Decoration of Komi-Permyak Women’s Costume (19th to Early 20th Centuries)

Abstract

The article examines the jewelry of Komi-Permyak women of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Drawing on a wide range of materials, I developed a classification and typology of jewelry used in the Solikamsk and Cherdynsk Districts of the Perm Governorate. The main sources for this research were ethnographic collections of the Russian Ethnographic Museum, the Komi-Permyak Museum of Local Lore named after P.I. Subbotin-Permyak, and the Perm Museum of Local Lore. The study presents a detailed analysis of glass negatives and photographs taken during the period by the archaeologist and ethnographer A.F. Teploukhov, the painter and collector V.A. Plotnikov, and the 19th century Perm photographers S.V. Rylov and K.F. Tchaikovsky. Bibliographic sources including pre-revolutionary materials, as well as my own fieldwork data were also utilized in the research which is the first comprehensive study dedicated to Komi-Permyak women’s jewelry. Its earliest description can be found in the work of N.A. Rogov on “Materials for Description of Life of Permians”, published in 1860. An outstanding contribution to the examination and preservation of ethnic and cultural heritage of the Komi-Permians was made by prominent ethnographers of the 20th and 21st centuries V.N. Belitser and G.N. Chagin. Given the strong interest in restoring the lost aspects of traditional culture nowadays, I believe that the outcome of this research will be of value both in museum and in educational practices and may also be of interest to ethnologists studying the Finno-Ugric peoples of the Cis-Ural region, including university students and museum research staff.