At the Ethnographic Museum in Razgrad on July 13, the Regional History Museum presented the exhibition “Goldsmithing in Panagyurishte – Tradition and Development”, provided by the Panagyurishte History Museum. The Deputy Mayor Zornitsa Evgenieva, museum specialists, and citizens were present.
The exhibition was opened by the director of the Regional History Museum, Tanya Todorova. She thanked the Panagyurishte History Museum, which provided the exhibition, and emphasized that thanks to these contacts, in June, Razgrad residents were able to see the Panagyurishte Golden Treasure.
Tanya Todorova presented the exhibition, which contains 81 movable cultural values and panels from the collection of the Historical Museum – Panagyurishte. It exhibits works of Bulgarian jewelry art: head and body jewelry – brooches, rings, bracelets, headpieces, headbands, necklaces, earrings and hairpins from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Connoisseurs of jewelry art can also see blanks and originals of rebel lions – cockades for the uniforms of the Panagyurishte rebels who participated in the April Uprising.
The exhibition reminds us that the Panagyurishte goldsmiths took an active part in the preparation of the uprising – they made the cockades, which represent lion cubs, for the rebel uniforms. The silver cross of Benkovski’s Flying Cavalry was also their work. Thus, the Panagyurishte goldsmiths entered Bulgarian history with their own contribution.
On the eve of the April Uprising in Panagyurishte there were 563 artisan workshops, of which 23 were goldsmiths, located in the Lower and Upper Bazaars. In a separate panel of the exhibition we see photographs of these workshops of the most famous goldsmiths, who were united in a guild. In this way, Panagyurishte goldsmith products became very sought after in the Ottoman Empire.
In the Panagyurishte region, the processing of precious metals and their alloys has ancient traditions, originating from Thracian art, passing through the schools of medieval Bulgarian culture and reaching their peak in the goldsmithing centers of the Bulgarian Renaissance. Through the jewelry and other exhibits presented in the exhibition, one can trace the development of Bulgarian jewelry art both in terms of aesthetics and functionality of the products, as well as the manufacturing technique and the elements of jewelry preferred by the master goldsmiths. Forging, casting, granulation, enamel are part of the working techniques of the Panagyurishte goldsmiths, but the most famous is filigree – drawing thin threads of precious metal, which are formed into a unique piece of jewelry. Many of these elements are still present in contemporary Bulgarian jewelry today – a sign of continuity in Bulgarian jewelry art.
The exhibition reminds us of how Bulgarian women wore their brooches, bracelets, and necklaces – with pride and dignity. It will remain at the Ethnographic Museum until July 24.
The exhibited artifacts remind today’s generations of the importance of the goldsmith’s craft in Panagyurishte and the role of jewelry art in the life of the Bulgarian. Overall, the current exhibition “Goldsmithing in Panagyurishte – Tradition and Development” presents the achievements in jewelry art of the famous Panagyurishte goldsmith’s school.
