Feb 23, 2024
Dukach pendant, Cherkasy Region, late XIXth century
seen from Portugal
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Guatemala
seen from New Zealand
seen from Philippines
seen from Singapore
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from Australia
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from Germany
Dukach pendant, Cherkasy Region, late XIXth century
Traditional Ukrainian "Dukach" pendants were usually made with coins or crafted to resemble a military medal but in the region where I'm from - Sloboda Ukraine (think of it as a sort of Ukrainian Wild West) a completely different style was popular. This heart-shaped Dykach called Yagnus or Yagnusok is thought to be a remnant from the Early Modern period that settlers from Cherkasy area had brought with them to the new land. It's interesting that Russian and urban communities that lived nearby preferred the more common coin/medal style but Sloboda women didn't particularly care. Fashion be damned they stuck with this tradition up until the first 2 decades of the XX century when Dukach finally went out of fashion. The local masters even used to have two different kinds of molds: one - for the round Dukach and one - for the old-fashioned Ukrainian hearts.
Silver Dukach pendant, Left-bank Ukraine, 1900s
Silver Dukach pendant, Cherkasy Region, late XIXth century
Dukach pendant and matching earrings, Nizhyn, Chernihiv Region, early XIXth century
Bronze Dukach pendant with Korali necklace, Lubny, Poltava Region, late XIXth century
Silver Dukach pendant, Kharkiv Region, late XIXth century
XVIIIth century silver Dukach pendants from Ukrainian Folk Art by Mykola Biliashivsky, 1911