A craft that has become an art: jewelry brands with history

Jewelry art is the making of various products, usually from precious metals using semi-precious stones. Initially, such things served not only for beauty, but also to emphasize the high social status of the owner or owner. Also, magical functions were often attributed to jewelry. They were used, for example, as protective amulets and talismans. The history of jewelry goes back to ancient times. Initially, the creation of jewelry did not involve any kind of processing. Over the centuries, art improved, craftsmen created more and more complex and exquisite jewelry. Let's trace the history of jewelry craft and name its outstanding masters.

Ancient Egypt

Jewelry art was surprisingly well developed in Ancient Egypt. The jewelry created there still amazes with its beauty and complexity. In shape they usually resembled images of ancient deities. In Ancient Egypt, they believed that jewelry performed magical functions: they protected against diseases and evil spells, and connected a person with the forces of nature.

Jewelry was supposed to be worn on certain parts of the body. First of all, it was the area of ​​the heart (it was considered the most significant organ). To protect it, items in the form of a scarab were worn on the chest. The beetle symbolized vitality, activity, resurrection. In addition, the middle of the forehead was an important point. Ancient Egyptian craftsmen, when making jewelry for her, used symbols of strength and wisdom, such as images of a snake. Speaking about the technique of making products, it can be noted that chasing and engraving were usually used, and the favorite materials of the Egyptians were gold, silver, obsidian and amethyst.

Ancient Greece

Ancient jewelry art in Greece was distinguished by great grace and subtlety. The favorite technique of the masters was filigree - making a complex pattern from thin gold or silver wire soldered to a metal background. Most often, floral designs were used: images of flowers, leaves, vines.

Of the materials, gold was the most valued - the ancient Greeks attributed magical properties to this metal. In general, jewelry emphasized the status of the owner, so the finer and more complex the work, the more expensive it was. Rich Greek women wore a wide variety of jewelry. Elegant items for the hair and neck, as well as bracelets, were held in high esteem. The only exception was Sparta - local women did not wear lush and fancy jewelry, preferring simple metal jewelry.

Modernity: inaccessible art and accessible bad taste

While artisan jewelers provided democratic, but mostly impersonal and crude jewelry to a motley urban public, elegant precious items made with subtle artistic taste and flair delighted more demanding people with their beauty.

If previously famous jewelers supplied their products to royal families, and this served as a kind of most effective advertising, now jewelry houses rent their products, some of which cost several million dollars, to various celebrities for high-level events (Oscars, Golden Globes and so on.). , for example, created jewelry specifically for the film “The Great Gatsby.”

Fashion trends in the jewelry business do not have such a short shelf life as in the clothing industry, however, here too periodically there is a change of emphasis, an appeal to different motifs and images that can change over time. At the same time, the most expensive jewelry, initially made not to please fashion, but rising above it, anticipating it several decades in advance, remains relevant for many years. And they will probably be the same centuries later. After all, real art never depreciates.

About the subtle art of jewelers - Irina Zhukova

Renaissance Jewelry

Renaissance jewelry amazes with its sophistication, beauty and complexity. Craftsmen used a variety of techniques, including embossing, cutting and enamel. They were largely influenced by ancient traditions, but at the same time they introduced features typical of those years.

Thus, jewelry no longer indicates the status of the owner as much as it emphasizes the sophistication of taste and imagination. They become unique and original. Gems, pearls and exquisite enamel details decorate not only jewelry, but also luxurious ladies' outfits. Rings and massive pendants are becoming increasingly popular.

In Germany, craftsmen use very unusual materials in their work: coconut shells, ostrich eggs and shells.

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Women's signet ring. 15th century BC e. Gold; thread. National Museum, Athens

Jewelry art is one of the oldest types of artistic creativity - the production of artistic products from noble and non-ferrous metals (gold, silver, platinum, copper, bronze, nickel silver, titanium, steel) often in combination with precious and semi-precious stones, pearls, mother-of-pearl, amber, bone, colored glass. In the course of evolution, a number of the most common jewelry techniques have emerged: forging, casting, embossing, embossing, carving, engraving, niello, enamel, inlay, etching and other metal processing techniques. This type of decorative and applied art combines different types of products: household items (dishes, cutlery and toiletries, interior decorations and lamps), religious objects, ceremonial weapons and jewelry.

The history of jewelry goes back to the origins of human civilization, when the need for

Figurine of a cat-shaped deity. 100 - 700 n. e., America. Copper, red shell, turquoise, gems; gilding. National Archaeological Museum Bruning. Lambayeque, Lima

jewelry was stronger than the need for clothing. We can still observe this today in the cultures of “primitive” peoples. It is difficult to say in what capacity jewelry originally appeared - either as aesthetically significant objects of personal use, for the desire to attract attention, as is known, is also inherent in representatives of the animal world, or as amulets or amulets, in other words, a form of knowledge of the world, a form artistic creativity. Apparently, the emergence of these (basic) and other functions of decorations is interconnected. We can safely say that the first to appear were “body” jewelry designed to decorate the body - pendants (including talismans and amulets), necklaces, bracelets, earrings, combs for fastening hair. Then “costume” - brooches for fastening clothes, buckles for belts and shoes.

In each individual historical era, jewelry of one type, body or costume, prevails, while others remain in the shadows. Each era created jewelry in its own way, and this concerned not only the choice of material, methods of processing and techniques, but, above all, its own language of artistic forms, adequate to its worldview, level of economic and technical development. Decorations reflect all aspects of the evolution of human society - religious and aesthetic ideas, social structure, the nature of political ties with neighboring peoples and states.

In all eras, goldsmiths and silversmiths were influenced by the works of their predecessors and, creatively comprehending the historical artistic heritage, master jewelers did not create their own works

Pendant of the princess Sat-Hathor-Iunit. Around 1870 BC e. Egypt

They only sought to prove their belonging to the artistic culture of the era, but also tried to contribute to the world heritage of jewelry art. This process, of course, was not always conscious, but thanks to it, historical continuity of generations was built in jewelry art. Confirmation of this can be seen in the many reminiscences of traditional forms of ancient jewelry in the works of modern jewelry artists.

Trade and the founding of colonies played a huge role in the interaction of cultures. Jewelry made by capital craftsmen often came to the colonies as imported goods or orders, which

Necklace with various pendants. 8th century BC e. Gold. Museum of Carthage

contributed to the development of provincial schools. It also happened that residents of the capitals placed orders for jewelry from artisans in the colonies, and the capital’s traditions were enriched by local ones. Thus, more viable cultures constantly expanded their area of ​​influence. Jewelry traveled around the world with its owners as their personal belongings, bringing not only customs and morals, but also artistic traditions to new territories. Not only every era, but every culture within one era created jewelry in accordance with the dominant worldview and way of life in society. Thus, in the Ancient East, the main role in the art of Egypt was played by religion and court ceremonial, serving to glorify the pharaoh as the vicegerent of God. Therefore, Egyptian jewelry, both religious and secular, has a ritual character.

Earring in the shape of a basket. 2400 - 2300 BC e. Gold. Greece

In Ancient Greece, the aesthetic function of jewelry was of decisive importance. In search of general harmony, the Greeks sought to position man in the space of the macrocosm. In their jewelry art, special attention was paid to decorations that emphasized the proportionality of the human figure as a microcosm. The master jewelers of the Ancient World (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome) developed the main types and types of jewelry, formulated their symbolic meaning in search of the harmonious unity of man with the world.

In the Middle Ages, Christian culture played a major role in the formation of holistic artistic styles in large areas.

Strickland brooch. 9th century Scandinavia. Gold, blue glass. British museum

Church. This era left little secular jewelry, but religious products are united by Christian aesthetics. Under its spiritual influence, Byzantine Orthodox culture was formed in the southeast of Europe and Catholic culture in the west. Then, during the Renaissance, interest in the culture and art of Antiquity increases again. In the New Age - the era of geographical discoveries - Europe gets acquainted with the cultures of hitherto unknown continents and territories, which literally opened a “treasure box” to the Old World. Its contents still feed the creativity of jewelers working in precious materials.

Europeans discovered the artistic cultures of India, America, Africa, and the Far East, and interest in them from the beginning of the 17th century was fused with a new artistic movement, born within the European continent, and associated with the newly increased

Triton pendant.1600.Silver, pearls, precious stones. Silver Museum, Florence, Italy

claims of the church to state supremacy. Baroque was the result of a fusion of religious and secular worldviews. The path to spiritual dominance lay through aesthetic pleasure. The jewelry, like other jewelry of this time, is very colorful and rich in exotic materials.

Classicism is perhaps the first conscious attempt to rethink the creative heritage of Europe. During this period, there were many decorative elements in jewelry.

Spinel Coast of Brittany. Ke, J. Nach. XVIII century. Spinel, gold. Louvre, Paris, France

motifs of the art of the empires of the Ancient World - Egypt and Rome, relevant during the formation of European empires.

In the era of Historicism, products appear that poeticize one or another artistic style of past times, directly related to the increased interest in the past and national history. Therefore, jewelry in these years are direct historical replicas, although divorced from the artistic context.

The Art Nouveau style, which summed up the passing era, became the last attempt to create a unified European artistic style. He demonstrated the constructive basis of artistic products

Brooch Grasshopper. Magnussen, Eric. Denmark, 1907. Silver, coral

objective world. Art Nouveau jewelry, in the expression of those years, “garnished” the dress, seems more like decorative plastic than functional objects. It was they who laid the foundation for the development of jewelry as a self-sufficient form of artistic creativity - art.

Within the framework of the Art Deco style, the basic principles of modern jewelry begin to take shape - the display of a visually significant sign in artistic images, instantly

Hard bracelet. Bucciarati, Mario. 1924. Silver, gold, rubies, sapphires. 6.5 cm, 6.0 cm. Company Mario Bucciarati. Milan

perceived and recognizable. Hence the purity and clarity of the forms of modern jewelry, the priority of author's concepts, active interaction with the artistic and figurative systems of avant-garde movements of modern art.

The question arises: why do reminiscences of the cultures of the Ancient World constantly appear in modern jewelry? Not only their external signs or motives are reproduced, as was the case over previous centuries, but the basic, fundamental aesthetic postulates.

Belt. Chilingaryan, Levon Sarkisovich. 1976. Silver; filigree, granulation. Yerevan

The answer to this is given by the internal evolution of this type of artistic creativity. The logic of constructing the artistic form of modern jewelry, just like in ancient times, is dictated by the shape of the human figure. The closer this connection, the purer the form of decoration; the weaker it is, the more eloquent it is. A radical turning point in understanding the role and place of jewelry in artistic culture occurred in the twentieth century, when scientific achievements, which significantly expanded the boundaries of the unknown, stimulated the formation of a new artistic and figurative system based on the realities of the new technocratic era. The modern artist-jeweler is faced with the need to look for new forms that are adequate to this time. The history of jewelry has completed another round of its journey.

Preview: Ankle bracelets. Early 19th century, India. Gold, diamonds, rubies, turquoise, enamel. London

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Jewelers of Ancient Rus'

Russian jewelry art has a great history. Modern archaeological excavations are evidence of this: the quality and subtlety of the work of ancient craftsmen amazes even now. The jewelry art of Ancient Rus' was influenced by Scandinavian, Eastern and Byzantine cultures, and at the same time inextricably linked with folk customs and traditions.

Craftsmen from all corners of Kievan Rus were fluent in the most complex techniques, including artistic casting, filigree and gold casting. Veliky Novgorod was famous for its jewelry made of precious metals. Kyiv jewelers processed gems with extraordinary skill. The most common decorations were the so-called temple rings, which were woven into the hairstyle or hung from headdresses. Women also wore a variety of bracelets and beads with pendants.

Jewelry Art!

This is jewelry art!

Jewelry art is one of the oldest and most widespread types of decorative and applied arts, the result of which is the creation of jewelry. A characteristic feature and characteristic of jewelry art is the use of precious stones and metals in the manufacture of jewelry.

This is a piece of jewelry!

Jewelry is a product made of precious metals and stones (for example: ring, earrings, bracelet, necklace, brooch, table decorations, etc.).

The main characteristic of jewelry is the presence of the work of a master (jeweler) who creates the product.

Jewelry Art. History of jewelry art.

