In the Golden Horde society, the kaftan was the basic garment of both women and men of all social classes. It differed only in length and ornamentation. The silk kaftan was a ceremonial garment, and as a rule, such items belonged to representatives of the nobility.
This outfit was not worn on a daily basis. It could be worn by a Golden Horde noblewoman at feasts and ceremonies. The kaftan from the collection of the Volgograd Regional Museum of Local History is made of brocade.
This fabric — silk embroidered with gold thread — was particularly valuable. Brocade was imported from China or Central Asian cities and was very expensive. Silk and other Oriental goods were brought to the Golden Horde by the famous Great Silk Road, the northern branch of which passed through its territory.
Archaeologists reconstructed one of the drawings on the found fabrics. It is a famous ancient Chinese mythological story of a dragon chasing a flaming pearl. The work allowed craftsmen to recreate the costume.
A bokka — the headdress of a married woman — which is presented in the set with the kaftan, is unusual. Experts believe that the special design of the bokka had an important symbolic meaning. The birchbark base in the form of a beak, as well as feathers, represented a swan, which was a sacred bird. Legend has it that it created the land from a grain of sand extracted from the seabed.
The bokka, displayed on the mannequin, is also a reconstruction. It was created on the basis of a real find, with the participation of Sofia Mikhailovna Shashunova, an expert on the textiles of the Golden Horde. However, the museum also displays an authentic Golden Horde bokka.
Beads, bracelets and temple rings in the form of the question mark were popular ornaments in the Golden Horde. They were made of bronze, gold and silver. Women also wore glass beads, some parts of which had eye ornaments, in which case they served as a talisman.
The ceremonial dress of a Golden Horde noblewoman, such as the silk kaftan and bokka from the museum’s collection, was typical of the 13th — first half of the 14th centuries. It was then that the influence of Mongolian and Chinese trends was most noticeable in the fashion of the Golden Horde.
This outfit was not worn on a daily basis. It could be worn by a Golden Horde noblewoman at feasts and ceremonies. The kaftan from the collection of the Volgograd Regional Museum of Local History is made of brocade.
This fabric — silk embroidered with gold thread — was particularly valuable. Brocade was imported from China or Central Asian cities and was very expensive. Silk and other Oriental goods were brought to the Golden Horde by the famous Great Silk Road, the northern branch of which passed through its territory.
Archaeologists reconstructed one of the drawings on the found fabrics. It is a famous ancient Chinese mythological story of a dragon chasing a flaming pearl. The work allowed craftsmen to recreate the costume.
A bokka — the headdress of a married woman — which is presented in the set with the kaftan, is unusual. Experts believe that the special design of the bokka had an important symbolic meaning. The birchbark base in the form of a beak, as well as feathers, represented a swan, which was a sacred bird. Legend has it that it created the land from a grain of sand extracted from the seabed.
The bokka, displayed on the mannequin, is also a reconstruction. It was created on the basis of a real find, with the participation of Sofia Mikhailovna Shashunova, an expert on the textiles of the Golden Horde. However, the museum also displays an authentic Golden Horde bokka.
Beads, bracelets and temple rings in the form of the question mark were popular ornaments in the Golden Horde. They were made of bronze, gold and silver. Women also wore glass beads, some parts of which had eye ornaments, in which case they served as a talisman.
The ceremonial dress of a Golden Horde noblewoman, such as the silk kaftan and bokka from the museum’s collection, was typical of the 13th — first half of the 14th centuries. It was then that the influence of Mongolian and Chinese trends was most noticeable in the fashion of the Golden Horde.
