State Hermitage Museum :: The Mongol Empire

[Return to Index]

The rich Hermitage collection of objects from the territories of the Mongol Empire was the subject of a major exhibition at the museum in 2000. For an overview of the exhibition rooms and fairly generous selection of photographs of individual items, see "The Treasures of the Golden Horde" Captioning here uses the published catalogue of the exhibition, and links to individual images have been provided. Many of the most striking objects in the collection of materials specifically from the Golden Horde (Juchi Ulus) have been exhibited and published elsewhere as well. Note that some of the objects clearly did not originate in the territories of Golden Horde, even if they were owned or circulated there. In one or two instances, the objects displayed here may not in fact be in the Hermitage Museum collections, but it made sense to include them for comparison even though their current locations are uncertain.

References:

Here are select portions of the maps in Smirnov showing some of the heaviest concentrations of the finds of Eastern metalwork in the former Russian Empire. The captions are in Russian; the numbers are those of the Smirnov portfolio.

Click on thumbnail for full view.

The Chingis Khan stone.
1224-1225. Granite. 210.5 x 66.0 x 21.5 cm. including base. Inscr. reads: "When after the conquest of the Sartaul people Chingis Khan gathered the noyons of the whole Mongol Ulus at Bukha-Sudzhikhai, Esunkhe shot (from a bow) a distance of 335 sazhens." First reported in 1818. Found in Khirkhirinskoe gorodishche, in territory of Esunkhe, nephew of Chingis. In 1829 sent from Nerchinsk to Pb., where kept in Min. of Finance; transferred 1839 to Asiatic museum; in 1936 to Hemitage.
Inv. no. BM-728.
Pub.: GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 1; Dschingis Khan, no. 4, p. 27. Image here is the reproduction in the National Museum of Mongolian History, Ulaan Baatar.

