Kulfi girebon - "lock" on the collar
http://www.kunstpedia.com/articles/38/1/Kulfi-girebon---lock-on--the-collar/Page1.html
Neva, Elena
Dr. Elena Neva was guest lecturer at Columbia- and Harvard University, author of “The Art of Ancient Jewelers (Central Asia 4BC-4AD)” Boston,2008Gast docent Columbia- en Harvard University, auteur “The Art of Ancient Jewelers (Central Asia 4BC-4AD)” Boston,2008
Experience :
- Boston School of Modern Languages
- Bunker Hill Community College.
- PAX coordinator .Program of Academic Exchange
- Boston Center for Adult Education,
- Haifa University – Israel, Department of Archaeology,
- Tajik Academy of Sciences, Department of Art History,
- Senior Research Associate
- Research Associate
- Research Assistant
- Institute of Art, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- Ph.D. in Art History
- Moscow State University, Russia
- BA/MA in History and Art History, Cum Laude
- Dushanbe College of Music, Tajikistan
- BA in Music theory, history & composition
m. 617-872-3807
e. lenasu@msn.com
By Neva, Elena
Published on 12 March 2008
My acquaintance with the art of Hovaling, had only found an
insignificant part of jewelry articles that included
"brooches-fibulas," which is known as "kulfi-girebon".[1] The Fund
Collection of jewelry articles, at the Museum of Ethnography,
replenished its collection with jewelry pieces made by Kulyabian
jewelers. These articles also include the well-known brooches. These
brooches were not only made of silver, but also from German silver (an
alloy of nickel and copper).
Tajik jewelry
My acquaintance with the art of Hovaling, had only found an insignificant part of jewelry articles that included "brooches-fibulas," which is known as "kulfi-girebon".[1] The Fund Collection of jewelry articles, at the Museum of Ethnography, replenished its collection with jewelry pieces made by Kulyabian jewelers. These articles also include the well-known brooches. These brooches were not only made of silver, but also from German silver (an alloy of nickel and copper).
The form of the brooch reminds the observer of the round disk that we call the sun. Shaped as a rosette, its middle has a medallion with an insertion - the medallion is decorated with triangles from granulation. Granulation of triangles also covers the edges of the brooch, probably portraying a bright sun and its rays.
A distinctive feature in the technology of artistic processing of metal is granulation, which consists of tiny metal balls, that help create decorative ornamental compositions, giving the artifact a special appearance.
Soldered over the metallic rays are filigree miniature half-spheres, small in height and shaped as rosettes. These can portray planets revolving around the sun, or stars. Descending pendants on a wicker wire symbolize rain which gives life to earth and helps the growth of life creating seeds.
The brooches central insertion was usually made out of coral, because this particular stone was symbolically related to the sun. Sometimes red carnelian was used, known as "hakik" - it was said that, "whoever wears it, lives in constant happiness".
Brooches, writes L. Chvir, are a typical jewelry article of Southern Tajikistan. The most common are the so-called "kulfi-girebon," also known as kulyabian filigree fibulas. These fibulas are sometimes decorated with rare insertions of red glass or stones and have pendants made of chains and "leaves". The diameter and weight vary widely: the brooches are of various sizes, which can differentiate their age.
The complexity of Kulyabian jewelry is noted in the manuscript "Tajik Jewelry" which states, " the peculiarity of the Kulyabian jewelry is due to the presence of the round filigree brooch "kulfi-girebon" in it". The brooch was worn on the collar and also worn with beads.
The filigree brooch, in the form of the sun, was not just a type of amulet protection that had a clear astral symbolism (related to fertility and brides: moon - groom; sun - bride). However, also had a clear function of protection, because the brooch was placed on the location of the solar plexus - an important internal organ. The damage to the solar plexus may result in death; this once again proves the depth of knowledge of our ancestors.
Nowadays the brooches are practically out of style; the original brooches were replaced by factory-made small brooches, decorated with glass - a reminder of the familiar fibulas.
Fibulas, as adornments are known from the past. Brooches-fibulas were placed on the shoulder on a cloak in the times of Ancient Rome. Currently these adornments are known as an indispensable complement to the jewelry ensemble of Turkmen people; even now, fibulas are placed on the shoulders of Latish people. The use of such brooches can be noticed in other nations as well, for example Hungarians.
An analogous pendant in the form of a brooch is used in India. This fact can be traced through paintings of Manjurian and Maisurian schools of the XVIII-XIX centuries in southern India.
Undoubtedly, in the past, the wearing of such an adornment had the function of differentiating among the levels of society. In Indian sculptures and paintings, their gods wear the fibulas he relationship between such an adornment and the Buddhist religion is shown in sculptures from Adjina-tepe. On one of the torso's of devata, from the neck to the chest drops an adornment analogous to our brooch - "kulfi girebon".
Findings of the last couple of years include a Buddhist cloister of the VII and VIII century in Chepivol. This once again shows us the accurateness of the words of Chinese historians that the south of Tajikistan had been a home for many Buddhist cloisters during the early middle ages. This is the reason why even today one may notice the effects of the Buddhist culture on jewelry articles, not just in the southern regions of Tajikistan.
There still is no answer as to whether Buddhism was an official religion of the territory of Tajikistan, but the notion of its being very common in the region is already obvious.
The art of jewelry is a unique area of artistic work, that of great diapason and endless possibilities. Being the most accessible means of connection to art, products of artistic craft have always played a major role in people’s lives.
