The Personality of a Craftsman as a Factor in the Variability of Decorated Metal Artefacts

DOI 10.33876/2311-0546/2020-50-2/47-68

Abstract

The paper examines the variability of folk art and the role of an individual craftsman in changing the decorative canon and influencing its evolution. This question is considered taking the example of the nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples of Central Asia and using archaeological, folkloric and ethnographic data. The archaeological finds (early medieval small non-ferrous artifacts discovered in Central Asia, especially in the Sayano-Altai region and neighbouring territories) contain the examples of improvisational art made by metalsmiths and jewelers. The examples expose the personal role of the craftsman as well as his individual approach to the decorative canon. The Turkic-Mongolian epics reveal the place the blacksmith and his craft had in the worldview of these peoples. The image of a powerful blacksmith being the divine patron of the craftsmen raised their status within a nomadic community, highlighted their significance and endowed them with magical power: this image reflected the attitude towards the real blacksmiths. The ethnographic data on the Turkic-Mongolian peoples of Central Asia allowed to identify the factors that gave the blacksmiths the possibility to improvise within the traditional decorative canon. The status of a blacksmith placed him above the ordinary members of his community. This status inspired reverence and fear and strengthened his sense of self-worthiness, self-confidence, and independence. These allowed craftsmen to develop the decorative canon themselves, deviating from the predetermined framework. Improvisation was possible within certain casting technologies and decorating techniques thanks to the specifics of the blacksmithing craft (closed from outsiders and requiring a plenty of intellectual and physical efforts) and to the hereditary nature of transferring metalworking skills.

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