08
History
RUSSIA INDIA REPORT
BOOKMARKS www.kreml.ru Official website of the Moscow Kremlin museums
www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/index.html Find more about fa-
IN ASSOCIATION WITH ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA, RUSSIA
mous Faberge Eggs
THE ECONOMIC TIMES WEDNESDAY_JULY 08_2009 http://waytorussia.net/ Independent guide to Russia
Museum The Moscow Kremlin is more than Russia’s symbolic seat of power. It is also a singular
Language
museum and repository, which for centuries, accumulated the wealth of the Russian Empire
International
words in Russian:
Treasures of the Tzars
A few tips
ALLISON QUINN
RUSSIAN TRANSLATION
COMPANY
sapphires and rubies rated nasty of jewellers, are prob-
Two hundred years ago, the Russia. They were made of as the most valuable. At ably the best known artefacts
regal luxuries were made gold or silver and adorned some point, Russian aristoc- of Russian jewellery. In them,
accessible to the public when with the fi nest open-work fi l- racy was enarmoured with Fabergé ingeniously merged
in 1806 Emperor Alexander I igree. All female costumes in dark, almost black sap- two arts—the applied and
signed a decree turning the Slav cultures were invariably phires. The tide of fashion the jeweller’s. Anything pro- To the great relief of any foreigners, finding
Kremlin’s Armoury Palace completed with temporal changed, however, at the end duced by the Fabergé fi rm— themselves in Russia for the first time, there is
into a museum to display the pendants, or kolts. of the century when sharp tea services, cigarette cases, a fairly long list of international words in use by
state treasures, which had In the 16th century, sapphire dressers took a sudden aver- ash-trays, photograph Russians. Take, for instance, any poor foreigner
been historically stored was regarded as the most sion to the inky tints that frames, paper knives, minia- running wildly around a giant shopping centre
there. Since then, the world is precious and attractive gem- seemed to infuse dark sap- ture decorative bowls, and so in search of a toilet: he’ll be glad to learn that
only raving. stone. Gems were valued phires at dusk. Pigeon’s on—became jewellery mas- although the Russian word for ‘toilet’ certainly
primarily for their colour, blood rubies were viewed as terpieces. has a very different sound – ‘too-al-yet’ – it’s
SVETLANA SMETANINA
and ancient Russians tradi- exemplars of absolute beau- The fi rst Easter egg was com- similar enough that within a few seconds of
RIR tionally preferred coloured ty for their deep pink, just a pleted in 1885 for Alexander gesturing wildly while repeating ‘toilet,’ he’ll
stones. The recognised king wee short of red. III. All in all, Fabergé designed successfully locate the toilets.
The Russian Imperial Court of gems was the pearl. In the early 19th century, cam- fi fty eggs. Ten of them are held Many of these international words are es-
was well-known for its eos came into the spotlight. In in the State Armoury in pecially convenient for travellers. Words like
sumptuous excesses, so it is Quirks of fashion: from the classic period, women Kremlin, and others are scat- airport, taxi, and bank, for example, are virtually
little surprise that the Ar- diamonds to the Uralian wore tunics like in Ancient tered throughout private col- the same in Russian as in English: ‘airport’ be-
moury collection contains gems Greece, with a large cameo lections. Each egg took about comes ‘aeroport,’ ‘taxi’ stays the same but for
nothing short of the best The 18th century was the age brooch on the shoulder. Tur- a year to produce and fea- switching the stress to the second syllable ‘tak-
masterpieces. Some of the of the diamond. Russian quoise, which was all the rage tured a unique design, includ- SEE,’ and ‘bank’ remains ‘bank’ but with a soft
oldest jewels on display date jewellers emphasised their in the 16th and 17th centuries, ing a hidden surprise associ- ‘a’ sound. Similarly, though the Russian word
back to the 11th and 12th beauty by backing the stones also made a comeback in the ated with the history of Rus- for hotel is usually ‘gos-teen-eetsa,’ the word
centuries, and come from a with coloured foil and set- early 19th century. In the same sia or the Imperial family. ‘o-tel’’ is also commonly used. So for any tourist
treasure trove found near ting them loose so that the period, massive mining began The Clover egg was con- just off the plane, it’s relatively simple to find a
the city of Ryazan. The de- diamonds would slightly in the Ural mountains for structed using with a plique- taxi and a hotel.