The art of jewelers is one of the most pronounced phenomena in Eastern cultures. It is distinguished in its fulfillment and originality of artistic images, and carries within immense sources of expression. Jewelry art of ancient Central Asia is a complex, non-synonymous phenomenon. In order to comprehend its conformity to natural laws, as well as such conformity of Central Asian culture as a whole, it is necessary to understand its meaning on the basis of new information provided by the latest developments and discoveries in science, especially archaeology.
[1] Round metal fastenings-fibulas are known through southern Kyrgyz, Kazakh and Turkmen people.
Antipina, K.I., Osobennosti materialnoi culturi I prikladnogo isskustva yujnikh kirgizov, p.262
Ivanov, S.V. and E.I. Mahova, Khudojestvennaya obrabotka metalla. Narodnoe dekorativno-prikladnoe isskustvo kirgizov. M, 1986, pp.96-122
Zakharova, I.V. and R.D. Khodjaeva, Kazahskaya nazionalnaya odejda XIX nachala XX v., pp.139-140
The form of the brooch reminds the observer of the round disk that we call the sun. Shaped as a rosette, its middle has a medallion with an insertion - the medallion is decorated with triangles from granulation. Granulation of triangles also covers the edges of the brooch, probably portraying a bright sun and its rays.
A distinctive feature in the technology of artistic processing of metal is granulation, which consists of tiny metal balls, that help create decorative ornamental compositions, giving the artifact a special appearance.
Soldered over the metallic rays are filigree miniature half-spheres, small in height and shaped as rosettes. These can portray planets revolving around the sun, or stars. Descending pendants on a wicker wire symbolize rain which gives life to earth and helps the growth of life creating seeds.
The brooches central insertion was usually made out of coral, because this particular stone was symbolically related to the sun. Sometimes red carnelian was used, known as "hakik" - it was said that, "whoever wears it, lives in constant happiness".
Brooches, writes L. Chvir, are a typical jewelry article of Southern Tajikistan. The most common are the so-called "kulfi-girebon," also known as kulyabian filigree fibulas. These fibulas are sometimes decorated with rare insertions of red glass or stones and have pendants made of chains and "leaves". The diameter and weight vary widely: the brooches are of various sizes, which can differentiate their age.
The complexity of Kulyabian jewelry is noted in the manuscript "Tajik Jewelry" which states, " the peculiarity of the Kulyabian jewelry is due to the presence of the round filigree brooch "kulfi-girebon" in it". The brooch was worn on the collar and also worn with beads.
The filigree brooch, in the form of the sun, was not just a type of amulet protection that had a clear astral symbolism (related to fertility and brides: moon - groom; sun - bride). However, also had a clear function of protection, because the brooch was placed on the location of the solar plexus - an important internal organ. The damage to the solar plexus may result in death; this once again proves the depth of knowledge of our ancestors.
Nowadays the brooches are practically out of style; the original brooches were replaced by factory-made small brooches, decorated with glass - a reminder of the familiar fibulas.
Fibulas, as adornments are known from the past. Brooches-fibulas were placed on the shoulder on a cloak in the times of Ancient Rome. Currently these adornments are known as an indispensable complement to the jewelry ensemble of Turkmen people; even now, fibulas are placed on the shoulders of Latish people. The use of such brooches can be noticed in other nations as well, for example Hungarians.
An analogous pendant in the form of a brooch is used in India. This fact can be traced through paintings of Manjurian and Maisurian schools of the XVIII-XIX centuries in southern India.
Undoubtedly, in the past, the wearing of such an adornment had the function of differentiating among the levels of society. In Indian sculptures and paintings, their gods wear the fibulas he relationship between such an adornment and the Buddhist religion is shown in sculptures from Adjina-tepe. On one of the torso's of devata, from the neck to the chest drops an adornment analogous to our brooch - "kulfi girebon".
Findings of the last couple of years include a Buddhist cloister of the VII and VIII century in Chepivol. This once again shows us the accurateness of the words of Chinese historians that the south of Tajikistan had been a home for many Buddhist cloisters during the early middle ages. This is the reason why even today one may notice the effects of the Buddhist culture on jewelry articles, not just in the southern regions of Tajikistan.
There still is no answer as to whether Buddhism was an official religion of the territory of Tajikistan, but the notion of its being very common in the region is already obvious.
The art of jewelry is a unique area of artistic work, that of great diapason and endless possibilities. Being the most accessible means of connection to art, products of artistic craft have always played a major role in people’s lives.
The art of jewelers is one of the most pronounced phenomena in Eastern cultures. It is distinguished in its fulfillment and originality of artistic images, and carries within immense sources of expression. Jewelry art of ancient Central Asia is a complex, non-synonymous phenomenon. In order to comprehend its conformity to natural laws, as well as such conformity of Central Asian culture as a whole, it is necessary to understand its meaning on the basis of new information provided by the latest developments and discoveries in science, especially archaeology.
© Elena Neva, PhD
[1] Round metal fastenings-fibulas are known through southern Kyrgyz, Kazakh and Turkmen people.
Antipina, K.I., Osobennosti materialnoi culturi I prikladnogo isskustva yujnikh kirgizov, p.262
Ivanov, S.V. and E.I. Mahova, Khudojestvennaya obrabotka metalla. Narodnoe dekorativno-prikladnoe isskustvo kirgizov. M, 1986, pp.96-122
Zakharova, I.V. and R.D. Khodjaeva, Kazahskaya nazionalnaya odejda XIX nachala XX v., pp.139-140
 | Art of Ancient Jewelers The author researching treasures from Central Asia (4 BC-4AD). Readers will go to a fascinating trip to Bactria, became familiar with types and forms of ancient jewelry. Learn more about symbols and semantics behind the images. "Travel" to the past helps better understand the future!
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