Silver Jewelry Among the Kyrgyz
In the past, Kyrgyz jewelers widely used the technique of inlaying silver items with various gemstones. These were set into decorations for harnesses, rings, earrings, and bracelets. Masters acquired carnelian (akak) for this purpose. Coral red beads (shuru) were especially popular in women's jewelry. The ancient tradition of decorating with carnelian in the territory of Kyrgyzstan is evidenced by finds from the Kenkol burial ground.
Here, "silver overlays with nest inlay of carnelian surrounded by granulation" were discovered.
The Kyrgyz predominantly inlaid with red gemstones. Beads or stones of blue and light blue colors were used less frequently. The latter are more typical of Uzbek products. Mother-of-pearl (sedep) is also valued among the Kyrgyz. It is primarily used in women's jewelry.
Some masters purchased unprocessed stones and polished them themselves with a file.
In recent items, carnelian is no longer used for inlaying. Instead, colored glass has become popular, shaped into circles, ovals, and triangles.
The production of silver jewelry through stamping and casting was widespread throughout Kyrgyzstan.
Masters used specially prepared iron forms (kalyp) with shaped contours and relief patterns. The forms varied widely: round, square, heart-shaped, in the form of rosettes, and complex medallions. Now, few people use them, and not all masters have preserved them, as their main purpose was to decorate harnesses, leather belts, and wooden and leather utensils, which are now lost. However, linear stamps are essential in the toolkit of modern jewelers. They are used to stamp strips (indentations and protrusions) on rings, and less frequently on bracelets.
To apply patterns to silver items, masters widely use common engraving and embossing techniques prevalent in Central Asia. Engraving is done with chisels (kalem) and a hammer. It decorates bracelets, fibulas, and rings. For embossing, special punch rods are prepared, on the working end of which matrices with simple patterns are made. Each pattern is given a name by the masters. They sound the same as in women's applied art. The most common are: circle (“tegerek”), circle with a dot in the middle (“balyk koz”), semi-oval (“ay”), star-shaped patterns (“jildyz”) or in the form of commas (“it kuyruq”), rosettes referred to as flowers (“gul”, “toguz dyoby”). Masters often apply a pattern resembling the number 8 on bracelets, called kopyolok kanat (butterfly wing).
Among the masters of the Uzgen district, we encountered punches with images of a fish (balyk) and a sword (kylch).
These ornaments are considered ancient, "handed down from generation to generation," as jewelers say.
A common geometric ornament consists of straight and wavy lines, rhombuses. They are often executed with dotted notches.
Engraving produces significantly more complex ornaments. They share the same style as the patterns created by silvering. Our observations show that these patterns are typical for silver jewelry from both the northern and southern regions. Characteristic patterns include tulip shapes, trefoils, palmettes, semi-palmettes, and S-shaped designs. However, the most common is the plant ornament in the form of a wavy stem with branches — “islimi” (“kyial”). It is typical in the decoration of harnesses, as well as bracelets and fibulas.
Items from a later period are decorated with patterns that include Soviet emblems.
Lacy patterns appear somewhat differently. The ornament was cut from iron plates, which were then covered with silver. Lacy plates adorned leather saddlebags (Fig. 79) and buckles on straps. Great attention was paid to the decoration of stirrups. They were made with footrests of various shapes, which were edged with carved decoration. A comparison of southern Kyrgyz stirrups with northern ones shows their complete identity.
Thus, we can note that deep folk traditions are preserved in the decorations of harnesses in southern Kyrgyzstan. The identity of the ornament and forms of decorations on harnesses indicates a unified line of development in jewelry craftsmanship among the Kyrgyz.
A different picture is observed in women's jewelry. Only a few common Kyrgyz ancient forms (spherical buttons inlaid with coral beads, flat rings with stamped linear ornaments, some forms of bracelets) have survived. The main jewelry items of southern and northern Kyrgyz, which existed at the end of the last century, show significant differences.
A comparison of Kyrgyz jewelry production with Kazakh and Mongolian reveals many analogies in technique, tools, terminology, and ornamentation. This indicates close interconnections between these peoples.
Currently, jewelry production among southern, as well as northern Kyrgyz, is declining.
Many masters have stopped practicing it. Meanwhile, the jewelry art of southern Kyrgyz is vibrant and unique. It embodies rich and distinctive folk artistic traditions, the development of which under new conditions could lead to even greater enrichment and improvement of this form of applied art.
Various Techniques of Kyrgyz Jewelers of the Last Century