26 August – 8 December 2024

Khabarovsk Regional Museum named after N.I. Grodekov 

Organized by:

The Moscow Kremlin Museums, Khabarovsk Regional Museum named after N.I. Grodekov

Participant:

The Moscow Kremlin Museums

The display from the collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums organised at the Khabarovsk Regional Museum named after N.I. Grodekov is dedicated to gold – the first precious metal and a symbol of power and might. The art of jewellers and goldsmiths of different epochs in the Russian history tells about the symbolic meaning of this metal in the human consciousness.

The exposition opens with a group of ancient artefacts in which gold appears as an eternal metal that is not subject to the destructive influence of time. It is a set of jewellery from the 4th - 3rd centuries BC, which belonged to a representative of the highest nobility of the Greco-Scythian period, as well as antique coins of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. A gold chain from the 4th-5th centuries, found in the Kursk province, and a pendant from the 6th century, decorated with large red glass, represent the period of the Great Migration. Elegant temple headdress pendants (kolt) with bird motifs demonstrate high artistic level of Russian jewellers of the 12th - first third of the 13th century, while the later period of Vassal dependence on the Golden Horde  is vividly illustrated by the oriental-style rings of the 14th century. All these objects either appeared on the territory of our country in a finished form or were made of imported gold.

The absence of gold mining in the Russian state until the 18th century led to dependence on imports of this precious metal, mainly in the form of foreign gold coins, which are also presented in the exhibition.

A particular section is devoted to gold as a symbol of power. Gold objects were often mentioned as valuable possessions in treaties and testaments of Russian princes, and in the 17th century they acquired special importance in court ceremonial, showing the status of their owner. Precious horse harness, arms and tableware are presented here. A special place is given to ladles, which were used as royal awards for service, and gold coins of various size and weight – the forerunners of orders and medals that appeared at the beginning of the 18th century. The exhibition features all kinds of awards.

With the advent of domestic gold mining in the 18th century, the precious metal became an indicator of wealth and luxury and was widely distributed among the upper classes. "Domestic gold", i.e. gold from Russia's own mines, from which small medals were first struck in 1721 to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Nystad with Sweden, became a necessary part of the 19th-century noble's life, which is embodied in the exhibition by jewellery and other accessories.

The central piece of the show, which reflects the idea of gold as the best metal for preserving property, is the largest hoard found in Moscow, consisting of 552 gold coins, mostly from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which was hidden in the autumn of 1942, during the Great Patriotic War.

The exhibition covers all the most interesting aspects of the history of gold in Russia, one of the world's leading producers of this precious metal.