It is essential to distinguish a separate group of Dukaches which were widely spread on the territory of south-eastern Ukraine, in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Luhansk regions in particular. This is the land of steppes and large enterprises (at least in Donetsk and Lugansk regions until 2014). A lot of industrial enterprises appeared in this region of Ukraine. The capital of western European countries was significantly involved in the construction and development of these enterprises. Due to active industrial development, the region has become the center of large industrial production. The large number of new factories required a large number of workers, which, in its turn, led to certain demographic processes. People from different parts of the country began to come to these lands, and the former Cossack settlements and palankas quickly became densely populated cities. Alongside with this, new settlements began to appear.
For example, at the place of the Cossack post of Domach, where the Kalmius Sloboda subsequently grew, the modern city of Mariupol was founded; on the site of the Cossack settlement Novi Kaydaki - Katerynoslav, the present-day city of Dnipro (it should be noted that there were other Cossack settlements on the territory of the modern city of Dnipro); present-day Luhansk is based on the site of Cossack zymyvniks; (the name of the dwelling, homestead and Cossack farm on the territory of the Liberties of the Zaporizhia Array, Don and Black Sea Cossacks. Initially, this was called the place for keeping cattle in winter. A considerable part of them subsequently turned into significant economic centers.) Donetsk appeared at the location of the Cossack settlements of Aleksandrovka and Krutoyarivka, which were founded by the son of Izyum colonel Lieutenant Shidlovsky after the destruction of Zaporizhia Sich in 1775 (however, there were also other Cossack settlements on the territory of present-day Donetsk, such as the sheep bowery, the settlements Lyubymivka, Gryhorovka and others).
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| * Ukrainian traditional ornaments, the end of XIX – the beginning of XXth centuries, Dnipro. From the collection of Yurii Kovalenko |
Ukrainians from central and western Ukraine, who came to work at those enterprises settled in these parts. There were quite a lot of Russians there as well. Also there was a noticeable number of Western Europeans (British, French, German, Italian). The latter, as a rule, came here to work as high-quality specialists - engineers, architects, business managers. As an example, the English culture had a great effect on the development of Donetsk city (its architecture and planning) and the lifestyle of the local people. After all, there was a considerable amount of British descendants living in this city, making a dense population in the so-called "English Colony".
In addition, one should also focus on the fact that in the south-eastward Slobozhanshchina, before the beginning of the industrial boom, there was a rather large group of other ethnic settlements (for instance Greeks and Germans). After Catherine II had destroyed Zaporizhia Sich and the final abolishment of Cossack liberties was provided, the Russian government steadfastly began to distribute Cossack lands to settlers of other nationalities who would be able to live and work on this land. For example, in Mariupol, on the site of the former Cossack Kalmius palanka, Greeks, Jews and Italians were allowed to settle down. Special benefits for such emigrants were even provided. After all, Ukrainians still made up the extremely intense ethnic majority.
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| ** Dukach, Dnipropetrovsk region, late 19th century, Silver, medallion 5 kopecks of the Russian emperor Nicholas I. From the collection of Yurii Kovalenko |
As a result, during the XIX and early XX centuries, domestic cultural features were formed in the southeastern Slobozhanshchina, which are essential even now and still make this region standout among the others. The combination of Ukrainian culture with Western, Central and Southern European, Russian was decisive; rural and urban lifestyles; worldview of the farmer, landowner and worker, industrialist.
It has affected further the aesthetic preferences of local women, and therefore the dukaches. In Luhansk and a part of Donetsk region, it was hardly unique to meet dukaches with lush bows, generously decorated with colored glass. In Dnepropetrovsk region, women favored ducats with rather neat shapes, with a small bow and medallion, or without a bow at all. The medallion was here in focus. At the beginning of the XX century in Dnipropetrovsk region dukach medallions which local goldsmiths, as well as the Volyn ones, framed in chiselled edging were widely spread.
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3* Dukaches, Dnipropetrovsk region, late 19th century, Silver.
From the collection of Yurii Kovalenko
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Dukaches (without additional decoration) where a decorated or stylized ear was attached to simple medallions were also widely spread. In Dnipropetrovsk region, the ears were usually cut through with “strips”. Thus, the ear, along with its main purpose of being a fixture, was an element of decoration. For example, the ear of such a dukach outside could be in the shape of a heart, a flower, a criss-cross.