The history of jewelry goes back to the times when ancient people, regardless of culture and religion, wore jewelry as a sign of self-expression, demonstrating their wealth, social status or belonging to a certain nation. Experts, based on archaeological data, have come to the conclusion that the first jewelry was used 40 thousand years ago by Cro-Magnons, the ancestors of Homo sapiens.

For ancient people, jewelry did not have the same value that it has for us today. They believed that jewelry carried a certain magical meaning, that they somehow protected us from evil spells and witchcraft, from grief and even from physical attacks. Partially this tradition has been preserved to this day.

Being closely connected with the changing conditions of historical life (for example, with the specifics of clothing styles), jewelry pieces played the role of unique signs that revealed the social status of their owner, and also had (in the function of Amulets) a magical meaning.

In the process of historical development, the socially prestigious value of jewelry items most often replaced the religious and magical ideas associated with them.

Jewelry art of Ancient Greece.

The first mention of precious metals and stones in Ancient Greece dates back to the 14th century BC.

In Ancient Greece there was a belief that gold had special magical powers. Gold jewelry (both those worn by the deceased during life, and special gold masks, wreaths, mouthpieces and eyecups) were placed in burials, trying to pay final honors to the deceased and ward off evil forces from him.

The so-called “treasure of King Priam,” found by the famous German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in 1873 during excavations in Troy, is widely known in the history of jewelry art. This treasure included 24 necklaces, hairpins, neck torcs, bracelets, earrings, temple rings, a gold headband and two magnificent gold tiaras. These items represent a true masterpiece of Mycenaean jewelry, testifying to the high skill of ancient craftsmen.

By the 300th century BC, the Greeks began making colorful jewelry using emeralds, garnets, amethysts and pearls. They also created masterpieces using stones, glass and glaze. At this time, jewelry such as engraved brooches and Indian sardonyx medallions became popular.

Jewelry art of Ancient Egypt.

In Ancient Egypt, the main material for making jewelry was gold. Ancient Egyptian jewelers used various processing techniques and were also able to use various additives to change the color of gold - from white to green and pink.

Gold bracelets, pendants, necklaces, earrings, tiaras, rings, various head decorations, chest jewelry and necklaces - all this was made in Ancient Egypt, in the land of the pharaohs.

In the jewelry of Ancient Egypt, not only the metal itself was valued, but also a beautiful range of colors, with preference given to bright, saturated colors. They were decorated with inserts of colored glass (the so-called paste) and ornamental stones, such as carnelian, malachite, lapis lazuli, etc. But the Egyptians did not know those stones that we now consider precious - diamonds, rubies, sapphires.

Jewelry art in the Middle Ages.

In the Middle Ages, the church became the main customer for jewelry. Folding altars, sacrament cups, various vessels, frames for icons and books, images of saints, scenes from the life of Christ - all this luxurious church utensils were produced in considerable quantities in those days. It is especially necessary to note the decoration of book frames, which were kept in monasteries and cathedrals as relics. In the center and at the corners of the book covers, there was usually a relief ornament made of chased metal and ivory, surrounded by images of saints. Bright gems were placed between the plates, securing them in high sockets or surrounding them with filigree openwork. The main means of decorating jewelry at that time was enamel. Competing with gems, it gave the same effect to the precious multi-colored surface of the object. Enamel was most widespread in France and Germany.

The products of medieval craftsmen often give the impression of being overloaded with bright convex stones (ruby, emerald, sapphire, pearl), but there are examples decorated with such gems as rock crystal, topaz, amethyst, and garnet.

Personal jewelry of ordinary residents of medieval Europe has hardly survived to this day. The doctrine of asceticism dictated by the church - the denial of the joys of earthly existence - was expressed in the extreme simplicity of the costume, which hid the outlines of the body, and in a reduction in the number of decorations.

Jewelry art of the Renaissance.

The works of jewelers of the 14th century are characterized by different features. The geometric clarity of the structures, the richness of floral patterns, and the multicolored transparent enamels reflect the features of the so-called flaming Gothic - this extreme expression of the tendency to strive upward, to dematerialize and dissolve the structure in the lace of spiers, in small arrow-shaped protrusions.

At the beginning of the 15th century, a significant amount of jewelry showed the desire of the master to weaken the influence of excessive decorative patterns, use space more rationally, and introduce secular themes. Jewelry for secular purposes appears.

Judging by historical documents, the outfit of a noble lady in Germany or the Netherlands in the 15th century consisted of a dress with narrow sleeves, belted high, and a cloak thrown over the dress. Fasteners, the edge of a bodice or cloak, and a wide belt were decorated with pearls or small enameled plaques, or even precious stones. Knives, rosaries, wallets, and keys were hung from the belt. Several rings adorned the fingers of both hands.

In the 15th century, nobles, both men and women, wore gold chains. Men's cloaks, hats, shoes, especially belts, were decorated just as richly. At the end of the 15th century, a new enameling technique flourished: jewelers discovered that enamel could be applied in layers to an already enameled and fired surface. Despite the complexity of painting technology, enamel, or enamel, has become widespread, almost displacing other methods and bringing enameling closer to painting.

In the jewelry art of the 16th century, the art of enamel portrait miniatures flourished. In the best works made using the technique of painted enamel, one is struck by the master’s subtle sense of composition: the original painting is used in organic connection with the shape of the object and its purpose.

The external manifestation of the style of jewelry art of this time was the cult of antiquity. Using original items found during excavations, jewelers, when reviving items, do not leave them unchanged: using gold frames, gems and enamels as new decor, they give the revived items a brightness unusual for antiquity, which creates a feeling of richness of materials and decorative elements.

Masters masterfully combine pearls, gold, and enamels, enriching each of these materials. For example, on the neck and wings of a swan of one 16th-century pendant, white enamel is applied so that the gold base shines through and creates the impression of a scaly surface.

In the 16th century, diamonds became an important decorative accent in pendants for the first time. Faceted in the shape of a pyramid, they are inserted into deep closed frames, and from the end of the 16th century into flatter ones. The bottom of the frame almost always looks like a box. In multi-color combinations with rubies and emeralds, colored or silver foil is often placed under the diamonds. A colored background is also used to enhance the color intensity of other stones.

Since the second half of the 16th century, men and women of Europe (especially in Spain) wore brooches and buckles, signs of saints or initials on their hats. Along with large chains, thin chains with medallions were also in fashion. Earrings in the form of pendants made of pearls or in the form of flowers were common jewelry for ladies, although men often adorned themselves with a ring in one ear. Rings were worn on all fingers of both hands, and each ring could have some semantic meaning.

The works of jewelers of the 16th century determined the further development of European jewelry. The masters of this era were distinguished by a superbly developed sense of form, the ability to use the capabilities of each material, imagination in the choice of subjects, which they were able to combine with the freedom to perform the most difficult technological operations.

The best features of the art of Renaissance jewelers are the individuality of each product, its artistic significance and uniqueness.

Jewelry art of the New Age.

From the beginning to the middle of the 17th century, the main formative element of jewelry was the floral motif: pendants in the form of a flower with gem petals; chains, the links of which resemble entire garlands of flowers; frames with enamel or niello floral patterns or simply a naturalistic depiction of flowers on flat boxes and medallions. The combination of a white background with a pattern of roses, carnations, and fashionable tulips is used by jewelry makers in Denmark, Holland, and Germany, covering the smooth gold with a more beautiful and, in their opinion, more expensive enamel carpet.

Starting from the second half of the 17th century, enamel in frames was relegated to the background. This is due to the fact that precious stones and, above all, diamonds began to play a leading role in decoration.

Faceted stone has become the central accent of jewelry. Jewelers of that time emphasized the shine and play of stones. This feature of European jewelry had almost no analogues in ancient or non-European traditions.

The 17th century, in European jewelry, is called the “Age of Flowers and Diamonds.”

A famous work of the 17th century, which amazed contemporaries with its grandeur, was the famous tabletop multi-figure composition “The Great Mogul”, a kind of tribute to the fascination with oriental themes. The Great Mogul (Indian ruler), his guards, servants, guests and servants of guests, pack animals - the entire lush court of the fabulous eastern king is represented in the form of small gold figures in bright enamel robes. The fringe of the canopy, the ornaments of weapons, and the details of clothing are made with great technical skill, precious stones enhance the shine of gold and enamels. Dark agate with natural white streaks was successfully used to depict the carpet behind the Mughal’s back.

Jewelry art and diamonds.

At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, a “new element” appeared in the already established appearance of European jewelry - a diamond, cut in a special way and called a diamond, translated as “sparkling”.

The luminous diamond becomes the main accent of the product; its advantages are more clearly revealed in combination with colored stones and the overall lightness of the design. The best piece of jewelry of the 18th century, which used diamonds in their most advantageous form, is considered to be the imperial crown of Catherine II.

An important element in the design of jewelry in the 18th century was the motifs of floral arrangements. These were quite complex decorations, entirely composed of flowers and leaves, made of precious stones, gold, and silver. Some bouquet decorations are selected from bright stones: amethyst tulips, ruby ​​roses, aquamarine daisies, turquoise forget-me-nots.

Jewelers of the 18th century in their works widely used the techniques of casting and chasing, hand and machine engraving, used matte and shiny gold, as well as green, yellow and red gold, opalescent enamels, mother of pearl, engraved and smooth, with local overlays and mosaic .

Rings were worn by both men and women in the 18th century. Rings with carved stones were used as seals and to indicate the rank of the owner. Rings for bishops were made from smooth gold in combination with amethyst, ruby, and sapphire. The ring of the head of the church - the Pope - was decorated with figures of St. Peter in a boat. The badges of the papal ambassadors were large rings made of bronze or copper with an inexpensive stone or glass and a sacred saying, applied by engraving. There were ambassadorial rings and special rings for members of merchant guilds.

Surviving jewelry from the late 18th century testifies to the development of a style called “classicism” in jewelry. Jewelry of this style is characterized by balance and strict symmetry.

In 1789, the French Revolution occurred and the French class structure of society was ended.

A stage of new social revolutionary transformations has begun in Europe and around the world.

Since that time, jewelry art has become closer and more accessible to ordinary people.

Jewelry art today remains one of the means of forming a holistic artistic environment, which allows one to simultaneously emphasize both the beauty of the source material and the sophistication of its processing.

Jewelry Art. Contemporary jewelry art. Jewelry products.

Jewelry art of modern times.

Jewelry Art. Modern trends in jewelry

Today, jewelry is considered as one of the brightest forms of artistic creativity. And it is customary to talk about jewelry craftsmanship as an art.

Jewelry businesses are using more and more professional tools, and the materials that serve as the basis for jewelry are becoming more diverse and accessible. Many jewelry products that are created today from synthetic materials often even compete with the most expensive stones and metals given to us by nature. But, of course, natural gems will not soon lose their leadership not only in the market, but also in art itself.

Jewelry art began to imply more precisely the creative and artistic self-expression of the artist.

In modern jewelry art, new original trends continue to appear and develop, which increases the variety of the most beautiful works of world jewelry art.

Jewelry Art. Jewelry. Jewelry products. Jewelry styles. Jewelry. Women's jewelry. Works of jewelry art. Masterpieces of jewelry art. High jewelry art.

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Rus' in the XIV – XVII centuries

With the advent of the Tatar-Mongol hordes, jewelry making was forgotten for almost a century. Many craftsmen died or were taken away to work for the Horde rulers. Only towards the end of the 14th century did a gradual return to ancient art begin. Moscow is becoming the center of jewelry crafts, where the filigree silver technique is very popular.

In the 16th – 17th centuries, jewelry actively used enamel and gems. The jewelry of this period is characterized by richness, colorfulness and richness of colors. The stones are also distinguished by their brightness - sapphires, rubies, and emeralds are held in high esteem. This time is called the heyday of the blackening technique. Silversmithing centers were established in many cities.

European jewelry of the 18th century

In the 18th century, the dominant styles were Baroque and Rococo. This also applies to jewelry. Fancy, pomp and bright colors are becoming fashionable. At the same time, French jewelry occupies a leading position. It was then that jewelry acquired its modern look. Jewelry ensembles are gradually coming into fashion; large brooches are very popular among wealthy people. The most favorite stones are diamonds of yellowish, pinkish and bluish shades, and they are used in both men's and women's costumes.

