It is well known that Ukrainian women have long strived for beauty and embodied their creative talent in the creation of necklaces, among which the most widespread throughout Ukraine was a coral necklace - red, orange and pink.
There were three most common types of coral: cylindrical (tube shape), round or oval (rondel shape). The necklaces were strung with corals of the same shape, but of different sizes, placing larger ones in the center and smaller ones at the edges. Sometimes the size of the beads increased from the top to the bottom rows.
The number of strings in a coral necklace ranged from 2-4 to 10-15.
The most abundant (with a large number of beads) and massive coral necklaces were common in Galicia (present-day Lviv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk regions). Sometimes halves of coins with holes or specially made metal elements were used as adapters to connect several strings.
In the areas of the Middle Dnipro region (part of Kyiv and Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk regions) metal beads - "buttons" or "reefs" - were added to coral necklaces.
The compositional center of coral necklaces was often a dukach - a metal product based on a coin or medal, which was braided with intricate metal details: leaves, flowers, lace "bows" and chains. The simplest form of dukachs - round medallions or coins with a minimum of decoration - were used in Kyiv, Poltava and Lviv regions.
At the same time, in Hutsulshchyna and Pokuttia (Ivano-Frankivsk region), in Western Podillia (Ternopil region), necklaces (including coral ones) were created from a number of coins without any decoration, which were called dukats. In Bukovyna (Chernivtsi region) such coin jewelry was called salby.
In the Hutsul region (Ivano-Frankivsk oblast), zgardas were widespread. Zgardas are necklaces with cross-shaped or round pendants of various shapes made of bronze or brass. Zgardas were strung with coral, artificial coral (smalt) and Venetian glass with a floral pattern ("painted patsyorky"). Zgardas were often fastened with special brass clasps - cheprags: round lace in the shape of a wheel, diamond-shaped, square or in the form of elongated curls with rounded appendages.
Zoriana Kuryliak