Earrings
Север. 18th century
Earrings have been around since Ancient Russian times. Earrings were made of silver, bronze alloys, tin, bone and beads. The metal was cast, stamped, filigreed, grained and engraved. Gold and silver earrings were decorated with colorful rough enamel and precious stones. Noisy dangling pieces were sometimes hung on silver earrings. Plant shapes were common among the local people — earrings shaped like branches with clusters of pearls, garnets, coral, colored glass resembling currants and grapes. The inhabitants of the North and the Upper Volga Region loved adding pearl earrings to their festive attire. The most common types were in the form of butterflies with open wings. Small pearls or beads were threaded onto firm horse hair to preserve their shape, woven around a thick brass pendant. Some earrings were shaped as clusters of berries with flowers and leaves, or pots of flowers, but these were not common.