The rise of the jewelry business in Europe: jewelry houses that have become brands

By the 19th century, when methods of stone processing had significantly improved, major dynasties of jewelers had formed in Europe and began to open trading houses. The majority of those that have stood the test of time are still in use today. Of course, not all of them remained dynastic; this is a rather difficult task in the modern market, but the recognizable corporate style of those that have survived to the present day has been preserved. Now these are full-fledged jewelry brands, setting trends in the world of jewelry fashion, with networks of boutiques around the world.

Among the jewelry houses that managed to create a recognizable “calling card” and a unique style is the French Mauboussin, founded in 1827. The house's jewelers made popular jewelry with unusual geometries in the Art Deco style, inlaid with scatterings of multi-colored stones - rubies, emeralds and sapphires.

A dozen years later, in America, Charles Lewis Tiffany opened a jewelry house that specialized in diamonds. Tiffany&Co became famous for its white gold wedding ring, studded with diamonds and with a large stone in the center - Neil Lane, invented in 1886. And the patented soft turquoise jewelry box, white ribbon and Tiffany Blue Box inscription made the brand even more recognizable and popular among wealthy people.

In 1842, the jewelry house of Carl Faberge was established in St. Petersburg, which sold its works to the Russian court and many other ruling dynasties. The “highlight” of the work of jewelers of this dynasty was the use of rock crystal, jade, lapis lazuli and other types of quartz when creating jewelry and luxury items, which gave the products a weightless and delicate appearance. The most popular collection of fifty-two Easter eggs created for the Russian imperial family.

Five years later, the Cartier jewelry house opened in France, which gained success in many royal houses around the world. Since 1888, the hallmark of the brand has been women's bracelet watches decorated with diamonds. The main motifs of Cartier jewelry developed around abstract and geometric patterns in the Art Deco style.

In terms of everything sophisticated and refined, France has always been the leader. Jewelry making is no exception. In 1858, the famous jewelry house Boucheron was founded here, whose jewelry is still distinguished by its bright colors and easily readable oriental accents. Often the jewelers of this house create images of various animals, such as snakes or birds, on their jewelry.

When people say “Switzerland”, “fine watches” and “chocolate” are among the first associations that appear. But, if chocolate has nothing to do with jewelry, then a watch can become a true jewelry art object. In 1860, Louis-Ulysse Chopard founded the Chopard watch factory in Switzerland, which at the beginning of the 20th century began to specialize in the production of not just high-quality and accurate watches, but watches made of precious metals. Recently, the company has been creating other jewelry in an aristocratic style.

A couple of decades after the opening of the Swiss Chopard, the factory of jeweler Joseph Marshak, which began its journey in 1878, rose to the peak of popularity in Kyiv. The factory's craftsmen worked in the vein of the “pseudo-Russian style” and always gravitated toward creating large, bright jewelry with voluminous floral designs and fancy animals. Another characteristic feature is the unusual combination of materials (diamonds and amber, glass and precious metals), which goes against tradition.

Jewelry that was somewhat brutal in style was brought into fashion by the Italian jewelry house Bvlgari, founded in 1884 by the Greek Sotirio Voulgaris. Thanks to the house's jewelers, Greco-Roman motifs have become trendy elements of jewelry decor. An iconic item, the brand of which can be recognized from afar, are wide, massive rings encrusted with diamonds, with the name “Bvlgari” engraved around the circumference.

Just a year after the opening of this jewelry house in Italy, Madrid announced itself with the appearance of Carrera & Carrera, where they created unusual jewelry designed to symbolize the height of luxury. Since the middle of the 20th century, the corporate style of Carrera & Carrera has been the transfer of the principles of sculptural art to the platform of jewelry, as well as a move away from gloss, giving products a matte finish. The calling card is a watch with incredible artistic solutions for the dial.

The end of the 19th century was marked by the appearance of the Japanese jewelry house Mikimoto in 1893, and in 1896 Van Cleef & Arpels appeared in France. The first was and is engaged in the production of pearl jewelry, and the second came up with a special method of inlay - “secret framing”, thanks to which the metal around the stones is almost invisible, as a result of which the precious stones remain the center of attention. Van Cleef & Arpels' signature style is most evident in the famous Alhambra necklace, composed of quatrefoils set with colored gemstones.

The 20th century, with its rapidly changing trends in the fashion world, was marked by the birth of a whole galaxy of jewelry brands, some of which opened directly in the houses of famous couturiers. Among the popular brands today are Herry Winston, Versace, Nina Ricci, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Dior, Roberto Cavalli and some others.

Rus' in the 18th century

In Russia in the 18th century, jewelry art flourished. This happened largely thanks to the reforms of Peter I. Since then, jewelry has been actively borrowing European trends, while maintaining its originality. Foreign masters often come to Russia. Among them is the famous Jeremy Pozier, who worked at court for thirty years and created true masterpieces of jewelry. His best work is rightfully considered the Great Imperial Crown, made for Catherine II. This unique product contains almost five thousand diamonds. Now this relic is carefully preserved by a unique museum of jewelry art - the Diamond Fund in Moscow.

In general, the use of gemstones becomes popular during this time. Sparkling, bright, superbly crafted and decorated, they perfectly complement and decorate the magnificent outfits of noble ladies and nobles.

Interestingly, the word “jeweler” itself also came into use in the 18th century. It replaced the rather long title “gold and silversmith”.

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The history of jewelry dates back to the origins of human history. At first, gems were worn in the form in which they were found in nature. Then they began to process them to enhance their shine and beauty, and carve various designs and texts the stone Each era created jewelry in its own way, and not only in terms of its inherent style, but also in terms of the choice of material, processing method, and design. In ancient times, mainly Egypt, Greece, Rome, and later Byzantium significantly determined the evolution of jewelry. Jewelry that has survived to this day gives an idea of ​​the traditions, tastes and skill of jewelers of the past. In the past, the finishing of jewelry stones was extremely rough, and the finishing and cutting of stones that appeared in the Middle Ages did not exist before. Stone carving (glyptic) already in the 6th century. BC e. reached its peak in Greece; In Rome, glyptics was also popular (although it originated in the states of Mesopotamia). Glyptics appeared in Europe only at the beginning of the 14th century. The craftsmanship of gems - intaglios (in-depth carved images) and cameos (protruding carved images) - has reached the highest perfection. Graceful figures, women's heads, and entire scenes glorifying the rulers of the ancient world were carved on them.

“Painting in stone” - this is what one of the 19th century archaeologists aptly called it. relief multi-colored cameos carved from super-hard minerals. From ancient times, right up to the eastern campaigns of Alexander the Great (second half of the 4th century BC), craftsmen preferred in-depth carving of seals, which gave miniature reliefs on impressions in clay and wax. The earliest cameos were carved on a single-color mineral: garnet, hyacinth, amethyst, but soon carvers turned to multi-layered minerals, which made it possible to use a wider range of tones and their transitions, taking into account the subtlest features of the stone. The first cameos from multi-layer agate, apparently, began to be carved in Alexandria, at the Ptolemaic court (late 4th-3rd centuries BC). Many of them were very large and could not be used either as a seal or as an amulet. These were rare commissioned works that served as royal gifts to churches or complemented the magnificent headdress of rulers. Agate is harder than steel, so the carver had to use even harder materials as an abrasive. Crushed corundum or diamond, when rotated rapidly, cut into the surface of the stone, and thus the image was cut out. The carver's work was a real feat. The large stones are genuine agate paintings and required many years of work. Ancient masters most often turned to either the Arabic sardonyx with its range of cold gray-blue tones, or the Indian sardonyx, in which warm brown-red shades predominated. The world famous “Gonzaga Cameo” was created from the Arabic sardonyx; the Indian one was used by the creator of the cameo with the head of Zeus for Princess Golitsyna. In these masterpieces, which are the pride of the Hermitage collection, nameless Alexandrian carvers of the 3rd century. BC. They used all the means of art, combining plastic and painting, relief and color into one whole. By changing the polishing of the surface of the stone, they were able to give, for example, a helmet the cold shine of metal, and a face the warmth of living flesh. By changing the thickness of the upper light layer of the mineral, the master, like a painter resorting to the “glaze” technique, made the lower, dark layer shine through it. This created the impression of a play of light and shadow, enriching the color scheme of the initially two- or three-layer agate - sardonyx.

The names of the Alexandrian carvers who created large dynastic cameos from the early Ptolemaic era (III-II centuries BC) have not reached us, but for the late Hellenistic era (I century BC) we have signed works. In addition to the Alexandrian school, the workshops of Asia Minor and the Northern Black Sea region flourished at this time.

Antique cameos were kept in special galleries at sanctuaries, in the temples themselves as the most valuable gifts to the deity, in imperial Rome - in the palaces of the Caesars, in the mansions and villas of the nobility. They were difficult to reach. Ancient poets report with surprise about people who made long sea voyages to see this or that masterpiece. Their desire to purchase a copy of this masterpiece is understandable. Therefore, sometimes the same composition comes to us in several versions. There are cases when we have a reproduction of the same picture simultaneously on gems, reliefs in marble and terracotta, in lamps, on coins and decorative frescoes.

Multicolor cameos in the drawers of the dactyl libraries of antique collectors apparently formed a kind of portable gallery of miniature reproductions of paintings. The enormous hardness of the material from which the cameos were made, surpassing steel in its hardness, seemed to have forever protected them from destruction. However, glyptic works were sometimes sent back for processing by the carver. Reworking of ancient cameos became especially frequent with the victory of Christian ideology, when they tried to give Christian meaning to the old pagan content. It is with such alterations and rethinking that the second life of antique stones in the Middle Ages is associated. Ancient cameos began to be reworked especially intensively in the 16th-18th centuries, during the heyday of modern glyptics. Sometimes it was a retouching of a surface partially destroyed by time, sometimes the master dared to carve a handwritten image on the back, sometimes inscriptions were added. Sometimes it was a matter of complete radical revision.

The main core of the Hermitage collection was compiled in the second half of the 18th century. Cameos were the subject of special concern for Catherine II; she jokingly called her passion for collecting them a “cameo disease,” and her large collection an abyss. By the end of the 18th century. her collection of glyptics numbered 10 thousand copies. The history of the Hermitage collection can be reconstructed with great completeness thanks to the accounts, as well as letters and diaries of the Empress and her immediate circle. The most significant acquisition was made in 1787. This collection of Duke Louis-Philippe d'Orléans is one of the most famous collections in Europe. In 1795, Catherine II wrote with legitimate pride: “All the meetings of Europe, compared to ours, are just childish ideas.” Catherine II's grandson, Alexander I, not only inherited his grandmother's favorite collection, but also increased it. In Russia, it is becoming a tradition to replenish the Hermitage dactyl library by donating or bequeathing ancient gems, these rare creations of ancient art. After 1917, as a result of the nationalization of the collections of the St. Petersburg nobility, cameos from the former collections of the Stroganovs, Yusupovs, Shuvalovs, Nelidovs came to the Hermitage... Many of the cameos that made up this unique collection are rightfully among the most beautiful works of art ever to come from human hands .

The Middle Ages adopted this legacy of antiquity, but soon went on its own path and began to use carved stones both in secular life and to decorate church utensils, church books and vestments of clergy. They were worn by high-born women in the form of clasps on robes or in the form of medallions. The hand of a medieval aristocrat was often adorned with a signet ring with an image carved in stone. During the Renaissance, glyptics experienced a new heyday, and many famous masters of that time created works of art of the highest level using this technique.

In the Vienna Museum of Art you can see keychains made of enameled gold with embedded rubies and diamonds, in the center of which is an agate head. These are Moorish cameos, which enjoyed great success at the end of the 16th century. They show the natural grooves of the stone, the image of an exotic nature and, of course, elegant enameling in the Moorish style. There is also a collection of antique and medieval cameos in the Paris National Library.

While the art of cutting stones reached its apogee back in antiquity, faceting developed more slowly and in ancient times lagged far behind glyptics. The simplest form of stone processing, used in ancient times, is cabochon cutting. In the early and mature Middle Ages, caboching was the only way to process precious stones. Today, as a rule, opaque or translucent decorative stones are finished in a similar way. In the XIV and XV centuries. Table grinding spread in the 15th and 16th centuries. faceting appears. The fact that finely crushed diamond is an unsurpassed cutting tool was first discovered by the lapidary of Charles the Bold of Burgundy, Louis de Berquin from Bruges, which determined the rise of the cutting industry. He most fully revealed one of the most important properties of diamond: the ability to refract light, which no other stone possesses to such an extent. After this, cutting began its similar procession and many of its types appeared. In the 17th century the diamond became the main decoration. Diamond cutting led to the fact that in the 18th century. skilled jewelers set shimmering diamonds in the form of flowers, branches and bows into brooches, plumes, rings and other jewelry. In Europe, entire sets of jewelry began to be made, which consisted of a necklace, earrings, brooches, bracelets, and sometimes a tiara.

