FROM THE TREASURY OF GARNET JEWELRY. TECHNIQUE OF PRODUCTION AND SHOW OF HISTORICAL JEWELS FROM CZECH COLLECTIONS - lecture

Bohemian garnet was collected randomly as early as prehistoric times, and then it was purposefully sought out and crafted by the people of the early Middle Ages during the period of the migration of peoples (6th-8th centuries). The lecture will outline the history of the use of this exceptional gemstone from these origins, through its application on medieval liturgical objects, where garnet muggles symbolically represented drops of Christ's blood, and through the peak period during the reign of Rudolf II, to the golden age of the Czech garnet during the 19th century and the new ways of working with Czech garnet developed at the professional school for cutting and setting gems in Turnov in the first quarter of the 20th century. The gemstone, specific in its small size, requires jewellery handling adapted to it, so we will also look at the technological aspect of designing and manufacturing jewellery with Czech garnets, as well as its historical development. Over the exceptional historical examples of the jewellery use of Czech garnets and the technical peculiarities of this branch of goldsmithing and jewellery making we will meet Mgr. Lenka Laurynova, curator of the fine art and jewellery collections of the Museum of Bohemian Paradise in Turnov.