Featured May I have some help with this Russian pin?

Hi,

This is yuge! Lol. I’m thinking it has some age to it. If I’m correct, the rivet clasp dates to sometime after 1910, right?

Not marked for metal content and does not attract a magnet. Looks like the front might have silver on top. The Russian, I think, word reads Caucasus according to Google translate.

What is this? Reminds me of a kilt pin but for Russians???

Any help is very much appreciated

Thank you

 

Looks like there’s a mark of some sort, right here…..

 

The top part looks much like it is based on the hilt of a knife/dagger from the Caucasus, the kindjal.

 

Looks like it was cobbled together with a number of scrap pieces.

 

For once Google translate is right.
This is classic Caucasian niello, meaning real Caucasian, not the American sense of the word. A lot of these niello items were made in Kubachi, in Dagestan.

I agree with Holly, it looks like different pieces were soldered together. The clasp is also much more recent than the Niello parts.
Maybe all family pieces that meant something to the wearer. The rose looks out of place on a Dagestan piece, but could be there for sentimental reasons.

The mark JewelryP noticed doesn't look like a Russian mark, but it could be where an earring back was attached, either a post or a screwback.

Yes, they often used kindjals on their jewellery. Martial lot, those Caucasians. I have a Dagestan niello buckle which closes with a little kindjal.

 

My Dagestan niello buckle with kindjal closure:

 

Love the buckle! ThNk you all for the info!! I was at a loss. Translate figure out the word caucasus for me and that was it!

 

I didn’t think I saw a mark but I will go back over it and post what I find.

 

I am no expert in styles, AJ is the real pro. Just to say that the word Caucasus is spelt in the old way before 1918 language reform in Russia.

Caucasians are not Russians, they have different culture, language and some also alphabet (Georgians, Armenians), they were conquered and subdued by Russians long ago and since then there have been numerous armed conflicts, some countries like Georgia and Armenia were Soviet republics, now independent (at least formally but not so much actually) while Chechnya and Dagestan remained within the Russian federation, independence movements there were suppressed with utmost cruelty in 1990s 2000s. Now Kadyrov, pro-Russian ruler of Chechnya, continues the oppression.
All these can well justify the presence of kinzhal everywhere in Caucasian culture and habits.

The second Chechnya war in 2000s was a showcase of the Russian style of preserving "The Russian world" - the entire Grozny was obliterated by heavy bombing, hundreds of thousands civilian deaths. Ukraine is not a precedent, it just the next in line. The only difference is that it is much bigger and more powerful.

 

that's a big difference...but not the biggest difference !!

 

Hi!
I wish I knew stuff like that @IvaPan I’m going to look that up, ty

There is a mark. Looks like a backwards R and regular C

 

The mark is in Cyrillic, the first letter is "Я", the second looks to me as "O" but you can see better if it is "O" or "C". Please confirm that it is C, and I will try later to search "ЯС".

I did not post it to make difference to the items itself. Just for the sake of precision.

 

Definitely a C. I understand and appreciate the information It’s interesting and awful that I knew nothing about that part of history.

 

That is a maker's mark. With these early Dagestan maker's marks people outside Dagestan will probably never know who made it.
It is easier with Soviet period Dagestan pieces.

 

The kindjal is much older. It is a tradition in many parts of the world to have a knife or dagger as part of the regional costume. Those traditions go back to ancient times.
During much of its history Dagestan was Iranian, and carrying a dagger is also an old Iranian tradition.

In more recent times there has been some friction between some of the countless ethnicities of Dagestan, but the most important conflict is caused by Islamist rebels fighting the Dagestan government. And as always, the Islamists are supported by Chechen guerillas.
How much a traditional dagger like the kindjal plays a part in this conflict, I don't know. But I don't think it is very effective against bombs and guns.

The people of Dagestan are known for being very friend and gregarious, typically Caucasian. I am sure their beautiful country would be a much better place without Russian and Chechen involvement.

 

Some similarities here, with the same ЯС makers mark:

https://www.barnebys.com/auctions/l...ia-1899-1908-stamped-shsh-and-yas-PDsgq97CvVY

 

I misunderstood you, you meant the difference with Ukraine, yes, the biggest difference is that the Western world and especially USA help Ukraine now and Chechnya and Georgia were left alone. Long story.

Of course kinjal is a symbol, not an actual weapon. I meant that the martial temper of the people there is due to their difficult history and closeness to a powerful enemy, IMO. Kinjal is also present in military BG uniforms, it is called kortik or kama, also kinjal is used as a word.

 

To me it looks the same style and maker, whoever they are.

There are also offers in Russian and in Ukrainian of the same style and with the same mark ЯС described as "Caucasus niello silver with makers mark ЯС from Kubachi" which is a village in Dagestan described (in Russian, in the English version this is missing) as one of the biggest Caucasus centres of silversmith and silver jewelry making.
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Кубачи
No mention of the maker. I will try to find it later in a catalogue.

 

I think it has been part of their culture for centuries, just like in Turkey and parts of the Middle East and parts of Mediterranean Europe.

 

The style is a generic style from Dagestan, it is not linked to a specific maker. As you confirmed, and I mentioned in my first post #5, Kubachi is the main silvermaking centre.

In Dagestan all nielloed parts were marked. For instance my buckle is marked on both halves and on the kindjal closure.

Because the triangular construction of gauntlett's brooch isn't marked, the marks that were originally on the kindjals could be hidden under the pommels of the kindjals. After all, the kindjals were cut in two, and put together in a different way.
I doubt that the rose was made in Dagestan, I think it expresses a sentiment.
So the ЯС mark applies only to the little disc, which was probably part of something else (earring?).
Even if you know the maker of the disc, it doesn't influence any value it has.
And let's face it, the original work on the niello parts is nice, but this is a Frankenstein piece.