Shoulder Ornaments in the local version of the Moksha Women's Costume.

Abstract

The article fills in the missing knowledge in science about the shoulder element of the kavlalks (armpits) of the traditional women's costume of the mid-nineteenth century of the villages of Levzha, Perkhlyai, Suzgarye of the Insarsky district of the Penza province, presents a complete description of its constructive and decorative specifics and the names of the details of the decoration in comparison with similar elements in the Mordovian costume and in comparison with the correspondences in the costumes of the peoples of the Middle Volga region. The materials of the archive of the Russian Geographical Society (hereinafter referred to as the SBI "RGO") are investigated as the main sources. Along with general scientific methods, systematic, comparative-historical and art criticism approaches were also used. The novelty of the work is due to the study of the original decoration of the local version of Moksha clothing, previously not mentioned by researchers. It is established that the existence of the shoulder decoration until the middle of the nineteenth century reflects the complex ethnogenetic processes in the Oka-Sur interfluve of the XVI – XVIII centuries. The technical, technological, artistic and stylistic features of the element of the Moksha women's costume reveal an affinity with the decoration of the ozhanuchka, preserved until the twentieth century in the Erzya women's costume of the Temnikovsky district of the Tambov province. The scientific contribution is determined by enriching the classification of Mordovian costume jewelry with a unique variant of the strap-type decor, known only to the Mordovian people.