Paisley-shaped antler onlays with fantastic beasts from Veliky Novgorod: issues of functional and stylistic attribution

Abstract

The article deals with two paisley-shaped antler onlays with fantastic beast drawings. These artifacts were dated to the end of the XIII – first half of the XIV centuries and were found during the archaeological excavations in Novgorod. These finds were made with a high degree of artistic skill and have a number of similar stylistic features, which allow them to be considered in the context of common pictorial tradition. These beast images have stylistic analogies among items of Novgorod antler products of this period, which were created under the influence of Golden Horde art traditions. Another problem deals with the attribution of these objects. According to historiography, paisley-shaped onlays attributed as a decoration of saddles. For the present among the archaeological materials of Novgorod, there are no known finds of saddles with similar decoration preserved in situ. Only similar finds from a nomadic burial nearby the village of Philia (XIII– XIV centuries) make it possible to adhere to this hypothesis.

Keywords

• archaeology of novgorod
• pax mongolica
• veliky novgorod
• golden horde
• the art of old rus
• bone carving
• mongol conquest