Already in antiquity there was imitation of precious stones . Rare and precious stones were replaced by similar, but more accessible and cheaper surrogates. Even the ancient Egyptian craftsmen knew how to make imitation stones - colored opaque glass, smalt. By making a certain setting, it was possible to present and “play up” a defective stone so that it seemed impeccably clean and expensive. Light-reflecting foil was used to increase the shine of colorless and transparent diamonds. The Renaissance artist and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini became famous for his ability to produce excellent foil, which significantly increased the sparkle of the gemstone. In other cases, by gluing two stones together, a deceptive unity and appearance of high quality were achieved. By firing, the color of many stones could be changed. For example, a matte blue sapphire became watery-light after firing and served to imitate diamond. At all times, glass has been used as a cheap substitute for precious stones. Glass varieties that are distinguished by increased optical refraction and give a rich color play when cut can, firstly - colored with metal oxides - be used to imitate colored precious stones, and secondly - in a colorless state - serve as substitutes for diamonds in cheap jewelry. The basis of modern imitation of precious stones through glass is rhinestones, a colorless glass mass made of iron oxide, alumina, lime and sodium oxide, the alloy of which was first obtained in 1758 by the Viennese goldsmith Joseph Strasser. It was a special type of glass that, when processed, looks like a diamond. It has penetrated the world market under the name “rhinestone”. Pseudo-diamonds are close in appearance to genuine ones, but experts can easily distinguish them by their hardness, not to mention instrumental diagnostic methods. When these jewelry are worn for a long time, signs of wear appear on them and their shine weakens over time.

It must be said that a suitable setting is also of great importance for a precious stone. Both in antiquity and today, for the setting of processed stones, noble metals are used primarily and only occasionally base metals, which were given the proper appearance through appropriate surface treatment (for example, gilded copper). In principle, two types of frames can be distinguished: early, nested frames, known in antiquity; and the later one, known since the end of the 10th century, is openwork, through, which does not have a bottom and leaves the stone open on both sides. All the past centuries have not been able to change the basic types of settings for precious stones, and to this day we are still dealing with the same varieties of original forms.

The central place in jewelry in the Middle Ages is occupied by brooches, which have been used by almost all European peoples since the Bronze Age. Over the centuries, they have evolved from a simple fastening pin for fastening garments to a luxuriously finished item.

In the 13th century. graceful agraphs appear - this is a clasp on the neckline of a woman’s attire. They were often covered with love inscriptions and mottos. Made of gold, silver, precious stones.

Cufflinks for nobles, which were beautifully made in Transylvania, were distributed throughout Europe from there. The most common church decoration was the clasp of the choir curtain.

By the 17th century, brooches, agraphs, etc. appeared in the form of brooches in fashionable jewelry of that time. In the 18th century, brooches studded with diamonds became the latest craze. Brooches in the form of ribbons and bouquets of flowers were preferred. By the end of the 18th century. brooches with miniature portraits appear in a gold frame with a pearl border in the shape of a circle or oval. Later, they began to wear locks of friends, portraits, etc. in brooches. It should be noted that there was another important detail of the clothing of a resident of medieval Europe - hat buckles, shoe buckles and pants buckles, often precious, with set diamonds. Pendants were also common. Ancient European pendants (early Middle Ages) were round and flat, decorated with enamel, colored precious stones or pearls, and expressed primarily the religious feelings of the people wearing them. Only from the 15th century. pendants are starting to appear more often. They are decorated with ivory and mother-of-pearl, often carved with relief images of the Madonna and Child or the figure of a heavenly patron. During the Renaissance, pendants left all related jewelry far behind. Renaissance pendants were decorated with emblems, figures and scenes from religious life, and scenes from the history of antiquity. Often there are pendants in the form of animals and fairy-tale characters. Among other things, they used unusually shaped pearls and stones in the form of human or animal body parts. In the 17th century The exclusive predilection for pendants was abandoned for a long time, and pendants in the shape of a cross began to be worn. Their front side was decorated with diamonds; the reverse side, as a rule, was painted with enamel.

It must be said that Italy, especially Florence and Milan, were generally recognized centers of jewelry art during the Renaissance. In particular, in the XV-XVI centuries. Milan was the center of crystal carving. It was very fashionable to make an animal’s head out of crystal (for example, sable), set it in enameled gold (embedded rubies served as eyes) and attach it to expensive fur. This robe was worn on the shoulders.

In general, the 16th century. should be especially noted. At this time, many new jewelry were invented. For example, on the neck of a medieval townsman one could see a religious keychain. It could be a ball of agate, set in enameled gold, with embedded rubies and pearls. When the ball was opened, an image of a religious plot appeared. Such balls were also made from wood and boxwood (in England, Holland, France). Large religious charms set with precious stones, often with windows to display relics, enjoyed considerable success in Spain in the first half of the 17th century.

Keychains in the shape of animals in the 16th century. were especially popular in Spain. Such an animal, as a rule, “perched on a cushion.” Most often it was an eagle. Or the keychain could have an image of St. James, who was especially revered in Spain. Keychains in the shape of ships, made using the filigree enamel technique, often trimmed with pearls, were very popular. They were especially common from the 16th to the 18th centuries. in Italy, the Aegean region and Central Europe (Hungary).

In the 16th century in Europe, talisman keychains could also be seen among jewelry, for example, in the shape of a hand, made of ivory, set in enameled gold, with embedded pearls and turquoise. The fingers showed the fig. Since the times of the Roman Empire, this gesture among the peoples of the Mediterranean meant “to scare away the evil eye.” The Spanish King Philip II had such coral keychains. In Spain they were most often made from ivory and agate.

In Italy at the same time they liked to wear keychains made of decorative stones with images of a naked female bust.

Collectors in the 16th century. They valued not only jewelry, but also dishes made of semiprecious stones such as rock crystal, agate or lapis lazuli. Beginning in 1560, a rich collection of lapis lazuli vessels belonged to representatives of the Florentine Medici dynasty, who invited craftsmen to come to Florence for their lapidary workshops.

In southern Germany in the 16th century. There were also several famous jewelry centers: Nuremberg and Augsburg, where outstanding jewelers of that time worked, such as Wenzel Jamnitzer. Tableware was very popular among the townspeople at that time: goblets made of gilded silver with embedded precious stones (garnets, emeralds, sapphires, rubies). They were often made to order for wedding gifts. Beer mugs made of gilded silver, decorated with corals, rubies, emeralds, pearls, diamonds, and other dishes, usually very massive, which was typical of Nuremberg jewelers during the Renaissance. In the 16th century It was fashionable to make cups in the shape of coconuts and other exotic fruits.

However, nothing could compete with women's jewelry, the fashion for which was constantly changing. So, in the 17th century. Pearl bracelets began to be seen, usually worn in pairs. Since ancient times, earrings have been of great importance among jewelry items. They were worn not only by women, but also by men, in particular by warriors. Since the 17th century earrings have become exclusively women's jewelry. At first these were large pear-shaped pearls, then elegant earrings became popular, trimmed with precious stones on the front side and enamel on the back. Ivory, tortoiseshell and decorative woods began to be found. Since the 11th century. BC e. there was a mention of wearing rings (in Indian epic). In the beginning, as already mentioned, the ring was a sign of power, not a decoration. These are signet rings, rings as signs of dignity, and later - a ring as decoration, a talisman ring, an amulet ring. Church ministers also wore rings (on top of the bishop's glove on the fourth finger of the right hand). In the XIV century. a simple smooth nested setting for cabochon-cut stones was usually used, while late Gothic preferred richly crafted rings decorated with enamel and stones. In the 17th century They preferred large faceted stones in the central part of the ring. Red carnelian and “moss” agate, black-and-white and brown-white onyx, and multicolor agates began to receive especially great attention in Europe at this time (in the 17th-18th centuries). Carved stone until the very end of the 19th century. remained a popular ring decoration, along with opaque multi-colored stones, which were often used for stones. Rock crystal, smoky topaz, amethyst and rose quartz, in which intaglios were often carved, also experienced a kind of revival. The most expensive and most beautiful stone for a ring at the end of the 19th century. there was a “solitaire” - a large diamond set in platinum. By the way, wedding rings looked very interesting in Europe in the 17th century, for example in Germany. The two rings are joined together, made of enameled gold with set diamonds and rubies. The two rims can be separated if necessary. There could well have been an inscription in Latin, which consisted of the words of the wedding - “what God has joined together, let no man separate.” This double design has been found since the 14th century, and the symbol of shaking hands comes from ancient Roman wedding rings.

One cannot fail to mention hair jewelry, which reached its apogee in the 18th century. These are mainly tiaras, plumes, richly decorated with pearls, precious stones, and corals. In the 19th century and until the beginning of the 20th century. Tortoiseshell combs with a high head, decorated with precious stones, often trimmed with mother-of-pearl and pearls, were fashionable. By the beginning of the 18th century. A diamond necklace with an emerald or ruby ​​inserted into the middle part became fashionable. They began to wear gems or cameos on a black velvet ribbon in the form of medallions.

Household items were also decorated with precious stones - perfume bottles, cases for needles, prayer accessories, etc. Even watches around the neck in the form of pendants on a decorative chain, and they were literally strewn with precious stones. By the way, in France, for example, in the 16th century, bottles for perfumes, spices, and aromatic resins were made of enameled gold with embedded rubies and diamonds. If we go back to the times of antiquity, then fragrant essences were prepared strictly to order, were incredibly expensive and were stored in amphorae made of agate, porphyry, and alabaster. Bottles similar to those of today, like the perfume industry itself, are an invention of the 17th century. Bubbles made of amber and cobalt colored glass were decorated with pearls and garlands of leaves. Soon the fashion came for mother-of-pearl inlays, enamel, then for frosted Bohemian glass with gold filigree, and finally for fine Parisian porcelain.

It should be noted that in the middle of the 18th century. Oriental varnish came into fashion. The pique technique was invented, imitating varnish. In fact, the work was carried out with black pique mother-of-pearl, which imitated varnish.

At this time, household items were decorated using this technique, such as snuff boxes. There were many snuff boxes made of tortoiseshell, set in gold.

In the 18th century The technique of laying patterned tiles (plates) made of semi-precious stone on household items appeared. For example, snuff boxes could have red iron ore plates and agate circles set in gold.

In the first half of the 19th century. new materials, processing methods, new jewelry techniques, etc. have enriched jewelry making. Since the end of the 19th century, the art of jewelry has declined, both in terms of craftsmanship and in all other aspects, and in place of carefully and individually crafted jewelry, mass-produced fashion items have emerged. It was the increased demand for jewelry that primarily gave impetus to the 20th century. to the development of technologies for mass production of jewelry products. The development of stamping significantly reduced the share of manual labor in jewelry production, and the perfection of precision casting reduced manual labor to a minimum. However, manual labor has not completely lost its importance, and the best examples of it are still highly valued. Currently, in addition to imitating the best examples of the Middle Ages and other works of jewelry art of the past, there is the introduction of very interesting modern jewelry design.

It is impossible not to say a few words about jewelry art in Rus'. It has been known since the first centuries of Christianity. It is believed that at this time Byzantium had a great influence on Russian jewelry art and on the art of processing precious metals. This influence can be traced from the 11th-12th centuries. and until the 16th century. It is especially noticeable in the ornamental motifs present in the jewelry works of Russian craftsmen. Byzantine cameos could be found on church decorations of this period. Since the 14th century The heyday of jewelry art began in Veliky Novgorod, Totma, Veliky Ustyug and other cities. From the 16th century Purely Russian, traditional motifs appeared in the works of Russian jewelry craftsmen. By the end of the 16th century. in Moscow, in addition to Russians and Greeks, many other foreign jewelers began to appear. However, we can talk about an entire industry associated with the processing of precious stones (as well as mining) only with the advent of Peter I to the kingdom. By his decree, the first cutting factory was built in Peterhof (in 1725). Masters from abroad were invited to train Russian masters. Under Peter I, the registration of artisans into guild organizations began. Craft centers also appeared under the Moscow Patriarchate and monasteries. Until 1700, jewelry pieces were not hallmarked anywhere except Moscow, while in Byzantium hallmarks were used from the 4th century. (from Byzantium this custom spread throughout Europe). Branding of precious items began to be widely used in Russia in the 18th century. Under Catherine II, the jewelry business moved forward; she built several more polishing factories. In the 19th century craft workshops lost their importance: their places were taken by factories, trading houses, and artels. Schools began to appear in factories where they taught jewelry making. The jewelry was stamped with the number of an artel or trading house, and sometimes there could also be a name of the master (but mostly the names of Russian masters could be found in the so-called census books). The best examples of Russian jewelry craftsmanship are in the rich collections of the Hermitage and the Armory Chamber.

