ARTICLES WITH CHINESE LACQUER FROM PAZYRYK COLLECTION OF THE STATE HERMITAGE
The Pazyryk collection of the State Hermitage has a significant group of Chinese qi-lacquer decorated objects – (vessels, items of clothing and horse equipment, shields). They are concentrated mainly in late barrows (3rd century BC) and are predominantly represented by leather goods. The article describes these items and the results of a comprehensive study of coatings using different methods of analysis (microchemical, X-ray fluorescence, spectral, etc.).A retrospective study of oriental lacquers and, urushiody (urushiol, and thitsiol, laccol) film formers which are contained in the sap of some species of trees of the sumac family, revealed that all coatings investigated by us consist of qi-lacquer, which is based on urushiol. Qi-lacquer is made from the sap of the lacquer tree Rhus verniciflua, cultivated in China in ancient times.Coatings of items from the Pazyryk barrows have characteristics, techniques, and trace elements significantly different from the composition of materials of the first century AD from NoinUla (except for a few items that can be attributed to Noinulinskaya group). Respectively marked differences may not be temporary, but territorial. Judging by the inscriptions on the vessels from Noin-Ula, Han workshops, located in the northern regions of China may have inherited the tradition of the northern arts center, still existing in the 6th-5th centuries BC around the Jin principality. «Chinese» saddle ornaments of bone and wine cups with handles from the same cultural region, for example – from the kingdom of Qin, could get to Altai. Lacquered leather may have been manufactured in the south, in the kingdom of Chu. While small items of clothing and decorative horse equipment, were most likely cut in place from imported leather by the Pazyryk.