signs are striking with their quiver and look absolutely such semiprecious stones as a-jour enamel technique, A night on the town would also be quite man-
unique beauty and sophisti- fascinating in candle light. carnelian, lapis lazuli and jas- whereby a gold framework ageable for anybody unfamiliar with Russian.
cated techniques, such as Gold was considered a poor per, and the fi rst diamond de- is fi lled with hot liquid enam- Finding your way to the nearest bar, cafe, or
cloisonné enamel. A cloison- match for diamonds, and in posit was prospected in Rus- el, then treated with fi ring. park would require only a slight change in pro-
né could be a medallion on a gold jewellery diamond sia followed by an amethyst Fabergé goldsmiths designed nunciation: for ‘bar,’ and ‘park,’ simply roll the ‘r’
gold necklace featuring a holders were made of silver discovery. Some gems, like the fancy curios. Animal figu- sound as best you can, and ‘cafe’ is the same.
saint with a pattern of fi ne to amplify the radiance. demantoid garnet, are found rines and small flower ar- On several occasions, I have heard the very
wire cells fi lled with enamel. Later, silver was replaced
GOKHRAN
exclusively in Russia. Such rangements from precious misguided belief from tourists that the Russian
After the Mongol invasion of with platinum. garnets can be facetted to and semiprecious stones language lacks character and simply borrows
Russiа in the 14th through Personal accessories became Lilies of the Valley Faberge Egg. Solid gold egg, achieve the brilliance of a dia- were among the most highly words from other languages. Anybody familiar
15th centuries, the secret very fashionable among the enameled translucent rose on a guilloche field and mond. At the beginning of the valued. Such was the Lady’s with Russian knows very well that nothing could
lore of making cloisonné was Russian noblesse in the 18th supported on four dull green gold cabriolet legs composed of over- 20th century, aquamarine be- Delight commissioned by be further from the truth, but the fact these tour-
lost to be recovered only in century. The Armoury Palace lapping leaves (veined with rose diamonds). The egg is surmounted came popular as the favourite Nicholas II for his tenth wed- ists often notice the prevalence of international
the 19th century. displays a snuffbox commis- by a miniature replica of the Imperial Crown, which is embellished stone of the last Russian Em- ding anniversary. The gift words goes to show that the list of such words
Another technique, fi ligree, sioned by Russian Empress with rose diamond and ruby cabochons. The surprise effect is cre- press, Alexandra Romanova. was styled as a simple crys- is steadily expanding – and Russian, not a
was used to produce pat- Elizabeth I made of gold and ated by three oval miniatures that become visible when on opens a tal vase, almost like a medi- language to be left behind, has adapted. Thus,
terns of twisted gold and sil- studded with 600 diamonds. door to each. The first one depicts Nicholas II in military uniform, and Faberge cine glass. Special treatment there have been many new additions to the
ver threads, often as a deco- In the 19th cen- the other two show the Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana, his first The famous collec- of the crystal made the vase Russian vocabulary in recent years, and many
rative lacework around gem- tury, precious two children. tion of Easter eggs appear to be filled with of them are almost identical to their English
stones, such as tourmalines, colour stones designed by Peter water. The petals of the fl ow- counterparts, except for the ending, which is
sapphires and garnets. were back in Carl Fabergé, a er were coated with enamel, almost always ‘-ovat'. So, words like ‘adapt’
In those times, Russia had no fashion with The Ryazan treasure-trove of the XIIth century gold adornments descendant of the and the stem was fi tted with and ‘compensate’ become ‘adapt-eer-ovat’
mines of its own, and all gems is of particular value. Their designs are striking with their unique French dy- a small lever, which made the and ‘compen-seer-ovat’ in the nominative form
were sourced from the Ori- beauty and sophisticated techniques, such as cloisonne enamel. fl ower open to reveal the por- in Russian. Many adjectives in Russian are also
ent, via trade routes from A cloisonne could be a medallion on a gold necklace fea- traits of Nicholas II’s chil- instantly recognisable to foreigners: ‘roman-
India through Turkey and turing a saint with a pattern of fine wire cells filled dren. Still more fanciful was tee-chis-kiy’ (romantic), ‘drama-tee-chis-kiy’
Persia. Earrings with two or with enamel. the design of a dandelion. (dramatic).
