Mongol Jewelry

During the 1930s the Danish National Museum organized a series of expeditions to Mongolia. Undertaking research in a dozen different Mongolian tribes, the explorers and scientists retruned to Denmark with an assortment of indigenous artifacts and objects. As a result, the Museum houses an unrivalled collection of Mongolian jewelry. Part of the series from the Carlsberg Foundation, this book contains a display of 150 specially commissioned photographs that illustrate the individual pieces in the collection. It offers an insight into the artistic refinement of the jewelry and deals in depth with the origin and transformation of motifs and ornamental styles, and focusing in particular on the intricate and beautiful headdresses and hair ornaments for women. Jewelry is examined from cultural, regional and historical perspectives, arguing that silverwork shows influences not only from the surrounding countries of India, Tibet and China, but from the ancient traditions of Scythian art and the once famous metalwork of Central Asia.