#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

#Exhibit of the Month

October 2020

Fabergé inkwell

Peter Carl Fabergé (1846-1920), was a famous jeweler of French origin, who became the official supplier of jewelry for the Imperial House in Russia, and when we say Fabergé, we mean not just jewelry, but rather works of art.

The famous Russian jewelry House of Fabergé received worldwide recognition for the elegance and uniqueness of its products. In the late 19th - early 20th century, the House of Fabergé was a world-class phenomenon known for its famous "Easter eggs" made of precious metals and stones. The first egg was crafted in 1885, when Tsar Alexander III decided to give his wife a special gift on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of their marriage. Since the jubilee fell on Easter, the tsar asked C. Fabergé to create a unique decoration in the form of an egg, which would be extremely precious, like his wife Maria. This is how Faberge eggs and the annual Easter tradition of donating them appeared at the court of the Russian Tsar. For 32 years, before the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, which led to the fall of the tsarist monarchy, the House of Fabergé created about 70 eggs, of which more than 50 have survived to this day, and each of them is a work of art of rare beauty, a symbol of luxury and aristocracy.

Among the treasures stored in the National Museum of History of Moldova, there are also Fabergé jewelry items. Here we present to the attention of visitors a silver inkwell of the 19th century, covered with stylized ornaments in the Russian Modern Style influenced by medieval Russian-Byzantine art. The body of the item represents a ball with small spherical legs on a marble stand in the form of a truncated pyramid. The inkwell is completely covered with stylized patterns of rare beauty and decorated with pearls and malachite. This work of art is 15 cm high and 9 cm in diameter. The lid is made in the form of a traditional dome of Russian churches.

#Exhibit of the Month

Exhibit of the Month Amber beads from a bronze hoard discovered near the town of Nisporeni

October 2020

Fabergé inkwell

#Exhibit of the Month