National Museum of History acquires valuable jewelry

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

The National History Museum of Azerbaijan has added precious jewelries and decorative items to its collection.

The Museum acquired a national adornment, particularly a woman necklace entitled Sinaband, as well as a silver perfume vial from Russia and a handbag made in Europe.

These precious objects date back to the 19th-20th centuries.

One of the adornments of women of these centuries, used in Azerbaijan was necklaces, including sinaband, bogazalt?, jajik, qarabatdaq and others.

The gilded silver necklace Sinaband acquired by the Museum is made in the form of shebeke, one of the most delicate and difficult ornaments. To achieve the desired ornament, a jeweler should well know the math, and not to miss any smallest detail.

The center of the necklace is convoluted from double shebeke. The necklace has a pendant which depicts a crescent-star decorated with colored stones, embellished with pearls and also hanging on the pendant in the form of a flower. The necklace also has a number of small pendants in the form of fish.

Since ancient times, the jewelry making was one of the most developed fields of handicraft in Azerbaijan. Jewelers in comparison with other masters occupied a privileged position in the society, since their main customers were the dominant class, especially the women of rich families.

Although gold was among the most preferred precious metals among the buyers and masters, silver and platinum were also widely used.

Earlier this month the Museum also obtained a gold necklace dating back to the 20th century. The jewelry consists of 31 gold beads, with a coin medallion related to the Austrian Empire.

The Azerbaijan National Museum of History is one of the architectural pearls of the country, dating back to the 19 century. Built in 1895-1896, the largest museum in the country, was originally the private residence of Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, who was the famous national oil baron remembered for his generous philanthropy.

Over 300,000 items are assembled in 10 collections in the museum, including a valuable library consisting mainly of unique books. The collections allow visitors and researchers to investigate the history of the country and the daily life and culture of the nation from ancient times to the present.

In recent years the Museum were restored, which enabled to return many invaluable art samples, lost abroad, back to the country. A total of 4,000 new exhibits were purchased and 1,200 exhibits gained a second life after restoration.