Belt-bowl.
Great Mongol State or Juchi Ulus, 13th c. Silver, gilding. Dia. 10.5 cm. Found before 1876, R. Irtysh Tobolsk prov., with Smirnov fig. 38, no. 198, figs. 36, 37 (bracelet, cup and ornament).
Inv. Ski-597.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 229; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 16, pp. 60, 215; Dschingis Khan, no. 258, pp. 232-233.
Belt-bowl with two handles shaped like water dragons.
Juchi Ulus, 13th-early 14th c., Gold. Dia. 17.8, H. 12.0 cm. Found 1848 at Tsarev (New Saray).
Inv. no. Sar-1613.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 230; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 15, pp. 59, 214-215; Lentz/Lowry no. 11, pp. 48, 330; Legacy fig. 11, pp. 18, 273; Hermitage website.
Belt-bowl with handle shaped like a dragon's protoma.
Juchi ulus, 13th c. Gold. Dia. 13.0, H. 4.68 cm. Found Siberia (?); from 1727, Kunstkamera coll., then Asiatic Museum, SPb.
Inv. No. Sar-1625.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 231; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 12, pp. 56, 212-213; Legacy, no. 155, fig. 197, pp. 170, 276-277; Dschingis Khan, no. 250, p. 228; Hermitage website.
Belt-bowl with handle shaped like a dragon's protoma.
Juchi Ulus, 13th c. Silver, gilding. Dia. 11.25 cm.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 237; Cf. GE/GIM Altyn urda, nos. 12, 14.
Belt-bowl with handle shaped like a dragon's protoma.
Juchi Ulus,13th-beg. 14th c. Silver, gilding. Dia. 11.0, H. 4.0. Found 1893 vill. Terekhovo, Tarskii okrug, Tobolsk prov. with other GH items including similar belt-bowl now in GIM, Inv. 32752.
Inv. No. Vz-856.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 238; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no.14, pp. 58, 214.
Belt-bowl with handle shaped like a dragon's protoma.
Juchi Ulus,13th-beg. 14th c. Silver, gilding. Found Kaniov u., Kiev prov. Ex-Khanenko coll, Kiev; current location?
Pub.: Smirnov no. 300.
Belt-bowl with handle shaped like a dragon's protoma.
Juchi Ulus, middle of 2nd half of 13th c. Gold. Dia. 12.5 cm, H. 4.0 cm. Found 1890 in barrow near Gashun-Usta Stavropol' prov.
Inv. Kub-704.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 232; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 13, pp. 57, 213-214; Lentz/Lowry, no. 10, pp. 48, 330; Dschingis Khan, no. 251, p. 228.
Belt-bowl.
Juchi Ulus, late 13th c.-14th c. Gold. Dia. 14.5 cm., H. 5.1 cm. Found 1892 in ruined barrow, Verneskii u., Semirech'e prov.
Inv. no. Ski-589.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 233; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 41, p. 220; Dschingis Khan, no. 256, pp. 232-232; Legacy, no. 149, fig. 13, pp. 18, 275; Hermitage website.
Belt bowl.br> Juchi Ulus, 13th c. Gold. Dia. 11.0 cm. Found 1845 in ruined burial near Melitopol'.
Inv. ChM-1202.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 298; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 40, pp. 219-220; Dschingis Khan no. 254, pp. 230-231. Analogy with Chinese (?) gold bowl in Victoria and Albert Museum, dated to N. Song Dynasty. Cf. depictions of such cups in Persian miniatures, e.g., Topkapi Saray Museum Hazine 1653, fol. 23a, MS of Rashid al-Din's Jami at-Tawarikh, Tabriz, 1330.
Belt bowl.
Juchi Ulus, 14th c. Silver, gilding. Found 1897 N. Caucasus in barrow near Belorechenskaia.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 302.
Belt-bowl.
Juchi Ulus, 14th c. Silver, gilding. Dia. 11.0 cm. Found 1896, N. Caucasus.
Inv. Ski-888.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 322; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 136, pp. 76 (caption reversed with no. 47), 248; Fedorov-Davydov, figs. 132, 133, pp. 171-172, 181.
Dish.
Juch Ulus (?). Silver. Dia. 22.4 cm. Provenance unknown.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 243.
Bowl.
Juch Ulus, 14th c.? Silver. Found 1846?, Enisei prov. Ex-Asiatic Museum, SPb.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 244.
Belt-bowl.
Juchi Ulus, 14th c. Silver, gilding. Dia. 13 cm. Found 1900 near Ochakov, Kherson prov.
Inv. ZO-412.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 345; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 64, p. 229.
Belt-bowl.
Juchi Ulus, Crimea (?), 14th c. Silver, gilding. Octagonal shape of bowl; possible European prototype for shape of handle. Dia. 11 cm., H. 3.5 cm., Handle (rectangular), 4 x 4.5 cm. Found 1897 N. Caucasus in barrow near Belorechenskaia.
Inv. Kub-338.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 265; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 91, pp. 105, 237.
Bowl with Buddhist character for "Om" in Brahmi script.
Juchi Ulus or Yuan Dynasty, 14th c. Silver, gilding. Dia. 10.5 cm. Found 1902 vill. of Cherdatskoe, Mariinskii okrug, Enisei prov.
Inv. no. Ski-598.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 217; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 6, p. 210.
Bowl with figure of ram.
Juchi Ulus, Crimea (?), 14th c., Silver, enamel. Dia. 8.6 cm., H. 3 cm. Found 1896 N. Caucasus near Belorechensk, barrow no. 10.
Inv. TB-221.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 264; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 109, pp. 90, 242; Dschingis Khan, no. 262, p. 234
Bowl.
Juchi Ulus, 13th-beg. 14th c., Silver, gilding. Dia. 13.2 cm. Found 1907 vill. Gubdor, Cherdyn u., Perm prov. Analogies include Smirnov no. 248.
Inv. ZO-335a.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 315; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 47, pp. 76 (caption reversed with no. 136), 223.
Bowl.
