Zgardas
Zgardas are women's neck and chest jewelry with cross-shaped or round pendants made of bronze or brass, which were common in the Hutsul region and Bukovyna.
Since the 17th century, zgardas were made in the Eastern Carpathians by mosiazniks (from Polish mosiądz - yellow copper, brass) by casting in clay molds of brass, copper, and nickel-plated brass with geometric decor and ancient pagan symbols.
Gold and silver were unavailable to folk artists, so they used alloys that imitated these precious metals in color: brass imitated gold, while bakunt (an alloy of copper, tin, and silver) and nickel silver (an alloy of nickel, copper, and zinc) imitated silver. These alloys easily lent themselves to the traditional processing methods used by Hutsul jewelry makers: casting, forging, weaving, engraving, inlay, stamping, and others.
Initially, zgardas consisted of several rows of pendants in the form of disks or crosses and piercings (“perelizhky”) made in the form of a brass tube or a wire spiral that separated the pendants from each other. Pendants cast in the form of disks were decorated with ornaments made of little circles (“kalachyky”), concentric rings lined up around the perimeter, rosettes, rings, etc. Since the second half of the 19th century, craftsmen have been making cross pendants with a branchy shape. The crosses were strung on a cord between beads of Venetian glass (“painted patsyorky”), coral, artificial coral (smalt), amber, garnet, carnelian, or other materials. Such zgardas consisted of 1 to 5 or 7 strings.
The formation of zgardas as chest amulets went through a long developmental path, initiated by the pagan tradition, as zgardas had a powerful amuletic effect.
Initially, a characteristic feature of zgarda pendants was the inscription of an equilateral cross with four small circles and a six-petal rosette between the shoulders into the circle of their disks. These cross-shaped motifs, being of pre-Christian origin, were solar signs. After all, the sun symbol was an emblem of well-being and prosperity for the population of the Ukrainian Carpathians, who retained many magical beliefs. In those distant times, the sun symbol was widely used as a talisman. That is why various interpretations of the solar symbol were so often used by Hutsul craftsmen in decorating jewelry.
But gradually, step by step, the disk-shaped solar signs in zgardas acquired a cross-shaped form. Sun-like disks were replaced by crosses with equal branches, the gaps between which were filled with rays. The crosses usually had the same shape and size. Over time, the crosses lost their one-dimensionality: one of the branches became longer and the cross acquired features specific to the Christian iconic form. It was on crosses of this type that relief crucifixes appeared, with features of primitive plastic. But even these purely Christian crosses still have many remnants of pagan symbolism. For example, at the end of the branches of these crosses we sometimes see solar rosettes or little circles.
Later, however, crosses on Hutsul chest ornaments turned from complementary to essential elements, transforming “patsyorky” (pierced with kryzhyky) into zgardas, expensive cross chest ornaments that, along with Venetian and coral beads, forties and shelests, became a sign of “estate” for their owners.
A necklace made of one or more rows of coins pierced with a lace, chain, Venetian glass, or coral is often referred to as a zgarda. The Hutsuls called this jewelry “talars”, “ dukachs”, or “forties”, although it really resembles zgardas with round pendants. Precious metal coins from Austria-Hungary, Poland, Romania, Italy, and Russia were used to make the necklace. Wealthy Hutsul women had 3, sometimes 4 rows of such a necklace made of silver coins sparkling on their chests.
After the spread of Soviet rule in western Ukraine at the beginning of World War II, the production of zgardas almost completely ceased. Only individual metalworkers who created unique author's metalwork in the style of traditional Ukrainian jewelry were allowed to deviate from the general Soviet trends.
In the 21st century, the revival of ancient traditions began and zgarda jewelry gained new popularity. Modern craftsmen, using ancient casting technology, produce a large number of jewelry stylized as traditional zgardas, and jewelry designers develop unique author's collections of modern zgardas, reinterpreting ancient designs.
Cheprags
In the Hutsul and Bukovyna regions, special brass clasps, the so-called “cheprags”, were used to connect zgardas - two, mostly round, plates decorated with a minted or lace pattern: wheel-shaped, diamond-shaped, square, or in the form of elongated curls with rounded branches.
Structurally, the cheprags consist of two parts: one part with a hook and the other with a hole for the hook. According to the shape of the components, the bonnets were divided into several types: round solid bonnets with oval protrusions on the sides, round slotted lace cheprags resembling a wheel with straight or oblique spokes, rosette, diamond-shaped slotted cheprags with circles-projections on the tops, figured slotted cheprags, cross-shaped, square slotted cheprags with rounded corners, in the form of elongated curls with rounded processes.
At first glance, the disproportion between the size of the cheprags and the zgardas is striking. As a rule, cheprags are large, completely unjustified by their utilitarian function. Some of them reach 6-7 cm in diameter, which indicates their special place among neck jewelry. A chepraga with solar symbols was supposed to protect a person from evil spirits. Therefore, in the central part of the chepraga's decor, as well as in zgardas, various variants of solar symbols were mostly placed: a convex cone in the center surrounded by rays, a wheel with eight, six or four spokes, concentric circles, diamonds, rosettes, shaded triangles with a ring on the top, etc.
Mostly, cheprags were used to fasten shelests and zgardas made of metal springs or tubes or Venetian glass, coral, garnet, carnelian, etc. At the same time, rare artifacts of the 19th century include a ribbon gerdan strung with beads with cheprags, illustrated by Volodymyr Shukhevych in his monograph "Hutsulshchyna".
We can assume that as a result of ideological persecution caused by the introduction of Christianity, the pagan medallion with a solar symbol moved from its usual place of wearing on the front of the neck/chest to the back of the neck and acquired the practical function of cheprags, while retaining its original meaning as a talisman.
Shelests
Shelests are a type of metal necklace that consisted of round hollow bells with holes, or “kolokuli,” separated by holes, and were widespread in the Hutsul region along with zgardas.
Since the 17th century in the Eastern Carpathians, masters of the mosaic industry have been making shelests using the technique of stamping brass, copper, and nickel-plated metal. Shelests look exactly like the bells from the times of Kyivan Rus from archaeological finds. Similar analogies can also be found among the bronze, silver, and gold items of the ancient Slavs. And just like in ancient times, the Hutsuls endowed shelests with a powerful amulet function: the sound of rustling was supposed to drive away evil spirits.
In necklaces, shelests were most often connected by two or three pieces together. Also, shelests were placed together with cross-shaped pendants in zgardas and necklaces made of Venetian glass.
Shelests were often fastened with clasps, just like zgardas.
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