#Exhibit of the Month

The 21 beads form part of a bronze hoard found in 2019 within a forested area close to the town of Nisporeni. Alongside the beads, the hoard included numerous bronze ornaments (2 Röschitz-Sanislău-type fibulae, 7 necklaces, 12 rings, 22 tubes, 23 bracelets, and approximately 80 appliqués), one coral bead and a pendant made from a wild animal's tooth. At present, the amber beads are preserved in the collections of the Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei, while the remainder of the hoard is in the possession of a private collector.
The hoard was discovered accidentally in a pit about 50 cm deep. The objects in this hoard are of Western origin, with known parallels in archaeological complexes from Poland, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, and, to a lesser extent, in Romania. The presence of this bronze hoard on the territory of the Republic of Moldova illustrates the cultural dynamics of the region during the Early Iron Age and a fundamental shift in the vector of cultural influences from east to west.

The amber bead strand comprises 16 whole beads and five fragmentary ones. They have an elongated biconical shape and vary in size. The beads are brown-reddish in color; their lengths range from 1.1 to 3.1 cm, widths from 0.6 to 1.4 cm, thicknesses from 0.6 to 1.1 cm, and the perforation diameter ranges between 0.2 and 0.3 cm.
Amber beads appear in several bronze hoards dated to the Late Bronze Age in the eastern half of Slovakia and in Transdanubian Hungary. Parallels are also known from the Cioclovina Cave in Romania. With the onset of the Iron Age, amber items disappear from the Carpathian Basin for approximately 300 years, reappearing alongside the arrival of Scythian elements.
The bronze hoard discovered at Nisporeni is dated to the HaA2-HaB1-2 interval (1050/1000 - 800/750 B.C.).

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

"Porcelain Object – the Art and the Evidence"

May 18 - November 18, 2012

It is a temporary exhibition focused on the most representative pieces of porcelain collection of the museum; it can illustrate certain realities, issues, occupations, in other words, it contains historical information. There is displayed only a part of the porcelain collection, which to some extent illustrates its typological variety and marks the stages of development of porcelain in various European countries. The selected and displayed pieces in the vast majority fall into the category of functional decorative porcelain made in countries with rich traditions of porcelain art.

The exhibition invites to a trip into the world of porcelain, the pieces on display ensuring a charming and instructive journey into the past. The historical value of the collection covers a large period of three centuries. Despite the different eras and styles, all the pieces have something in common - they can be classified as historical evidences. The exhibition traces a very interesting connection - it uses the porcelain as a means of enlightening the aspects of social and cultural history of the Bessarabian society. We should mention that the historic value of many of the exhibits is amplified due to their production on famous porcelain factories. And the diversity and beauty of forms and an impressive range of ornaments on the items made by large world-class companies or small workshops justify the proposed approach. Historical and documentary value of these pieces is enhanced when they refer to eminent figures of the past. In this sense, it should be noted porcelain items once belonging to N. Morosanu, M. Gamburd, L. Deleanu, N. Masalski, V. Miliutin, N. Kamenev, the families of Lazo and Cantacuzino.