Juchi Ulus, 13th-beg. 14th c.? Silver. Found prior to 1891, N. Caucasus.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 248.
Bowl.
Juchi Ulus (?). Gold. Ca. 12.7 cm. Found prior to 1905, ex-Oriental Museum of University of St. Petersburg. Current location?
Pub.: Smirnov no. 320.
Hollow-pattern bowl.
Juchi Ulus, 2nd half 13th-14th c., Silver, gilding. Dia. 11.8 cm. Found 1892 Berdianskaia, Tauride prov., with a similar dish, Smirnov no. 246 (=GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 247). Berdianskaia hoard included sea-shell cup, Smirnov no. 239, other silver cups and harness decorations. Its objects are attributed to Cilicia, end of 12th-beg. of 13th c. or later in 13th c.
Inv. no. ChM-1191.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 315; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 248, pp. 112, 277; Dschingis Khan, no. 266, p. 235.
Footed cup.
Juchi Ulus, GH, end 13th-1st half 14th c. Silver. Dia. 12 cm., H. 16 cm. Origin of long-stem cup form earlier; e.g., known in Tang dynasty. Found prior to 1876 on R. Irtysh, Tobolsk prov.
Inv. no. BM-1131.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 198; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 56, pp. 75, 226., pp. 75, 226. Cf. Legacy, no. 196, fig. 61, p. 65; depictions of such cups in Persian miniatures, e.g., LACMA no. M.73.5.406 (Shahnama, Baghdad, ca.1300). Another group of such cups (GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 43 [Smirnov no. 195], no. 44 [Smirnov no. 194], no. 45 [Smirnov no. 196]) lacks the medallions shown here.
Footed cup.
Silver. Dia. 12 cm., H. 13.5 cm. Found prior to 1890, Sukhobuzim, Enisei prov. Ex-Lopatin coll., SPb.; current location?
Pub.: Smirnov no. 199.
Footed cup.
Silver. Dia. 12 cm.,H. 11.5 cm. Found prior to 1890, Sukhobuzim, Enisei prov. Ex-Lopatin coll., SPb.; current location?
Pub.: Smirnov no. 200.
Footed cup.
Silver. Dia. 11.7 cm., H. 11.1 cm. Provenance unknown. Ex-Stroganov coll., SPb.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 201.
Bowl of footed cup?
Silver. Dia. 12.9 cm., H. 11.25 cm. Found 1853, Niuskoe, Transbaikal region.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 176.
Footed cup.
Juchi Ulus, 13th c. Silver, gilding. Dia. 13.0, H. 13.0 cm. Decor. similar to that on silver objects of Qidan/Liao. Found 1891 Gradizhsk, Kremenchuk u., Poltava prov.
Inv. No. ZO-702.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 197; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 42, p. 220. Fedorov-Davydov figs. 130-131, pp. 169-170, 183.
Footed cup.
Yuan dynasty, late 13th-14th c.. Silver, gilding. Largest dia. 12.4 cm., H. 12.3 cm. Decorative elements possibly from Buddhist traditions.Found 1857 near Gur'ev factory, Tomsk prov. Ex.-Museum of Geographical Society, SPb.
Inv. no. BM-1130.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 202; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 9, pp. 111, 211,
Footed cup.
Silver. Found 1869, Ust-Erbinskoe, Enisei prov. ex-Rumiantsev Museum, Moscow (now in State Historical Mus.?).
Pub.: Smirnov no. 203.
Footed cup.
Juchi Ulus or Yuan Dynasty, 14th c. Silver, gilding. Dia. 14.5 cm., H. 19.8 cm. Design probably from stylized lotus petals. Found 1902 near vill. Cherdatskoe, Mariinskii okrug, Enisei prov.
Inv. no. BM-1133.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 214; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 7, p. 211; Cf. similar no. 7 (= Smirnov no. 213), pp. 110, 210, found same place/time.
Bowl of a footed cup (?).
Juchi Ulus, 14th c. silver, gilding. Dia. 11.3 cm. Found before 1889 N. Caucasus. Analogous to one found in Dnieper region (Smirnov no. 297).
Inv. no. Ski-893.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 220; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 61, p. 228.
Bowl of stem cup (?).
Juchi Ulus, 14th c., silver, gilding. Dia. 10.8 cm. Found before 1889 N. Caucasus.
Inv. no. Ski-894.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 221; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 62, pp. 228-229.
Footed cup.
Juchi Ulus, late 13th-beg. 14th c. Silver, gilding. Found Solikamsk region, Perm prov. Ex-Zelikman coll., Solikamsk; current location?
Smirnov no. 223. Cf. Legacy, no. 156, fig. 53, pp. 55, 277; GE/GIM Altyn urda, nos. 54, 55; Hermitage website.
Footed, covered cup with bird finial.
Probably made in Iran, 14th c. Silver. Dia. 12.0 cm., H. 19.0 cm. Found 1906, Belorechenskaia, Kuban peninsula.
Inv. no. Kub-364.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 325; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 70, pp. 78, 231; Fedorov-Davydov, figs. 135-138, pp. 174-177, 181, 183; Legacy, no. 153, fig. 12, pp. 18, 276; Dschingis Khan, no. 264, p. 234.
Sea-shell dipper.
Armenian Cilicia, mid-13th-14th c., Sea shell, silver. 13.3 x 16.8 cm., H. 5.5 cm. Found 1892, Berdianskaia, Tauride prov. with other objects possibly of Cilician origin.
Inv. no. ChM-1317.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 139; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 250, pp. 98, 278. Darkevich p. 132, pl. 42/4; Dschingis Khan no. 267, pp. 235-236; Hermitage website.
Dish.
N. Italy or Dubrovnik (?). end 14th-1st half 15th c. Silver, gilding. Dia. 30.0 cm. Arms of Genoese vamily Vento, sent to Cataneo in 1528. Found 1895 N. Caucasus.
Inv. Kub-991.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 272 (suggested dish produced in Latin settlements of Black Sea region); GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 137, pp. 104, 249.; Fedorov-Davydov figs. 139-143, pp. 178-180, 185; Hermitage website.