Until 1917, countless treasures of jewelry were also kept in monasteries and churches: on icons, vestments of clergy, church utensils, etc.

From the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. large Moscow and St. Petersburg jewelry firms gradually conquered the Russian market, displacing the products of foreign craftsmen. They were equipped with new mechanical equipment, had the opportunity to hire virtuoso craftsmen and use the services of the best artists. Leading role in Russian and European jewelry art of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. played by the Faberge company, which had branches in several cities in Russia and abroad. And to this day one can only marvel at the perfection of execution and the amazing imagination of its masters. Carl Faberge held the title of court jeweler of the Russian imperial court (in 1885) and court jeweler of Sweden and Norway (since 1897). He began managing the company in 1870, and his services were greatly appreciated at court. The company carried out restoration of ancient works stored in the Imperial Hermitage and jewelry from the jewelry gallery in the Winter Palace. The products of the Faberge company were elegant, had the highest technique of execution and were designed for close examination. It was a neoclassical style, which compared favorably with the works of other leading jewelry firms of that time (P. Sazikov, P. Ovchinnikov, I. Khlebnikov, the Grachev brothers), who often imitated the Kremlin masters of the 17th century, demonstrating ostentatious luxury, whose jewelry works were strewn with large stones and diamonds.

Since the end of the 19th century. The company begins to produce unusual decorative items - Easter eggs with surprises. By the beginning of the 20th century, about 500 specialists of various nationalities already worked in Faberge’s workshops (M. Perkhin, G. Wigström, etc.). The works of the Faberge firm were characterized by an amazing understanding of stone, the use of color and play of precious stones, and their widespread use in works of jewelry, which is typical for both European and ancient Russian goldsmiths. The company produced items for various purposes: silver and gold table services, candelabra, candlesticks, writing instruments made of silver and bronze, where metal was successfully combined with stone: malachite with bronze, lapis lazuli with gold, rhodonite with silver. Sculpture of small forms was very popular, as well as snuff boxes, aromatic boxes, powder compacts, bells, binoculars, lorgnettes, frames for fans, notebooks, brooches, pendants, pins, earrings, precious photo frames, etc. Since the beginning of the 20th century. Faberge began to be called the northern Cellini (the name of the virtuoso Italian master of the Renaissance), and his works were compared with the best jewelry of the Middle Ages. The collection of the Armory Chamber contains about 300 items made by masters of the Faberge company. The most interesting part of the collection are Easter surprises created for gifts to members of the imperial family and stone carvings. Sometimes small jewelry made of gold, silver, and precious stones, made in the shape of an egg, was worn by fashionable ladies in the form of necklaces or on chains. The collection of the Armory Chamber contains 10 Easter surprises made according to orders from the imperial family. The earliest is the egg from 1891. It is made of smoothly polished dark green and red heliotrope with applied curls studded with diamonds. The surprise is that when the egg is opened, a soft blue aquamarine plate imitating water comes out, with a miniature golden ship - an exact model of the cruiser "Memory of Azov". This work was carried out by Mikhail Perkhin, one of the most talented craftsmen of the company. The watch made in the shape of an egg is amazing. Gold, onyx, diamonds, enamel on a guilloché (carved) background (Perkhin, 1899). Clock mechanisms for Faberge products were, as a rule, made by the best Swiss masters: Pavel Bure and Henry Moser. After the death of the talented jeweler M. Perkhin (1903), the workshop was headed by the jeweler Henrik Wigström (Finland), who supervised the work of many craftsmen, so various products of that time are marked with his mark. These products are distinguished by the lightness and elegance characteristic of European styles of the late 18th - early 19th centuries.

The special merit of Carl Faberge is that he was the first to widely use gems from Siberia, the Urals, and the Caucasus in his products of amazing beauty. A great connoisseur of minerals and a recognized authority in this field, C. Faberge was an appraiser of precious stones at the imperial court. The collection of minerals of Faberge himself was very famous; part of it is still kept in the Mineralogical Museum named after A.E. Fersman in Moscow. Rock crystal and chalcedony, carnelian and various agates, aquamarine and opal, all kinds of jasper, obsidian, jade, rhodonite and other stones were selected by craftsmen with great taste. In addition, they knew how to change the natural color of the mineral and obtain the shades and tones they needed. The company acquired its own stone-cutting workshop in St. Petersburg. The miniature figurines of animals created here, skillfully carved and carefully polished, were most often transferred to G. Wigström’s workshop, where they were set in gold and decorated with precious stones. As a rule, the eyes of animals were made from fragments of diamonds or rubies, which gave them a special liveliness. In addition to carved figurines, stone carvers made all kinds of boxes, cigarette cases, frames, calendars, chess sets, watch stands, handles for sabers and daggers, mostly decorated in an oriental manner, and numerous handles for umbrellas and canes. A large place among the company's products is occupied by carved figures of people made of stone. Most often these are folk types, made in the style of porcelain sculpture produced by the Gardner factory (19th century). Stones of various types and shades were used to convey faces, costumes, and attributes.

Another aspect of the activities of the Faberge firm, which brought it worldwide fame, was the production of flowers from precious stones and precious metals in miniature vases. Cutters skillfully processed pieces of rock crystal, creating the impression that the vases were filled with real water. By making flowers from gold, precious and semi-precious stones, craftsmen achieved maximum closeness to nature, but the main thing for them was still the decorative effect. Most often, on flowers, figurines of animals and sculptures, we do not see marks indicating the name of the master, but close acquaintance with the works of the company allows specialists to distinguish them from products of other masters and from fakes.

From the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. An artistic movement arose, in which an appeal to the forms and decorative elements of various stylistic trends of earlier eras can be traced. It was called “historicism” and was typical for works created by the Faberge company. Jewelers who worked in the Moscow branch of the company, more often than those from St. Petersburg, turned to works of ancient Russian applied art. For example, the placement of ornaments and semi-precious stones on a silver ladle, created at the beginning of the 20th century, is characteristic of this type of Old Russian tableware; it combines elements inherent in both the Art Nouveau style and Russian art of the 17th century. The ladle, a traditional Russian vessel, served as part of a service for drinking honey. Metal ladles, derived from wooden prototypes, are found from the 14th century, and their production continued until the mid-19th century. A similar technique was used in decorating the fields of the silver salamandine and opal frame of the icon “Our Lady of Kazan”. It is designed in full accordance with old Russian traditions, but at the same time the master uses decorative motifs that correspond to the tastes of his time.

Faberge products are a significant phenomenon in the decorative and applied arts of the 19th-20th centuries. These are works of their era, with all the preferences of the century, but the sophistication of the jewelry, the harmony of the composition, and the subtle sense of material place them in the first rank of world jewelry art. mir-kamnej.ru

Europe in the 19th century

In the middle of the 19th century, jewelry making became more widespread. At the same time, less valuable stones and materials began to be used: aquamarine, rock crystal, malachite, artificial diamonds. Jewelry art has also changed its general style - classicism is replacing rococo, and accordingly, jewelry is becoming more strict and carefully designed. Products with precious stones are gradually ceasing to be used in men's suits, but cane knobs and expensive snuff boxes are becoming fashionable.

Among the famous masters, one can highlight the court jeweler of Napoleon I, Martin Guillaume Bienne. In the 19th century, such world-famous houses as Cartier and Tiffany were born.

Moneybox of knowledge

The history of the development of jewelry is conventionally divided into 5 main stages. The first is prehistoric, lasting more than 100 thousand years BC, when mankind became acquainted with colored stones and other materials used in jewelry, and experience in their processing was accumulated, including the development of glyptics. The second stage is ancient, from the beginning of our era to the middle of the 15th century, during which the foundations of jewelry were laid and the first unique products were created. At the same time, the development of deposits of colored stones and artistic processing of stone began, incl. the simplest cutting using diamonds. The third stage is the XV-XIX centuries, starting from the era of geographical discoveries, when the raw material base and the market for colored stones intensively expanded. This time marks the beginning of mass cutting of gems and the improvement of precious metals processing technology, the emergence of workshops and guilds of jewelry makers. The consequence was a transition to small-scale production of jewelry and stone-cutting products. The fourth stage is the era of the industrial world of the 19th-20th centuries, when mass production of jewelry began, a world market for colored stones was created, and the synthesis of artificial jewelry and ornamental materials was put on an industrial basis. The birth of gemology as an applied science is associated with this stage. The fifth stage, starting from the 21st century, opens the era of the predominance of synthetic materials in jewelry and the use of bioelectronics achievements. The consequence of this will be an increase in the value of natural colored stones and the role of gemology in their examination and distinction from artificial materials. In primitive society, during the period of matriarchy, the human need for jewelry arose. The materials for them were wood, horn, teeth and bones of killed animals, shells and bright pebbles. The oldest shell beads found in Israel were made almost 100 thousand years ago. In the Neolithic, with the development of tools and pottery, it became possible to use beads made of fired and painted clay as jewelry. At this time, information and myths about the properties of colored stones accumulated. In the Stone Age, man became aware of the first ten organic materials and the same number of ornamental colored stones, and of metals - gold. Jewelry in the form of necklaces made of shells, teeth and claws of predators, rock crystal pebbles, jadeite, flint, jade, obsidian, serpentinite, amber and jasper became widespread. Judging by the petroglyphs on the walls of the caves, the beginnings of the art of stone carving appeared at least 30 thousand years ago. Humanity became acquainted with colored stones as material culture developed, but extremely unevenly in different regions of the world. The leaders in this process were the ancient centers of civilization: the Middle East, India, China, Egypt. The true flourishing and development of jewelry occurs in Dr. Greece, Roman Empire and Byzantium. The first information about the finds and use of native gold in Egypt dates back to the 5th millennium BC. Ancient craftsmen quickly recognized its valuable qualities - low melting point and ease of processing. Already in the archaic period, Dr. Egypt (3200-2980 BC) in the “golden leaf” style decorated dishes, weapons, furniture and even the walls of houses. During the Copper Age (IV-III millennium BC), compared with the Stone Age, the number of colored stones mastered doubled (see table). Excavations of Egyptian tombs showed the high skill of jewelers of that time, who used, in addition to colored stones and their imitation. Along with clay colored to resemble lapis lazuli and malachite, ceramics with colored glazes, colored glass, annealed amber and colored chalcedony appear. Precious stones act not only as mystical symbols, but also as signs of power and honor. In ancient times, manual stone processing became widespread, and the art of glyptics developed. Signets of engraved colored stones indicating their affiliation or purpose as amulets and talismans are coming into use. In the 3rd millennium BC, along with engraving, inlay, the technique of making cabochons and coloring stones were mastered, and jewelry reached high perfection. In Top. During this period, emerald was mined in Egypt, turquoise deposits were developed in Sinai and Iran, lapis lazuli in Badakhshan, malachite in the Urals, and jadeite in Kazakhstan. Among the metals, gold, silver and copper are beginning to be widely used. During the Bronze and Iron Ages (from the 3rd to the 1st millennium BC), ruby, sapphire, chrysoberyl, spinel, garnet, topaz, beryl, and zircon were processed. New metals are being mastered in jewelry: tin, lead and native iron. Subsequently, the role of colored stones gradually changed from symbols of power to simple jewelry and a popular commodity. Along with this, unique jewelry was also made, such as the Sumerian “Standard of Ur” - one of the first mosaic works with scenes inlaid with mother-of-pearl and lapis lazuli (circa 2600 BC). New craftsmen were also distinguished by their particular sophistication in finishing jewelry and their ability to work with colored stones and gold. Kingdoms in Egypt (1600-1100 BC). They created unique breast decorations - pectorals, found in the tombs of the pharaohs. In Egypt, after the invention of glass, its use in jewelry began, because... glass was then considered a luxury item available only to supreme rulers. In the symbol of the divine power of the pharaohs, the “Necklace of the Sun,” glass beads are used along with gold. Monuments of jewelry art are also masterpieces of Assyrian glyptics (700-600 BC). Chinese art of processing colored stones in the 2nd millennium BC. characterized by the creation of unique carvings from jade, quartz, turquoise, coral and ivory. In India VIII-IX centuries. Interest in colored stones is evident from the extensive lists of gems in old chronicles. In the basin of the Indus and Ganges rivers, the cutting of diamonds, sapphires and rubies was mastered by simply trimming the faces of their crystals. Thrones, clothing, and dishes were decorated with precious stones. With the development of trade and the advent of money, colored stones sometimes played their role in many countries. In China it was jade, as the most valuable stone; in the Pacific Ocean on the island of Borneo there is agate, on the New Hebrides islands there are rings of marble, and on the islands of Polynesia there are mother-of-pearl shells. In the 1st millennium BC. The flourishing of stone-cutting art is observed in the ancient civilizations of America. On the territory of Mexico and South. In America, burials with ritual items made of jadeite, jade, lapis lazuli, quartz, agate, obsidian and turquoise are found. These include perfect stone carvings of the ancient Mayan people (IX century BC), gold inlays of the ancient Indians of Peru (1st millennium AD), mosaic compositions and stone sculptures of the Toltecs of Mexico (Vb. n. .e.).

www.minsoc.ru Bukanov V.V. Colored stones: Encyclopedia

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The state of affairs in Russia in the 19th century

Jewelry art in Russia reached its highest level in the 19th century. At this time, the direction of work changes significantly, the craftsmen try to move away from European traditions and return to the original Russian ones, giving the products a national flavor. Freshwater pearls are becoming especially fashionable.

