrics.

  The first kinds of quality jewelery in Kazakhstan belong to Saka (Sythian) period. Most of it is made of gold and distinguish by the restraint of the colours, massive forms and large decorative patterns of filigree. Bracelets were made of silver and wide belt was also decorated with filigree. Massive signet rings were also very original. In some of them decorative surface had the diameter of 7 sm., such signet rings were worn on 2 fingers. The jewellery worn on the breast had in its system several plates connected by chains. The smartest among the Kazakh jewellery were long pendants attached to wedding hats and consisted of the chains, plates, clusters and corals. Modern Kazakh jewellery became more light, but the main ornamental motives of decoration are kept without changing.

  The real treasure of Kazakhs is "Golden man" - a whole-body decoration made of about 4000 pieces. Later expanding of jewelery craft was noted with the nomadic period when silver took over. Decorations of last few centuries contained many large round shapes mixed with red corals. Coins of different silk road countries and Russia can be found in many old decorations.

  Present days Kazakh jewellery masters are wellknown to outside world. Their works are exhibited in many countries astonishing people with intricating centralasian patterns and shapes. Professional use of precious and semi-precious stones inherited from ancestors make world collectors enlarge their catalogs.

  Kyrgyz jewelry unlike the Kazakh one, included necklaces made of corals, precious stones and turquoise. Interest to the colour, its game, shout to one another with alive, mobile structure of other decorations. The ear rings were often made with small pendants and chains, complicated pattern was also very typical. In decorations were used the whole nets made of corals, which were attached to the pendants made of coins. Colourful paste and jewelry enamel were also known to Kyrgyz jewelers. Some motives and separate elements in decorations follow the forms of plant motives, and this tendency is still mastering modern jewelers, creating new jewellery.

  Turkmen jewellery demonstrate collected character of a bit massive expressive articles. This decorations consonant with traditional dress of the Turkmen woman, performed from deep red fabric of the strict form. The woman's figure in such dress acquire harmony and monumentality. Something related to this monumentality can be met in the Turkmen decorations.

  Forms of the decorations, cut from the silver or brass plate, had fluent and clear by the silhouette contours. Sometimes the contours were turned to frankly geometrical forms. Metal plates carried simple strips of engraving, underlining the edge. To lighten massive plates the jewellers used pattern cutting out. But the main effect of the decoration was consisted in interaction of stones and metal. Often it was large cornelian or a number of stones, its deep red-brown colour beautifully harmonied with nonferrous metal and female dress. In the same techniques carried out the wide bracelets, amazing with its massiveness and expressiveness of a decorative design. This method of execution of jewels was not unique, but it is most typically discloses artistic features of Turkmen jewellery.

  Uzbek artistic wares have two brunches, the first is the jewellery and the second is the manufacture of cooper plates and dishes. Both brunches had been developed as a city trade, what is why the jewellers had a great number of various orders, satisfying tastes of any customers. Uzbek jewellers knew all possible techniques to create the complicated and rich wares, using filigree, engraving, precious stones, enamel, gold and mob.

  Uzbek jewellery has very similar features with Tadjik jewellery wares. They have the same mobility of the elements included in the head or breast decorations and also both nations widely used corrals, turquoise and pearls in their works.

  More original and independent are Uzbek plates and dishes - trays, jugs and pitchers, pans. The form of the jugs is the rigid, often made with the help of casting, sometimes the jugs have sides on which they put engraved ornament. The drawing have many straight lines - touches, which create the game of light on the surfaces of jugs, trays and pans. Even large trays were densely engraved with the ornament, which composition was built on the centric symmetry. Despite the abundant engraving the wares were not turned to decorative ones, and carried its utilitarian functions, decorating the interior of the dwelling.