Dish.
Italian (?). Silver, gilding. Found1896 Belorechensk barrows, Kuban prov.
Pub.: Smirnov no. 273; Fedorov-Davydov, fig. 144, pp. 182, 185.
Paiza, with inscription in Chinese and Mongolian square script.
Gt. Mongol state, 13th c., Silver. 29.5 x 8.8 cm. Chinese inscr.: "Badge of Honor no. 34." Mong. inscr.:"By the power of Eternal Heaven, may the name of the Khan be revered. He who does not obey shall be killed and die." Found 1853 with other silver objects near vill. of Niuki, lower R. Selenga (W. Transbaikal region).
Inv. no. BM-1121.
Pub.: Smirnov figs. 29, 30; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 4., pp. 110, 209; Dschingis Khan, no. 6, pp. 27, 29; Hermitage website (image on left).
Paiza, with Chinese and Mongolian square script inscriptions.
Gt. Mongol state, 13th c.. Silver, 30.5 x 9.0 cm. Chinese insr.: "Decree No. 42"; Mongolian inscr.: "By the power of eternal Heaven, may the name of Mongke Khan be revered. He who does not honor it shal perish and die." Found 1845, Minusinski okrug, Enisei prov.
Inv. no. BM-1134.
Pub.: Smirnov figs. 31, 32; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 5, pp. 110, 209-210; Dschingis Khan, no. 7, p. 29; Hermitage website (image on right).
Paiza, with Uighur script Mongolian inscription and decorative zoomorphic mask.
Juchi Ulus, 1362-1369. Silver, gold inlay. 28.0 x 9.0 cm. Inscr. reads: "By the power of eternal Heaven, by the grace of his majesty and power, he who does not submit to the decree of Abdullah will be judged guilty and will die." Abdullah was the Chingizid puppet of Mamai. Found 1845 vill. Gurshevka, Ekaterinoslav prov.; ex-coll. of Asiatic Museum.
Inv. no. ZO-295.
Pub.: Smirnov figs. 33, 34; GE/GIM Altyn urda, no. 77, pp. 233-234; Legacy, no. 154, fig. 34, p. 276.
Decorative fragments of metalwork.
Silver. Found 1891, Gradiisk, Poltava prov.
Pub.: Smirnov fig. 35.
Dish? Decorative plaque?
Silver. Found prior to 1876, Irtysh, Tobolsk prov.
Pub.: Smirnov fig. 37.