Temple Pendant (Kolt) with Two Birds ( ) |
Artist | |
Title | Temple Pendant (Kolt) with Two Birds |
Description | English: "Kolty" (singular "kolt") are pendants that attached to a woman's headdress at the temples. The hollow space within the two concave gold disks that compose a "kolt" contained perfumes or scented oils. The pendants were usually decorated on both sides, since they could rotate as the woman walked. This "kolt" is decorated with delicate cloisonné enamel, a technique learned from Byzantine masters starting in the late 10th century. "Kolty" were frequently worn at wedding ceremonies; the lilies (center), birds, and seeds that fleck the birds' breasts are all symbols of fertility. The bird is also an image retained from Russia's pagan past. |
Date | 12th century date QS:P571,+1150-00-00T00:00:00Z/7 (Middle Agesera QS:P2348,Q12554 ) |
Medium | gold, cloisonné enamel |
Dimensions | 4.7 × 4.8 × 0.9 cm (1.8 × 1.8 × 0.3 in) |
Collection | institution QS:P195,Q210081 |
Accession number | 44.297 |
Place of creation | Ukraine |
Object history | |
Exhibition history | Objects of Adornment: Five Thousand Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota. 1984-1987. Jewelry from the Walters Art Museum and the Zucker Family Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1987. Russian Enamels. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1996-1997. Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Museum. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2006-2009. Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. 1947. Russian Art: Icons and Decorative Arts from the Origin to the Twentieth Century. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1959-1960. Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979-1980. Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry. El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso. 2010. |
Credit line | Acquired by Henry Walters |
Source | Walters Art Museum: Home page Info about artwork |
Permission (Reusing this file) | |