The Traditional Display of New Acquisitions
at the State Hermitage

On 31 December, 2003 the traditional display of new acquisitions of the State Hermitage took place in the Treasure Gallery (Diamond Rooms): a gold flask from the first to third centuries AD and a 20th century diamond pendant.

The Golden Perfume Bottle
The golden vessel belongs to a series of jewelry items from the first to third centuries AD known in archeological literature as perfume bottles and serving to store aromatic substances. They all, as a rule, have rounded or oval body with cylindrical neck that has a close fitting cap for near hermetical closure to preserve the aromas. These flasks were worn on the chest, suspended from a chain which passed through small hooks fixed to the top of the vessel. Items like this were used across a large territory from the northern shores of the Black Sea to Kazakhstan, including the Caucausus and the Lower Volga Region. At present we are aware of not more than a couple dozen such finds. Some are kept in the State Hermitage. Golden flasks were beauty accessories of the aristocratic women of the time and have been found in the wealthiest burial sites of antique towns in the Bosporus region, ancient Georgia as well as in funerary complexes of the Sarmatian nomadic tribes of the southern Russian steppes. Despite the close resemblance in the shape, construction, similar manner in they were worn, the flasks are not absolutely identical. They differ in details and especially in decorative finishing. Several of them are decorated with images of beasts and fantastic creatures, others with vegetal ornaments or have semiprecious stones embedded. Our new flask belongs precisely to this last category, because its surface is completely covered with garnet inserts. This peculiarity distinguishes this flask from other finds and thus makes it a valued acquisition for the Gallery of Precious Stones of the Hermitage.

The golden flask was donated to the Hermitage by the All-Russian Hebrew Congress to honor the 300th Anniversary of St Petersburg. The presentation was made on
May 27, 2003 by its president, Mr Evgeny Yakovlevich Satanovsky.

Diamond Pendant
According to the expert findings of US-based Dunbar Jewelers, the golden pendant consisting of a large pear-shaped diamond (4.44 carats) framed by 16 other diamonds with total weight of 3.46 carats is a work of the ’Old Western European masters’.

The pendant was given to the State Hermitage in keeping with the last will of Mrs Miron Ivy (USA): "These diamonds were sold by the Soviets to a jewelry company in the USA, and I think they should return home…” Mrs Ivy assumed that the lady’s decoration which she owned might have belonged to the treasures of the tsarist family. The pendant will be given an appropriate expert examination to determine the date and country of its fabrication, as well as the exact composition and weight of its precious stones.

Golden Perfume Bottle
1st – 3rd centuries AD
Larger view

Diamond Pendant
20th century
Western Europe
Larger view