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The analysis of the discovered items shows the
mastership of the ancient jewelers and the successive character of
this art: many of these ornaments "survived" till our time, having preserved
their form fully or in different elements which had partially lost their
initial significance. In present-day Azerbaijan there are still quite
popular hollow gold beads, round ("pill") and oval ("arpa" barley
seed) in form.
Filigree items are
extremely diverse in form with a multitude of details and a complex
composition. Details were added in the form of medallions, multipetaled
flowers (solar symbol), fishes, stars, leaves and crescents, "buta"
and cone shaped protrusions called "gubbe". The items were
also ornamented with gems and semi-precious stones set in a raised cast
called "juva". The most popular gems were the ruby, emerald and
turquoise, although coloured minerals were used as well.
Jeweler in XIX century was made of gold and silver. Silver jeweler
is sometimes identical and sometimes sismilar to that of gold in form
and technique. The silver items, depending on their purpose, were gilded or
engraved and covered with niello.
The large collection of plate belts of the
general Caucasian type is made up of stamped niello elements strung
on a narrow leather belt, and a buckle, also covered with niello. Their
distinctive feature is the diversity of their ornamentation and the shape of
their buckles.
Such cities as Baki, Ganja, Shamakhi, Sheki, Shusha,
Nakhchivan, Tabriz, Ardabil and etc. were centers of
jewelry – making.
The jewelry was the final element in the
Azerbaijani clothing. It completed the beauty and luxury of the
clothes.Azerbaijani women loved jewels very much and used them with subtle
taste. They used different kinds of necklaces, belts, rings, special golden
and silver jewels for chest and head, earrings, bracelets for both foot and
arm. The complete set of some kind of jewels is called “imaret”.
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