History of Jewellery in Ukraine - Soviet Times

Soviet Times

Under the Communist regime, Soviet goldsmiths largely copied old-fashioned patterns of the 19th century. Instead of expensive adornments intended for wealthy people, specimens made of relatively inexpensive materials with inlays of cheap stones and glass became the norm. This change was a result of a ruling of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR “Regarding the Elimination of Excessiveness in Design and Construction”. This set the task for artists – to find new forms and techniques with the use of allowed materials.

During the period of Socialism a long list of restrictions existed. The right to manufacture any wares of precious metals and stones was granted only to a monopoly of State enterprises. Small workshops were allowed to exist exclusively for repairing items. The “classic Soviet” design (berries, flowers, leaves) became characteristic of industrially produced patterns. Due to the shortage of specialized designers, flexibility in reacting to the needs of the consumer as well as innovation in jewellery design was greatly lacking.

For many years Ukraine was deprived of the opportunity to participate in the processes of contemporary artistic jewellery creation. There were many reasons for this, such as ideological prejudices of the Soviet regime, lack of contact with craftsmen in other countries, prohibition of individual artists to work with precious materials, and a lack of artistic education in many artists.