Large silver and gold enterprises appeared in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The firms of Ovchinnikov, Postnikov, the Grachev brothers and, of course, Carl Faberge are especially famous. With their amazing skill they conquer not only the Russian nobility, but also the royal courts of Western Europe. However, their products are also available to the average buyer - we are talking about cigarette cases and silverware.

According to experts, the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries is the golden age of Russian jewelry.

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The history of jewelry dates back to the origins of human history. At first, gems were worn in the form in which they were found in nature. Then they began to process them to enhance their shine and beauty, and carve various designs and texts the stone Each era created jewelry in its own way, and not only in terms of its inherent style, but also in terms of the choice of material, processing method, and design. In ancient times, mainly Egypt, Greece, Rome, and later Byzantium significantly determined the evolution of jewelry. Jewelry that has survived to this day gives an idea of ​​the traditions, tastes and skill of jewelers of the past. In the past, the finishing of jewelry stones was extremely rough, and the finishing and cutting of stones that appeared in the Middle Ages did not exist before. Stone carving (glyptic) already in the 6th century. BC e. reached its peak in Greece; In Rome, glyptics was also popular (although it originated in the states of Mesopotamia). Glyptics appeared in Europe only at the beginning of the 14th century. The craftsmanship of gems - intaglios (in-depth carved images) and cameos (protruding carved images) - has reached the highest perfection. Graceful figures, women's heads, and entire scenes glorifying the rulers of the ancient world were carved on them.

“Painting in stone” - this is what one of the 19th century archaeologists aptly called it. relief multi-colored cameos carved from super-hard minerals. From ancient times, right up to the eastern campaigns of Alexander the Great (second half of the 4th century BC), craftsmen preferred in-depth carving of seals, which gave miniature reliefs on impressions in clay and wax. The earliest cameos were carved on a single-color mineral: garnet, hyacinth, amethyst, but soon carvers turned to multi-layered minerals, which made it possible to use a wider range of tones and their transitions, taking into account the subtlest features of the stone. The first cameos from multi-layer agate, apparently, began to be carved in Alexandria, at the Ptolemaic court (late 4th-3rd centuries BC). Many of them were very large and could not be used either as a seal or as an amulet. These were rare commissioned works that served as royal gifts to churches or complemented the magnificent headdress of rulers. Agate is harder than steel, so the carver had to use even harder materials as an abrasive. Crushed corundum or diamond, when rotated rapidly, cut into the surface of the stone, and thus the image was cut out. The carver's work was a real feat. The large stones are genuine agate paintings and required many years of work. Ancient masters most often turned to either the Arabic sardonyx with its range of cold gray-blue tones, or the Indian sardonyx, in which warm brown-red shades predominated. The world famous “Gonzaga Cameo” was created from the Arabic sardonyx; the Indian one was used by the creator of the cameo with the head of Zeus for Princess Golitsyna. In these masterpieces, which are the pride of the Hermitage collection, nameless Alexandrian carvers of the 3rd century. BC. They used all the means of art, combining plastic and painting, relief and color into one whole. By changing the polishing of the surface of the stone, they were able to give, for example, a helmet the cold shine of metal, and a face the warmth of living flesh. By changing the thickness of the upper light layer of the mineral, the master, like a painter resorting to the “glaze” technique, made the lower, dark layer shine through it. This created the impression of a play of light and shadow, enriching the color scheme of the initially two- or three-layer agate - sardonyx.

The names of the Alexandrian carvers who created large dynastic cameos from the early Ptolemaic era (III-II centuries BC) have not reached us, but for the late Hellenistic era (I century BC) we have signed works. In addition to the Alexandrian school, the workshops of Asia Minor and the Northern Black Sea region flourished at this time.

Antique cameos were kept in special galleries at sanctuaries, in the temples themselves as the most valuable gifts to the deity, in imperial Rome - in the palaces of the Caesars, in the mansions and villas of the nobility. They were difficult to reach. Ancient poets report with surprise about people who made long sea voyages to see this or that masterpiece. Their desire to purchase a copy of this masterpiece is understandable. Therefore, sometimes the same composition comes to us in several versions. There are cases when we have a reproduction of the same picture simultaneously on gems, reliefs in marble and terracotta, in lamps, on coins and decorative frescoes.

Multicolor cameos in the drawers of the dactyl libraries of antique collectors apparently formed a kind of portable gallery of miniature reproductions of paintings. The enormous hardness of the material from which the cameos were made, surpassing steel in its hardness, seemed to have forever protected them from destruction. However, glyptic works were sometimes sent back for processing by the carver. Reworking of ancient cameos became especially frequent with the victory of Christian ideology, when they tried to give Christian meaning to the old pagan content. It is with such alterations and rethinking that the second life of antique stones in the Middle Ages is associated. Ancient cameos began to be reworked especially intensively in the 16th-18th centuries, during the heyday of modern glyptics. Sometimes it was a retouching of a surface partially destroyed by time, sometimes the master dared to carve a handwritten image on the back, sometimes inscriptions were added. Sometimes it was a matter of complete radical revision.

The main core of the Hermitage collection was compiled in the second half of the 18th century. Cameos were the subject of special concern for Catherine II; she jokingly called her passion for collecting them a “cameo disease,” and her large collection an abyss. By the end of the 18th century. her collection of glyptics numbered 10 thousand copies. The history of the Hermitage collection can be reconstructed with great completeness thanks to the accounts, as well as letters and diaries of the Empress and her immediate circle. The most significant acquisition was made in 1787. This collection of Duke Louis-Philippe d'Orléans is one of the most famous collections in Europe. In 1795, Catherine II wrote with legitimate pride: “All the meetings of Europe, compared to ours, are just childish ideas.” Catherine II's grandson, Alexander I, not only inherited his grandmother's favorite collection, but also increased it. In Russia, it is becoming a tradition to replenish the Hermitage dactyl library by donating or bequeathing ancient gems, these rare creations of ancient art. After 1917, as a result of the nationalization of the collections of the St. Petersburg nobility, cameos from the former collections of the Stroganovs, Yusupovs, Shuvalovs, Nelidovs came to the Hermitage... Many of the cameos that made up this unique collection are rightfully among the most beautiful works of art ever to come from human hands .

The Middle Ages adopted this legacy of antiquity, but soon went on its own path and began to use carved stones both in secular life and to decorate church utensils, church books and vestments of clergy. They were worn by high-born women in the form of clasps on robes or in the form of medallions. The hand of a medieval aristocrat was often adorned with a signet ring with an image carved in stone. During the Renaissance, glyptics experienced a new heyday, and many famous masters of that time created works of art of the highest level using this technique.

In the Vienna Museum of Art you can see keychains made of enameled gold with embedded rubies and diamonds, in the center of which is an agate head. These are Moorish cameos, which enjoyed great success at the end of the 16th century. They show the natural grooves of the stone, the image of an exotic nature and, of course, elegant enameling in the Moorish style. There is also a collection of antique and medieval cameos in the Paris National Library.

While the art of cutting stones reached its apogee back in antiquity, faceting developed more slowly and in ancient times lagged far behind glyptics. The simplest form of stone processing, used in ancient times, is cabochon cutting. In the early and mature Middle Ages, caboching was the only way to process precious stones. Today, as a rule, opaque or translucent decorative stones are finished in a similar way. In the XIV and XV centuries. Table grinding spread in the 15th and 16th centuries. faceting appears. The fact that finely crushed diamond is an unsurpassed cutting tool was first discovered by the lapidary of Charles the Bold of Burgundy, Louis de Berquin from Bruges, which determined the rise of the cutting industry. He most fully revealed one of the most important properties of diamond: the ability to refract light, which no other stone possesses to such an extent. After this, cutting began its similar procession and many of its types appeared. In the 17th century the diamond became the main decoration. Diamond cutting led to the fact that in the 18th century. skilled jewelers set shimmering diamonds in the form of flowers, branches and bows into brooches, plumes, rings and other jewelry. In Europe, entire sets of jewelry began to be made, which consisted of a necklace, earrings, brooches, bracelets, and sometimes a tiara.

Already in antiquity there was imitation of precious stones . Rare and precious stones were replaced by similar, but more accessible and cheaper surrogates. Even the ancient Egyptian craftsmen knew how to make imitation stones - colored opaque glass, smalt. By making a certain setting, it was possible to present and “play up” a defective stone so that it seemed impeccably clean and expensive. Light-reflecting foil was used to increase the shine of colorless and transparent diamonds. The Renaissance artist and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini became famous for his ability to produce excellent foil, which significantly increased the sparkle of the gemstone. In other cases, by gluing two stones together, a deceptive unity and appearance of high quality were achieved. By firing, the color of many stones could be changed. For example, a matte blue sapphire became watery-light after firing and served to imitate diamond. At all times, glass has been used as a cheap substitute for precious stones. Glass varieties that are distinguished by increased optical refraction and give a rich color play when cut can, firstly - colored with metal oxides - be used to imitate colored precious stones, and secondly - in a colorless state - serve as substitutes for diamonds in cheap jewelry. The basis of modern imitation of precious stones through glass is rhinestones, a colorless glass mass made of iron oxide, alumina, lime and sodium oxide, the alloy of which was first obtained in 1758 by the Viennese goldsmith Joseph Strasser. It was a special type of glass that, when processed, looks like a diamond. It has penetrated the world market under the name “rhinestone”. Pseudo-diamonds are close in appearance to genuine ones, but experts can easily distinguish them by their hardness, not to mention instrumental diagnostic methods. When these jewelry are worn for a long time, signs of wear appear on them and their shine weakens over time.

It must be said that a suitable setting is also of great importance for a precious stone. Both in antiquity and today, for the setting of processed stones, noble metals are used primarily and only occasionally base metals, which were given the proper appearance through appropriate surface treatment (for example, gilded copper). In principle, two types of frames can be distinguished: early, nested frames, known in antiquity; and the later one, known since the end of the 10th century, is openwork, through, which does not have a bottom and leaves the stone open on both sides. All the past centuries have not been able to change the basic types of settings for precious stones, and to this day we are still dealing with the same varieties of original forms.

The central place in jewelry in the Middle Ages is occupied by brooches, which have been used by almost all European peoples since the Bronze Age. Over the centuries, they have evolved from a simple fastening pin for fastening garments to a luxuriously finished item.

In the 13th century. graceful agraphs appear - this is a clasp on the neckline of a woman’s attire. They were often covered with love inscriptions and mottos. Made of gold, silver, precious stones.

Cufflinks for nobles, which were beautifully made in Transylvania, were distributed throughout Europe from there. The most common church decoration was the clasp of the choir curtain.

