A pouch (known as “chyse” or “kise” in Adyghe) is a small bag used for holding small items. It is typically made of velvet, silk, cloth, or other thick fabrics, and is always decorated with a pattern.
Embroidered with gold, silver, or silk using traditional Adyghe gold embroidery techniques, a reticule pouch was an essential accessory for girls in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These bags were also used to store small items for needlework. Men used their chyse to keep tobacco, bullets, and other small items needed in everyday life. The shape of the pouches varied: they could be rectangular, square, rectangular with a pointed end, rectangular with a rounded lower edge, flat, or with a bottom. The fabric for the bags was often chosen in deep, dark colors, which contrasted beautifully with the gold or silver threads, such as dark blue, purple, burgundy, dark green, dark red, and black. The upper edge of the pouch was finished with another fabric, usually silk, which softly contrasted with the main color. A tie-up made of a narrow gold-embroidered or silver soutache braid was threaded through the edge, which had a lining. Most often, plant and geometric patterns were embroidered on the bags, with zoomorphic designs being less common. The pattern was typically applied on both sides.
Pouches embroidered using various techniques of traditional Adyghe gold embroidery were obligatory gifts from the bride to the groom’s family. The ability to sew and embroider was ideologically linked to the capacity to create and maintain a family and bring children into the world. As a result, the products crafted by the bride sparked significant examination and discussion.
The black satin pouch exhibited in the Museum of the History of the Resort City of Sochi dates to the first half of the 20th century and was created by Baylek Savayevna Gugozh (1892–1980), a renowned gold embroiderer of that era. The ornamentation of the pouch features a braid called “uage”, woven from silver threads using the finger weaving technique typical of the Adyghe. The side and upper seams are adorned with a braid made from silver and black silk threads. The ends of the cord restraint have balls known as “denletch”, crafted from silver threads, along with decorative elements made of violet threads.
