Jewellery Headdress Finials as Signs of the Rank Hierarchy of the Trans-Baikal Buryats in the Second Half of the 19th — Еarly 20th Century

Abstract

In the 17th century, the first fragmentary information about the clothing of the Buryats appeared in the reports of service men and pioneer Cossacks; in the 18th-19th centuries, more detailed descriptions of clothing were found in the diaries of travellers, diplomats, and scientists. The social and property differentiation of Buryat society in the traditional clothing of the people was established with the introduction by the tsarist authorities of the provisions “On official insignia and clothing of commanding and honourable people” recorded in the “Rules established by the Selenga and Khorin main and honorary spiritual secular authorities in 1841”. The design of the headdress and its denze finial with a jinchi ball was one of the most important distinguishing marks of the table of ranks for civil and military ranks. The purpose of the study is to analyse the specifics of the decor of headdress finials as signs of the rank hierarchy of the Trans-Baikal Buryats in the second half of the 19th — early 20th century. Jinchi finials were made of coral, lazurite, shells, and turquoise; the use of materials and techniques for denze finials also varied. The author’s research tasks also include identifying the symbolism of the denze form and ornamental motifs, male and female decor options. With regard to the origins of the regulated Buryat costume, the author considers the Qing official headdresses with a ding top and round zhu beads, which differed depending on the official’s status. It is important to mention the Mongolian analogues of headdresses during the period of Manchurian rule, to note their similarity and difference from the Buryat ones. Pictorial sources from the collections of Russian museums presented the material for this research.

Keywords

• traditional clothing
• jewellery headdress finials
• rank hierarchy
• buryat blacksmiths
• museum collections