By the 17th century, brooches, agraphs, etc. appeared in the form of brooches in fashionable jewelry of that time. In the 18th century, brooches studded with diamonds became the latest craze. Brooches in the form of ribbons and bouquets of flowers were preferred. By the end of the 18th century. brooches with miniature portraits appear in a gold frame with a pearl border in the shape of a circle or oval. Later, they began to wear locks of friends, portraits, etc. in brooches. It should be noted that there was another important detail of the clothing of a resident of medieval Europe - hat buckles, shoe buckles and pants buckles, often precious, with set diamonds. Pendants were also common. Ancient European pendants (early Middle Ages) were round and flat, decorated with enamel, colored precious stones or pearls, and expressed primarily the religious feelings of the people wearing them. Only from the 15th century. pendants are starting to appear more often. They are decorated with ivory and mother-of-pearl, often carved with relief images of the Madonna and Child or the figure of a heavenly patron. During the Renaissance, pendants left all related jewelry far behind. Renaissance pendants were decorated with emblems, figures and scenes from religious life, and scenes from the history of antiquity. Often there are pendants in the form of animals and fairy-tale characters. Among other things, they used unusually shaped pearls and stones in the form of human or animal body parts. In the 17th century The exclusive predilection for pendants was abandoned for a long time, and pendants in the shape of a cross began to be worn. Their front side was decorated with diamonds; the reverse side, as a rule, was painted with enamel.

It must be said that Italy, especially Florence and Milan, were generally recognized centers of jewelry art during the Renaissance. In particular, in the XV-XVI centuries. Milan was the center of crystal carving. It was very fashionable to make an animal’s head out of crystal (for example, sable), set it in enameled gold (embedded rubies served as eyes) and attach it to expensive fur. This robe was worn on the shoulders.

In general, the 16th century. should be especially noted. At this time, many new jewelry were invented. For example, on the neck of a medieval townsman one could see a religious keychain. It could be a ball of agate, set in enameled gold, with embedded rubies and pearls. When the ball was opened, an image of a religious plot appeared. Such balls were also made from wood and boxwood (in England, Holland, France). Large religious charms set with precious stones, often with windows to display relics, enjoyed considerable success in Spain in the first half of the 17th century.

Keychains in the shape of animals in the 16th century. were especially popular in Spain. Such an animal, as a rule, “perched on a cushion.” Most often it was an eagle. Or the keychain could have an image of St. James, who was especially revered in Spain. Keychains in the shape of ships, made using the filigree enamel technique, often trimmed with pearls, were very popular. They were especially common from the 16th to the 18th centuries. in Italy, the Aegean region and Central Europe (Hungary).

In the 16th century in Europe, talisman keychains could also be seen among jewelry, for example, in the shape of a hand, made of ivory, set in enameled gold, with embedded pearls and turquoise. The fingers showed the fig. Since the times of the Roman Empire, this gesture among the peoples of the Mediterranean meant “to scare away the evil eye.” The Spanish King Philip II had such coral keychains. In Spain they were most often made from ivory and agate.

In Italy at the same time they liked to wear keychains made of decorative stones with images of a naked female bust.

Collectors in the 16th century. They valued not only jewelry, but also dishes made of semiprecious stones such as rock crystal, agate or lapis lazuli. Beginning in 1560, a rich collection of lapis lazuli vessels belonged to representatives of the Florentine Medici dynasty, who invited craftsmen to come to Florence for their lapidary workshops.

In southern Germany in the 16th century. There were also several famous jewelry centers: Nuremberg and Augsburg, where outstanding jewelers of that time worked, such as Wenzel Jamnitzer. Tableware was very popular among the townspeople at that time: goblets made of gilded silver with embedded precious stones (garnets, emeralds, sapphires, rubies). They were often made to order for wedding gifts. Beer mugs made of gilded silver, decorated with corals, rubies, emeralds, pearls, diamonds, and other dishes, usually very massive, which was typical of Nuremberg jewelers during the Renaissance. In the 16th century It was fashionable to make cups in the shape of coconuts and other exotic fruits.

However, nothing could compete with women's jewelry, the fashion for which was constantly changing. So, in the 17th century. Pearl bracelets began to be seen, usually worn in pairs. Since ancient times, earrings have been of great importance among jewelry items. They were worn not only by women, but also by men, in particular by warriors. Since the 17th century earrings have become exclusively women's jewelry. At first these were large pear-shaped pearls, then elegant earrings became popular, trimmed with precious stones on the front side and enamel on the back. Ivory, tortoiseshell and decorative woods began to be found. Since the 11th century. BC e. there was a mention of wearing rings (in Indian epic). In the beginning, as already mentioned, the ring was a sign of power, not a decoration. These are signet rings, rings as signs of dignity, and later - a ring as decoration, a talisman ring, an amulet ring. Church ministers also wore rings (on top of the bishop's glove on the fourth finger of the right hand). In the XIV century. a simple smooth nested setting for cabochon-cut stones was usually used, while late Gothic preferred richly crafted rings decorated with enamel and stones. In the 17th century They preferred large faceted stones in the central part of the ring. Red carnelian and “moss” agate, black-and-white and brown-white onyx, and multicolor agates began to receive especially great attention in Europe at this time (in the 17th-18th centuries). Carved stone until the very end of the 19th century. remained a popular ring decoration, along with opaque multi-colored stones, which were often used for stones. Rock crystal, smoky topaz, amethyst and rose quartz, in which intaglios were often carved, also experienced a kind of revival. The most expensive and most beautiful stone for a ring at the end of the 19th century. there was a “solitaire” - a large diamond set in platinum. By the way, wedding rings looked very interesting in Europe in the 17th century, for example in Germany. The two rings are joined together, made of enameled gold with set diamonds and rubies. The two rims can be separated if necessary. There could well have been an inscription in Latin, which consisted of the words of the wedding - “what God has joined together, let no man separate.” This double design has been found since the 14th century, and the symbol of shaking hands comes from ancient Roman wedding rings.

One cannot fail to mention hair jewelry, which reached its apogee in the 18th century. These are mainly tiaras, plumes, richly decorated with pearls, precious stones, and corals. In the 19th century and until the beginning of the 20th century. Tortoiseshell combs with a high head, decorated with precious stones, often trimmed with mother-of-pearl and pearls, were fashionable. By the beginning of the 18th century. A diamond necklace with an emerald or ruby ​​inserted into the middle part became fashionable. They began to wear gems or cameos on a black velvet ribbon in the form of medallions.

Household items were also decorated with precious stones - perfume bottles, cases for needles, prayer accessories, etc. Even watches around the neck in the form of pendants on a decorative chain, and they were literally strewn with precious stones. By the way, in France, for example, in the 16th century, bottles for perfumes, spices, and aromatic resins were made of enameled gold with embedded rubies and diamonds. If we go back to the times of antiquity, then fragrant essences were prepared strictly to order, were incredibly expensive and were stored in amphorae made of agate, porphyry, and alabaster. Bottles similar to those of today, like the perfume industry itself, are an invention of the 17th century. Bubbles made of amber and cobalt colored glass were decorated with pearls and garlands of leaves. Soon the fashion came for mother-of-pearl inlays, enamel, then for frosted Bohemian glass with gold filigree, and finally for fine Parisian porcelain.

It should be noted that in the middle of the 18th century. Oriental varnish came into fashion. The pique technique was invented, imitating varnish. In fact, the work was carried out with black pique mother-of-pearl, which imitated varnish.

At this time, household items were decorated using this technique, such as snuff boxes. There were many snuff boxes made of tortoiseshell, set in gold.

In the 18th century The technique of laying patterned tiles (plates) made of semi-precious stone on household items appeared. For example, snuff boxes could have red iron ore plates and agate circles set in gold.

In the first half of the 19th century. new materials, processing methods, new jewelry techniques, etc. have enriched jewelry making. Since the end of the 19th century, the art of jewelry has declined, both in terms of craftsmanship and in all other aspects, and in place of carefully and individually crafted jewelry, mass-produced fashion items have emerged. It was the increased demand for jewelry that primarily gave impetus to the 20th century. to the development of technologies for mass production of jewelry products. The development of stamping significantly reduced the share of manual labor in jewelry production, and the perfection of precision casting reduced manual labor to a minimum. However, manual labor has not completely lost its importance, and the best examples of it are still highly valued. Currently, in addition to imitating the best examples of the Middle Ages and other works of jewelry art of the past, there is the introduction of very interesting modern jewelry design.

It is impossible not to say a few words about jewelry art in Rus'. It has been known since the first centuries of Christianity. It is believed that at this time Byzantium had a great influence on Russian jewelry art and on the art of processing precious metals. This influence can be traced from the 11th to the 12th centuries. and until the 16th century. It is especially noticeable in the ornamental motifs present in the jewelry works of Russian craftsmen. Byzantine cameos could be found on church decorations of this period. Since the 14th century The heyday of jewelry art began in Veliky Novgorod, Totma, Veliky Ustyug and other cities. From the 16th century Purely Russian, traditional motifs appeared in the works of Russian jewelry craftsmen. By the end of the 16th century. in Moscow, in addition to Russians and Greeks, many other foreign jewelers began to appear. However, we can talk about an entire industry associated with the processing of precious stones (as well as mining) only with the advent of Peter I to the kingdom. By his decree, the first cutting factory was built in Peterhof (in 1725). Masters from abroad were invited to train Russian masters. Under Peter I, the registration of artisans into guild organizations began. Craft centers also appeared under the Moscow Patriarchate and monasteries. Until 1700, jewelry pieces were not hallmarked anywhere except Moscow, while in Byzantium hallmarks were used from the 4th century. (from Byzantium this custom spread throughout Europe). Branding of precious items began to be widely used in Russia in the 18th century. Under Catherine II, the jewelry business moved forward; she built several more polishing factories. In the 19th century craft workshops lost their importance: their places were taken by factories, trading houses, and artels. Schools began to appear in factories where they taught jewelry making. The jewelry was stamped with the number of an artel or trading house, and sometimes there could also be a name of the master (but mostly the names of Russian masters could be found in the so-called census books). The best examples of Russian jewelry craftsmanship are in the rich collections of the Hermitage and the Armory Chamber.

Until 1917, countless treasures of jewelry were also kept in monasteries and churches: on icons, vestments of clergy, church utensils, etc.

From the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. large Moscow and St. Petersburg jewelry firms gradually conquered the Russian market, displacing the products of foreign craftsmen. They were equipped with new mechanical equipment, had the opportunity to hire virtuoso craftsmen and use the services of the best artists. Leading role in Russian and European jewelry art of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. played by the Faberge company, which had branches in several cities in Russia and abroad. And to this day one can only marvel at the perfection of execution and the amazing imagination of its masters. Carl Faberge held the title of court jeweler of the Russian imperial court (in 1885) and court jeweler of Sweden and Norway (since 1897). He began managing the company in 1870, and his services were greatly appreciated at court. The company carried out restoration of ancient works stored in the Imperial Hermitage and jewelry from the jewelry gallery in the Winter Palace. The products of the Faberge company were elegant, had the highest technique of execution and were designed for close examination. It was a neoclassical style, which compared favorably with the works of other leading jewelry firms of that time (P. Sazikov, P. Ovchinnikov, I. Khlebnikov, the Grachev brothers), who often imitated the Kremlin masters of the 17th century, demonstrating ostentatious luxury, whose jewelry works were strewn with large stones and diamonds.

