About this Product
Treasure chest for Jewelry or Valuables
Size: 3.5x2x2 inches
Jewelry is an integral part of the culture of our ancestors. It is difficult to imagine a Slavic woman without a necklace, a bracelet, a ring or a talisman. (In Russia, traditional jewelry was made of pearl, produced in kidney-shaped shells, and mined in northern rivers). To keep all that jewelry safe and secure, you need a treasure chest.
Treasure chests play a significant role in Slavic folklore and fairytales. For example, in The Malachite Box by Pavel Bazhov, The Mistress of Copper Mountain had given a malachite box filled with jewels to Stepan for his fiancé Natasha, who could never wear the jewels: "for the ring, though it fit quite right, would pinch and squeeze her finger, the earrings would pull her lobes sore, and the necklace was ice on her neck." Then there's the chest of Koschei the Deathless, which contains more than mere gold or jewelry – it is his very life, thoroughly and elaborately hidden, so nobody would find it.
Women in traditional dresses and with jewelry in the chests were depicted by some artists, such as the famous Russian artist Konstantin Makovsky.
Kurochka Gifts
Meet the Maker
Kurochka was started by mother-daughter team Ellen and Yana, two Former Soviet Union imports to Brooklyn. We make small batches of unique gifts for the mind, heart, and home with designs inspired by Russian & Ukrainian folklore, fairy tales, culture and food.