The State Museum of Turkmenistan boasts a collection of Uzbek jewelry made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Judging by their style, the items were produced in Khorezm (Khanate of Khiva), one of the Central Asian state formations in the territory of Uzbekistan.
In the late 19th century, Khorezm was famous for its jewelers – zaragars (goldsmiths); by the early 20th century, their number had grown significantly.
This collection arrived in the State Museum on September 20, 1928. All items in it come from the treasury of the former Khan of Khiva. Following a governmental resolution, they were distributed in different proportions among national subjects, the Uzbek Socialist Soviet Republic, the Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic and the Turkmen Socialist Soviet Republic. The part intended for Turkmenistan was sent by the Permanent Mission of the Turkmen Socialist Soviet Republic in a government carriage from Tashkent, for permanent storage at the Turkmen State Museum in Ashgabat.
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This collection also features unusual Khorezm-specific pendants – butuntirnok and yarimtirnok. This type of jewelry covered the ear and was worn closer to the back of the head. The base of the item is a pentagonal silver case, the outer part of which is decorated with a scattering of fine turquoise stones, with a cascade of diamond-shaped pendants and coral beads handing from the sides and bottom. At a closer examination, we can see among the pendants the main semantic element, the claws of a tiger or a bird of prey, or an imitation of claws carved from horns or hooves.
The fact is that the claws of predators were endowed with protective power and used as a talisman. A similar element was found in the jewelry of other Central Asian peoples, where it also had magical properties. The Turkmens had a similar adornment called gochbunuz (lit. “ram horns”), which, however, was smaller and worn exclusively by boys.