The essential spirit of Russian traditional costume is expressed in its elegance and splendor. To create it, expensive fabrics were used: samite, satin, brocade, and velvet. Needlewomen used bright colors — red, azure, and green. Even the clergy wore red cassocks.
Fabrics were usually decorated with a pattern. In addition to trimming, costumes feature many overlay elements, such as collar-necklaces or “zapony”. Even ordinary townspeople strove to have a set of good and bright festive costumes, which were often inherited.
The costume also included jewelry. Historians and archaeologists claim that earrings were very popular. As soon as the girl began to walk, her mother pierced her ears and inserted earrings. Both noble and ordinary people preserved this custom, only the metal and stones used to create jewelry differed.
The Englishman Giles Fletcher, who visited Russia in the 16th century, described Russian noble women who wore large gold earrings decorated with rubies or sapphires. Jewelers made such jewelry in the form of pendants. They were one-piece, two-piece, and three-piece earrings.
Such earrings were made according to one design. The suspension had a rod with one or several stones. The stones were secured with the help of a granulation knot or a bead.
Stones played the main role, since there were few ways to decorate earrings. The gem was usually given an oval shape, so the beauty of many stones could be lost.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the skill of processing precious and semi-precious stones remained insufficiently developed. Stones were slightly ground to obtain the shiny finish, but the shape often remained crude. The stone was then planted in a fairly deep setting. Instead of stones, colored cut glass was often used. The collection of the Museum “The Smolensk Fortress” contains exactly this type of accessories — a pair of two-piece earrings.
Fabrics were usually decorated with a pattern. In addition to trimming, costumes feature many overlay elements, such as collar-necklaces or “zapony”. Even ordinary townspeople strove to have a set of good and bright festive costumes, which were often inherited.
The costume also included jewelry. Historians and archaeologists claim that earrings were very popular. As soon as the girl began to walk, her mother pierced her ears and inserted earrings. Both noble and ordinary people preserved this custom, only the metal and stones used to create jewelry differed.
The Englishman Giles Fletcher, who visited Russia in the 16th century, described Russian noble women who wore large gold earrings decorated with rubies or sapphires. Jewelers made such jewelry in the form of pendants. They were one-piece, two-piece, and three-piece earrings.
Such earrings were made according to one design. The suspension had a rod with one or several stones. The stones were secured with the help of a granulation knot or a bead.
Stones played the main role, since there were few ways to decorate earrings. The gem was usually given an oval shape, so the beauty of many stones could be lost.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the skill of processing precious and semi-precious stones remained insufficiently developed. Stones were slightly ground to obtain the shiny finish, but the shape often remained crude. The stone was then planted in a fairly deep setting. Instead of stones, colored cut glass was often used. The collection of the Museum “The Smolensk Fortress” contains exactly this type of accessories — a pair of two-piece earrings.