three pendants—the so- This fl ower was symbolic of Then, of course, who could forget the so-
called ‘tinkling earrings’— suggestive of a dream—eas- called ‘false friends’ in Russian – words which
were the most popular ily blown apart like a dande- sound deceptively similar to English words
KREMLIN MUSEUM
women’s jewellery in ancient lion’s puff-ball.
-
but in fact mean something entirely different.
This is why it’s important not to become too
dependent on ‘international words’, or too eas-
ily deceived by similar sounding words. It’s
very common for beginners studying Russian
to cling to every aspect of the language that
sounds familiar to them and associate these
familiar sounding words with their counterparts
in other languages. This is not always a wise
decision. An American friend of mine recently
visited Moscow and recounted to me a tale of
his first night, where he was approached by a
wild-eyed, drunken man on the metro. As this
friend of mine knew very little Russian, the only
word he could seem to remember to shout at
this strange man was one that held the same
meaning in both Russian and English.
“What did you say to him?” I asked him.
“I shouted the Russian word for ‘lunatic.’ Loon-
a-tik. And I guess it offended him, because he
looked pretty angry when I said that.”
As much as I did not want to spoil this moment
of pride for him, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“What?” he asked.
“I don’t think he was angry. He was probably
GOKHRAN confused. You called him a sleepwalker.”
KREMLIN MUSEUM
The Shah Diamond According to Jean Baptiste Diamond Throne Crown of Monomakh
Tavernier, a French jewel-
The Kremlin Diamond Fund ler and traveller, in 1665, the The famous Diamond Throne The Crown of Monomakh, a
holds a unique 88.7 carat Shah Diamond “was pending was presented by the Arme- gold-filigree cone-shaped cap
Shah Diamond, which is about from the Throne of the Great nian trading company to Alex- trimmed with sable, is an es-
three centimetres long, clear Mogul so as to be constant- ey Mihkailovich Romanov, who sential element of the Russian
and transparent with a touch ly before the sovereign eyes”. ruled over Russia in the mid- grand princes and tsars’ re-
Tell us what topics
of yellow colour. The renowned In 1739, Delhi, where the re- dle of the 17th century. It was galia and the symbol of Rus-
stone was found in the Gol- gal stone was kept at the time, crafted by the court jewellers sian monarchy. Legend has it
to cover!
conda mines in the 16th cen- was conquered by Nadir Shah, of the Persian Shah. Armeni- that the crown was presented
tury. It was polished, but not the great Iranian ruler, who an merchants specially bought to Prince Vladimir of Kiev by
We welcome letters
cut. A deep groove indicates brought the diamond to Persia. a huge number of gemstones his grandfather, the Byzan-
that it was carried as a tal- In 1829, it was presented to in India, including 876 dia- tine Emperor Constantine IX
to the editor
isman. Three facets bear the Emperor Nicholas I of Russia monds, to decorate it. The Dia- Monomachus, though, in all
clearly engraved names of the as a way of redemption for the mond Throne, historically used likelihood, it was made in the editor.india@rg.ru
rulers who owned it: Nizam murder of Alexander Griboye- for coronation ceremonies, is Middle East and presented
Shah, Shah Jahaan and Fath dov, a Russian Ambassador in carved of sandalwood, and to a Russian tsar in the 14th
Ali Shah. Teheran. KREMLIN MUSEUM plated with gold and silver. century.
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