The old earrings made of small pearls were one of the first exhibits to enter the collection of the Lipetsk Regional Museum of Local Lore in 1909. This elegant piece of women’s jewelry was donated to the museum by Yeroteida Ivanovna Klyuyeva, the wife of Mitrofan Alekseyevich Klyuyev, the mayor of Lipetsk.
Yeroteida Klyuyeva, née Bolkhovitinova, was the youngest daughter of Ivan Ivanovich Bolkhovitinov, a famous Lipetsk merchant of the 1st guild, mayor of Lipetsk from 1864 to 1866, and member of the board of the Lipetsk Mineral Waters resort. In 1876, Yeroteida married Mitrofan Klyuyev who also came from a merchant family.
This fine piece of jewelry was crafted using the technique of stringing with natural river pearls and faceted glass. The core of the earrings was formed by white metal elements covered with pearl strings. The top part is shaped like a bow, with a large faceted glass at the center, while the bottom one is an oval with a trefoil design at the bottom. The earrings feature French clips. This piece of jewelry was made in Russia in the 19th century.
The art of pearl stringing has been known since ancient times. In Russia, pearls were not only valued but also revered. Before going pearl hunting, people were supposed to bathe, put on clean clothes, confess their sins, and receive absolution in church. They were not allowed to argue or swear during the process. This respectful attitude was associated with ancient Russian beliefs. According to them, pearls brought joy, happiness, wealth, strong health, longevity, and prosperity to their owners. In Russia, pearls were harvested from the habitat of the freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera). Pearls were harvested from rivers in many Russian regions such as the Arkhangelsk, Olonets, Saint Petersburg, Vyborg, Novgorod, Pskov, Yaroslavl, Vyatka, Kazan, Simbirsk, Perm, and Volyn Governorates. The mussels could be found in the rivers of Moscow Oblast, tributaries of the Volga River, the basin of the Amur and the Dnieper River. The northern governorates contributed a third of the total production of high-quality jewelry pearls.