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| 4* Dukaches, south-eastern Slobozhanshchyna (the territory of present-day Luhansk, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions), XIX century, silver. From the collection of Yuri Kovalenko |
4* An interesting medallion in the far left dukach (dukach with a heart). The coinage of the Russian emperor Alexander I was used as a medallion, and on the reverse side, the image of the eagle was cut off by a goldsmith and engraved with a monogram of the Russian emperor Pavel I instead of it.
В якості медальйону в крайньому правому дукачі (дукач з квіточкою) використано карбованець російського імператора Павла І. Дукач початку ХІХ ст. Через велику зношенність, дукач місцевими золотарями догравіровувався.
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| 5* Silver dukaches “with a flower”, ХІХ century, south-eastern Slobozhanshchyna. From private collections of Yurii Kovalenko and Oksana Chaus |
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6* Dukaches “with a heart”.
From private collections of Oksana Chaus and Yurii Kovalenko
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6* the rare ruble of the Russian Emperor Peter III was used as the base for the dukach medallion as it is shown in the upper left corner of the photography. Researchers date back the dukach to the beginning of the 19th century. The image of the emperor on the medallion was highly worn out due to the constant wearing, thus the local goldsmiths engraved it several times.
A silver coin of 50 cents of the Russian Emperor Alexander III was used as a medallion as it is shown at the top right corner of the dukach.
The ruble of the Russian emperor Pavel I was used as a medallion in the dukach depicted in the low left corner. Two gold flowers are expertly engraved by a goldsmith on the gold soldered heart of the medallion.
It was not always possible to meet a dukach with a lush bow generously decorated with bit of glasses or stones in Dnepropetrovsk region, such as Chernobay (Cherkasy region), Chernihiv or Voronezh ones. The decoration of the ducats here was quite simple and the masters could hardly use lush floral ornament. On the territory of present-day Luhansk, dukaches with bows were more popular among their owners.
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7* Dukaches, ХІХ- early ХХ century, Dnipropetrovsk region. From the collection of Yurii Kovalenko
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Dukaches without bows could be seen on coral or glass. Yellow glass necklaces with cut ducts without bows were widely spread in these regions. But of course, there was a coral necklace, beyond any competition, as in all Ukraine.
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8* Art glass necklace with dukaches. Dnepropetrovsk region.
From the collection of Yurii Kovalenko
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The Russian Empire coins play mainly the role of medallions in dukaches which have survived up to this day. There are dukaches with Austro-Hungarian krones, German pfennings.
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9* Dukach, south-eastern Slobozhanshchyna, the end of ХІХ century, silver, gilt.
From the collection of Yurii Kovalenko
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9* The thaler of the Austro-Hungarian Empress Maria Theresa is used as a medallion. An Austrian eagle on a coin was cut off by a local goldsmith and a monogram of the Russian emperor Peter II with the date 1729 was engraved on it.
The collection of Yurii Kovalenko contains a unique dukach from Dnipropetrovsk region, where a local goldsmith used Chinese gold coins as a medallion. Many local men were mobilized by the Russian government to participate in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. We can assume that the woman decided to use the souvenir from the war brought by her husband as a basis for dukach. (You can find more information about medallions in dukaches and their significance in decoration in the publication “Medallions in ducats: spiritual and material”).
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| 10* Dukach, Dnipropetrovsk region, early ХХ century, silver. From the collection of Yurii Kovalenko |
There can also be found dukaches with copies, replicas of subjects from religious Western European medals or depicting saints in this region.
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11* Dukach with medallion themed on “Theophany”, Dnipropetrovsk region.
From the collection of Yurii Kovalenko
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11* The image of the “Epiphany” on the medallion is a copy of the unidentified West European original of the 18th-18th centuries.
Dukaches made with the help of the technique of casting - cast dukaches were very common in the south-eastern Slobozhanshchina. The casting technique, as the researchers suggest, was brought to these lands by Russian Old Believers. From the second half of the XVII century they escaped to the land of Cossack liberties from the persecution of the Moscow government and settled in the Chernihiv region, the central regions of Left-Bank and Right-Bank Ukraine.
Later, with the aim of settling the southern territories of Ukraine, the Russian government actively contributed to the fact that Old Believers settled the southern lands. Cast dukaches were extremely widely spread on the territory of modern Luhansk region, as well as in Voronezh. More details about such dukaches can be found in the following publications.
Therefore, taking into account everything that was mentioned before, one can say that dukaches which were worn by the Ukrainian women in the south-eastern Slobozhanshchina had their purely regional features, as well as many common elements characteristic of others, roughly said - the “opposite” regions of Ukraine, which in its turn makes it possible for them to be a valuable source in the study of demographic processes and the study of the history of the region.
Yaroslava Kovalenko
PhD in History
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