Since the end of the 19th century. The company begins to produce unusual decorative items - Easter eggs with surprises. By the beginning of the 20th century, about 500 specialists of various nationalities already worked in Faberge’s workshops (M. Perkhin, G. Wigström, etc.). The works of the Faberge firm were characterized by an amazing understanding of stone, the use of color and play of precious stones, and their widespread use in works of jewelry, which is typical for both European and ancient Russian goldsmiths. The company produced items for various purposes: silver and gold table services, candelabra, candlesticks, writing instruments made of silver and bronze, where metal was successfully combined with stone: malachite with bronze, lapis lazuli with gold, rhodonite with silver. Sculpture of small forms was very popular, as well as snuff boxes, aromatic boxes, powder compacts, bells, binoculars, lorgnettes, frames for fans, notebooks, brooches, pendants, pins, earrings, precious photo frames, etc. Since the beginning of the 20th century. Faberge began to be called the northern Cellini (the name of the virtuoso Italian master of the Renaissance), and his works were compared with the best jewelry of the Middle Ages. The collection of the Armory Chamber contains about 300 items made by masters of the Faberge company. The most interesting part of the collection are Easter surprises created for gifts to members of the imperial family and stone carvings. Sometimes small jewelry made of gold, silver, and precious stones, made in the shape of an egg, was worn by fashionable ladies in the form of necklaces or on chains. The collection of the Armory Chamber contains 10 Easter surprises made according to orders from the imperial family. The earliest is the egg from 1891. It is made of smoothly polished dark green and red heliotrope with applied curls studded with diamonds. The surprise is that when the egg is opened, a soft blue aquamarine plate imitating water comes out, with a miniature golden ship - an exact model of the cruiser "Memory of Azov". This work was carried out by Mikhail Perkhin, one of the most talented craftsmen of the company. The watch made in the shape of an egg is amazing. Gold, onyx, diamonds, enamel on a guilloché (carved) background (Perkhin, 1899). Clock mechanisms for Faberge products were, as a rule, made by the best Swiss masters: Pavel Bure and Henry Moser. After the death of the talented jeweler M. Perkhin (1903), the workshop was headed by the jeweler Henrik Wigström (Finland), who supervised the work of many craftsmen, so various products of that time are marked with his mark. These products are distinguished by the lightness and elegance characteristic of European styles of the late 18th - early 19th centuries.

The special merit of Carl Faberge is that he was the first to widely use gems from Siberia, the Urals, and the Caucasus in his products of amazing beauty. A great connoisseur of minerals and a recognized authority in this field, C. Faberge was an appraiser of precious stones at the imperial court. The collection of minerals of Faberge himself was very famous; part of it is still kept in the Mineralogical Museum named after A.E. Fersman in Moscow. Rock crystal and chalcedony, carnelian and various agates, aquamarine and opal, all kinds of jasper, obsidian, jade, rhodonite and other stones were selected by craftsmen with great taste. In addition, they knew how to change the natural color of the mineral and obtain the shades and tones they needed. The company acquired its own stone-cutting workshop in St. Petersburg. The miniature figurines of animals created here, skillfully carved and carefully polished, were most often transferred to G. Wigström’s workshop, where they were set in gold and decorated with precious stones. As a rule, the eyes of animals were made from fragments of diamonds or rubies, which gave them a special liveliness. In addition to carved figurines, stone carvers made all kinds of boxes, cigarette cases, frames, calendars, chess sets, watch stands, handles for sabers and daggers, mostly decorated in an oriental manner, and numerous handles for umbrellas and canes. A large place among the company's products is occupied by carved figures of people made of stone. Most often these are folk types, made in the style of porcelain sculpture produced by the Gardner factory (19th century). Stones of various types and shades were used to convey faces, costumes, and attributes.

Another aspect of the activities of the Faberge firm, which brought it worldwide fame, was the production of flowers from precious stones and precious metals in miniature vases. Cutters skillfully processed pieces of rock crystal, creating the impression that the vases were filled with real water. By making flowers from gold, precious and semi-precious stones, craftsmen achieved maximum closeness to nature, but the main thing for them was still the decorative effect. Most often, on flowers, figurines of animals and sculptures, we do not see marks indicating the name of the master, but close acquaintance with the works of the company allows specialists to distinguish them from products of other masters and from fakes.

From the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. An artistic movement arose, in which an appeal to the forms and decorative elements of various stylistic trends of earlier eras can be traced. It was called “historicism” and was typical for works created by the Faberge company. Jewelers who worked in the Moscow branch of the company, more often than those from St. Petersburg, turned to works of ancient Russian applied art. For example, the placement of ornaments and semi-precious stones on a silver ladle, created at the beginning of the 20th century, is characteristic of this type of Old Russian tableware; it combines elements inherent in both the Art Nouveau style and Russian art of the 17th century. The ladle, a traditional Russian vessel, served as part of a service for drinking honey. Metal ladles, derived from wooden prototypes, are found from the 14th century, and their production continued until the mid-19th century. A similar technique was used in decorating the fields of the silver salamandine and opal frame of the icon “Our Lady of Kazan”. It is designed in full accordance with old Russian traditions, but at the same time the master uses decorative motifs that correspond to the tastes of his time.

Faberge products are a significant phenomenon in the decorative and applied arts of the 19th-20th centuries. These are works of their era, with all the preferences of the century, but the sophistication of the jewelry, the harmony of the composition, and the subtle sense of material place them in the first rank of world jewelry art. mir-kamnej.ru

The twentieth century

In the last century, a large number of trends were formed in jewelry. In the first decades, the dominant style was Art Nouveau. In jewelry art, his influence was realized in the extreme complexity of the forms and ornaments of jewelry. Platinum, palladium, and anodized aluminum are actively used. Diamonds are becoming popular again. Costume jewelry is also becoming fashionable, the distribution of which was significantly influenced by the famous Coco Chanel.

In the war and post-war years, products become simpler, gold is often replaced by bronze. In the second half of the century, under the influence of nonconformist ideas, craftsmen began to use unusual materials in their work, previously unthinkable for jewelry: wood, plastic, steel and others. With the development of complex technology, jewelry appears with chameleon stones that can change color depending on temperature changes or the mood of the owner. Cultured pearls of various colors are becoming popular.

During the Soviet years, Russian jewelry companies produced mostly mass products. But at the end of the last century, modern masters decided to revive the guild of Russian jewelers in order to return the art of jewelry to its former glory.

Modern Art

Nowadays, jewelry craft, perhaps even more than before, is becoming an art. Jewelry is a form of creative self-expression. Modern enterprises use more professional tools and affordable materials. However, many products are made from synthetic materials. And although they cannot surpass natural stones in beauty and perfection, they still compete with them with dignity.

Modern jewelry art worthily continues the traditions of the old masters. And the use of new technologies allows you to create more and more unusual and interesting jewelry.

History of jewelry

The history of jewelry begins with the advent of the first people who, regardless of race, religion or culture, used jewelry as a form of self-expression, thereby indicating their social status, wealth or membership in a certain circle. Based on archaeological findings, experts have concluded that the first jewelry was worn by Cro-Magnons, the ancestors of Homo Sapiens, 40,000 years ago. From time immemorial, it has been the case that the greatest passion for jewelry was experienced by women, who in ancient times used for this purpose “improved materials” such as bones, animal teeth, pebbles, shells, plants and much more. At the early stage of its development, humanity used this kind of decoration in its original form, that is, without applying or partially applying processing to them, but even then primitive. Through evolution, the materials and techniques used to make jewelry have evolved in many ways. Over the course of its existence, humanity has achieved incredible technical progress, but jewelry made in such a way as in primitive times amazes the imagination of our contemporaries. And jewelry made in the ancient manner, for example, beads or bracelets made from shells stretched on a string, which women have worn since time immemorial, is a fashion accessory that dominates jewelry fashion today.

The function that jewelry served, jewelry has changed over time, going from being used as a form of currency to a fashion accessory and finally to a form of artistic expression.

In ancient times, jewelry was jewelry with symbolic overtones; to a greater extent, they served as talismans; they were believed to be endowed with magical and spiritual properties. Having analyzed the course of historical development, the social and prestigious significance of jewelry pieces gradually begins to prevail over their religious and mystical function.

Egyptian jewelry

Many researchers are of the opinion that Egyptian jewelry laid the foundation for modern jewelry. This is no coincidence, because it was in Ancient Egypt that the production of jewelry became a profession, and methods and skills made it possible to create jewelry of various styles and variable forms, which was achieved, accordingly, by expanding the range of materials used. Ancient Egyptian jewelry art was at a high stage of development, and the materials used were gold, amethyst, lapis lazuli, bronze, obsidian and emeralds, chasing, cold enamel, and engraving were used. Having mastered all the components of jewelry making, Egyptian jewelers created unsurpassed jewelry, the artistic forms of which are highly valued today. The favorite material of Egyptian craftsmen was gold; they adored its shine and valued it for its ease of processing. In Egypt, gold was considered a symbol of power and wealth; it was “worn” even after death. This is evidenced by numerous finds in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs. Most of these finds are currently in the Cairo Museum.

Greek and Roman jewelry

Early Greek and Roman jewelry varied widely in style and form, having been "borrowed" from other cultures and neighboring countries. In Greek jewelry, cultural symbolism played a large role, since the jewelry of this period personified mythological, heroic and religious scenes from the life of the ethnos. Also during the time of Alexander the Great, miniature sculpture was common. Rome was a thriving center for the early development of jewelry craftsmanship, and the jewelry trade was considered coherent, which was not equal before the Renaissance in Europe. Jewelry was so common that even low-ranking people wore it; in Greece and Rome, wearing jewelry became a universal tradition. Gold, for example, was even used in decorating furniture and household items. The Romans are known to have used colored stones such as topaz, emerald, ruby, sapphire and pearl to make jewelry.

Medieval jewelry

With the adoption of Christianity in jewelry, cultural styles to some extent mixed with each other. Jewelry at this time was, first of all, products symbolizing the Christian faith. In the early Middle Ages, Christian monasteries were responsible for producing most of the world's jewelry. It was during this period that the monasteries supplied jewelry “goods” to the market and were engaged in the selection of jewelry craftsmen. The growing demand for jewelry led to the appearance of fakes, but with the formation of the first guild, such a rule as quality control of jewelry came into practice. It was with the formation of the first guild of jewelry makers that the history of the development of jewelry art and precious jewelry received a serious platform that contributed to its new development.

Renaissance Jewelry

Until the beginning of the Renaissance, jewelry served primarily as an expression of a certain symbolism, which was an integral part of religious and cultural beliefs. During the Renaissance, the roles of jewelry began to diverge, and they increasingly began to be used as body adornment, created solely for the purpose of enhancing a personal image of beauty. During the Renaissance, many famous people tried their hand at making jewelry; such a great artist as Leonardo da Vinci, starting his career, worked with famous jewelers of that time. It is also known that da Vinci, during his career, made jewelry for some famous people who supported his artistic and inventive endeavors. The equally famous Renaissance artist Botticelli received his early artistic training in a jeweler's shop. All art during the Renaissance reached a new qualitative level. At this time, greater emphasis began to be placed on the beauty of precious stones, which were used to decorate jewelry, paintings and other works of art. People began to pay attention to the color of precious stones, their brilliance and radiance, holding less and less beliefs about their mystical function. For the first time in history, diamonds began to be used, which accordingly entailed a search for methods and approaches to its processing.

XVII–XX century

The increase in the welfare of the population and a chain of other social and economic factors contributed to the fact that precious metals, such as gold and silver, now became available to the lower strata of the population. Since the beginning of the 17th century, jewelry art has been driven by new trends, which were caused by a genuine interest in flora and fauna, as a result of which jewelry creations begin to take on floral and ornamental forms. The fashion for them remained until the twentieth century. Other forms of jewelry were also used, such as animals, but plant decoration became the dominant theme in the works of jewelry makers. In the 17th-18th centuries, in the art of jewelry there was a growing interest in pictorial effects, which were largely achieved through embossed relief and complex color combinations of colors, the fashion for which was dictated by the Baroque style popular at that time. New, pompous, sometimes unusual jewelry was still in demand at that time and remained relevant until the middle of the 18th century, until the world was “conquered” by elegant, delicate, originally designed jewelry in the Rococo style. It was during the Rococo period that an assortment of jewelry developed, generally unchanged to the present day. Brooches and aigrettes in the form of bouquets and cascades are becoming fashionable; diamonds are becoming extremely popular; as methods of their processing have improved, the classic diamond cut has appeared. By the way, watch production begins at this time. As for the twentieth century, it was marked by an incredible variety of trends in jewelry.

• Modern trends in jewelry

Today, jewelry is considered as a form of artistic expression, that is, in our time it is customary to talk about jewelry craftsmanship as an art. This trend continues to grow due to the development of production, the technological equipment of jewelry enterprises, the use of highly professional tools and the availability of materials used in jewelry. Significant improvements in technology mean that jewelry is built from readily available resources, as well as synthetic materials that rival the beauty of the most expensive natural gemstones and metals. These factors are the reason why the focus in jewelry began to focus more on design, creative and artistic expression. The changing fashion for jewelry leads to an increase in the rate of change in jewelry collections, which are now considered a form of self-expression. Modern jewelry trends, continuing to grow and develop, bring diversity and a huge contribution to the history of jewelry as a whole.

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