Exhibition "The Legacy of the Great Steppe:
Masterpieces of Jewelry"

On April 4, the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art opened a unique exhibition “The Legacy of the Great Steppe: Masterpieces of Jewelry”, which represents the culture and art of nomads from the collection of the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The exhibition presents the symbol of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Golden Man".

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, an archeological sensation took place in the vicinity of Almaty: in the Issyk barrow, which was investigated by the outstanding archaeologist Kemal Akishev, the remains of the Saka king, the “Golden Man”, which later became the symbol of Kazakhstan, were discovered. The priceless find was dubbed “Kazakh Tutankhamun” and recognized as the discovery of the century. Gold jewelry from the crown of the ancient ruler of the steppes - winged horse-tulpars - became part of the national coat of arms of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the sculpture of the Golden Man was installed on Independence Square in Almaty.

After almost half a century, the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan announces an international tour - "The procession of the Golden Man through the museums of the world." The route includes countries of Asia and Europe, the first host country is Russia, then Azerbaijan, China, South Korea, Poland.

At the exhibition in the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art, one can see the reconstruction of the Golden Man in clothes embroidered with gold plaques, in a special conical headdress decorated with gold plates in the form of golden arrows, snow leopards, argali, horses and birds, and a collection of archaeological finds of the early Iron Age (V - IV centuries BC) that accompanied the burial of this noble Saki young warrior (according to archaeologists, his age is 17-18 years).

Saki (translated from Persian means "powerful men") - the distant ancestors of the Kazakhs. In the writings of Greek authors they are called Asian Scythians (the word saka goes back to Scythian - “deer”), in other ancient sources they were figuratively described as “tours with fast horses”. Among the three large groups of these tribes were mentioned Saki-tigrahauda (“hats”), who lived in the territory where the Issyk barrow was discovered with the burial of the “Golden Man”. Over four thousand gold items were found in the mound: details decorating clothes, as well as jewelry and household utensils. The topography of objects in the burial allowed researchers, as a result of hard work, to recreate the appearance of an ancient warrior, which is presented at the exhibition. A special place in the exposition is occupied by a silver bowl found among the finds of the Issyk burial mound with an inscription made in runic writing - one of the oldest written monuments found in this territory.

The most important feature of the ancient art of the steppe is the dominance of zoomorphic images - the so-called "animal style", the distinguishing features of which are stylized images of totem animals, animal fighting scenes endowed with magical functions.

The drama of the plots symbolizes the opposition of the elements and the rebirth to life, the confrontation of good and evil, the eternal movement and the eternal struggle of opposites. A striking example of "animal style" is a plaque dating from the V-IV centuries. BC e., made of gold using the stamping and corrugation technique in the form of two mirror-reflected leopards.

With the adoption of Christianity and Islam, the "animal style" gradually lost its original meaning, dating back to pagan beliefs and ideas.

However, decorative images of animals, devoid of their original magical meaning, continued to exist in medieval art: in jewelry, book miniatures, wood carvings, stones and bones, in architecture - but in a more generalized form, acquiring the forms of a stylized ornament, decor elements. These trends are clearly expressed in the finds from the Sairam treasure, which are represented in the exposition by ten metal objects dating from the 15th century.

The National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan contains an extensive collection (over a thousand items) on the ethnography of the peoples of Central Asia and the North Caucasus. 175 samples of high jewelry art from these funds were brought to Moscow. The audience is presented with jewelry of the 19th - mid-20th centuries, various jewelry, details of women’s and men’s costumes, and individual items of household culture.

The exhibition “The Legacy of the Great Steppe: Masterpieces of Jewelry” demonstrates one of the most striking and impressive traditions of the rich heritage of the steppe culture of Eurasia.