#Exhibit of the Month

Buckles (paftale) are an almost indispensable element of traditional women's dress in the Southeastern European area, particularly in the Balkans, and have been in use over a long period, from the 14th to the 20th century.
The word pafta is of Turkic origin-possibly entering the language via Iranian influence-derived from the Persian word bafta, meaning "woven," which evolved in Turkish to signify "plate." Today, the term is used in nearly identical forms in Romanian (pafta), Bulgarian (пафта), Serbian (пафте), and some Aromanian dialects (pafta), designating functional and ornamental clothing accessories used to fasten belts, girdles, or sashes, crafted from various materials and decorated using different techniques.
The three buckles decorated in the polychrome enamel technique, preserved in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova, belong to the South-Danubian tradition and are dated to the late 19th - early 20th century.

Each buckle consists of two identical trapezoidal parts, their surfaces divided into three roughly equal registers, adorned with stylized vegetal motifs forming a metal lattice into which enamel is poured. The two parts extend into sharp angles at the ends, forming a triangle with the edge of the last decorative register, similarly ornamented. The enamel used to fill the floral motifs is black, turquoise, white, orange, green, yellow, and burgundy. The entire decorative field is framed by a beaded border.

On the reverse, both components retain a copper band riveted along the edge, used to fasten the ends of the belt. The fastening system, made by interlocking the hinges of the two parts and secured with a movable pin attached by a chain to a clasp fixed on one of the buckle pieces, is concealed by a rectangular plate (riveted with three pins to the body of the piece), with narrow edges ending in sharp angles, decorated in the same style and technique. Additionally, it features three circular settings with notched edges bent inward to hold centrally placed red and green glass paste. These settings are framed by a radiant, notched band.

The symbolism of the color palette encodes meanings and symbols, chosen for their believed magical powers. Red has always represented love, affection, and protection against curses and the evil eye; white symbolizes purity and spiritual and physical cleanliness; blue is symbolically associated with infinity, morning, new beginnings, and transformation; green represents destiny, hope, prosperity, balance, and rebirth, being linked to nature's revival each spring and to life itself.

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Research Research Projects

"Identification, documentation, research, and promotion of the museum collections" (2011-2012)

Currently the museum realizes a project on identification, documentation, research, and promotion of the museum collections (2011-2012).

The museum's property as a part of national heritage is an important factor for preservation of the identity and cultural and national values, sustainable development, social harmony, and intercultural dialogue in the country and abroad. The museum's property is indispensable for a balanced and complete life; it must be documented, researched, preserved and made accessible to the public and scientists. Research and presentation of the values are a means to guarantee everyone the right of access to resources of cultural values for the better understanding of the national and world history and culture, both at present and in the future. Knowledge and the scientific and public use of museum collections should be recognized a natural consequence of the role and place of museum institutions in contemporary society.

The project is focused on two main objectives:

- Scientific documentation of the archaeological collections, which involves the identification of their origin, identification of the conditions under which they were found, establishing their cultural and historical (museum) significance. This documentation is essential and fundamental for the scientific research, conservation, and knowledge of archeological artifacts;

- Research of the collections of documents, which will result in the new forms of publication of the research results: scientific catalogs, directories, encyclopedic editions) and also contribute to the democratization of the museum and broadening of the public access to museum property values.

The project will contribute to the development of quality standards for scientific records of museum values, to scientific and cultural dialogue on the national and international level based on the reporting of the research results, and to awakening in the society the consciousness of cultural and historic heritage values.