Collection of 19th–20th-Centuries Tinderboxes from the National Museum of the Republic of Buryatia

This article studies the collection of tinderboxes from the nineteenth to twentieth centuries from the National Museum of the Republic of Buryatia, more particularly, the funds of the M. N. Khangalov Museum of Buryatia History and Ts. S. Sampilov Art Museum. The Buryat flint has not been a subject of specialized research previously. It was studied in the context of research on the history of traditional culture and national costume in several works on history, ethnography, cultural studies of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries by B. E. Petri, P. P. Khoroshikh, N. V. Kocheshkov, A. A. Badmaev, R. D. Badmaeva, and V. A. Banaeva. In art criticism, separate descriptions were given in the works of I. I. Soktoeva and A. V. Tumakhani. The authors employ the iconographic, iconological, and comparative methods and aim to consider the art objects in terms of form, technology, decoration with certain motifs within the framework of the pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods. The attribution of the objects from the Pre-Baikal and Transbaikal Buryats, as well as those of some local ethnic groups, follows the typology of the Turkic-Mongolian tinderboxes. The analysis reveals the artistic features of the craftsmen’s work. The conclusion of the article contains the results of the study. The variative uniqueness of the collection of tinderboxes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from the M. N. Khangalov Museum of Buryatia History is undeniable. The unique products from the funds of the Ts. S. Sampilov Art Museum created by hereditary jewelers of the twentiethcentury demonstrate the preservation of traditions and the introduction of innovations. The item is presented as an integral part of a series of magnificent sets intended for festive national costumes and museum display.