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You are here: Home / The Jewelry / Brooches / Russian Onion Domes

Russian Onion Domes

April 22, 2010 by Barbara J. Feldman 6 Comments

Russian Onion Domes
Piece #5 of 100

Here’s another one I never saw Mom wear, but I love it. I googled “Russian spires” to get a bit of history of this type of architecture. Here’s what I learned from Wikipedia, loosely paraphrased as follows: Onion domes became a typical feature of Russian architecture starting with Byzantine churches. The largest onion domes were erected in the seventeenth century in the area around Yaroslavl. Pear-shaped domes are usually associated with Ukrainian Baroque, while cone-shaped domes are typical for Orthodox churches of Transcaucasia.

Mom never traveled to Russia, and never wanted to. I actually brought the topic up recently at lunch. I was digging for some background for this post, actually. And Mom wrinkled her nose, in her special way, meaning “Ick!” Why did she never want to see Russia? It’s so third world, she replied. Well, I answered, you loved Morocco and you considered that third world. And then the REAL answer was revealed. “There’d be nothing to buy there!”

So, while is certainly not really true, it was true for her. She traveled to shop. And in her mind, there was nothing to buy there, so she didn’t have any desire to go there!

I wonder where she got this gold tone pin? I’m thinking maybe it was a garage sale treasure. I think I’d like to put it on a jacket lapel.

The piece is signed “JJ” which is a mark used by the Jonette Jewelry Company (founded in 1943) that was first used in 1970. With a little bit of googling, I was able to discover that the church in the brooch is the Church of the Savior on Blood of St. Petersburg. The name refers to the blood of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, who was assassinated on that site in 1881. Look at this picture from Wikipedia. After looking at the photo, is there any doubt in your mind that I’m right?

Filed Under: Brooches, The Jewelry Tagged With: Alexander Ii Of Russia, Brooch, Byzantine Churches, Church Of The Savior, Desire, Figural, Figural Jewelry, Garage Sale, Gold Tone, Googling, Jewelry Company, Jj, Jonette Jewelry, Lunch, Mom, Morocco, Onion Domes, Orthodox Churches, Pear, Russia, Russian Architecture, Seventeenth Century, Spires, Third World, Tsar Alexander Ii, Type Of Architecture, Typical Feature, Wikipedia

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Comments

  1. leaky faucet says

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    I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
    Cheers

    Reply
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    May 15, 2025 at 11:31 pm

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  4. Dawn says

    April 27, 2010 at 11:27 am

    Gorgeous piece. And no doubt that it is the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood – the skyline and features are identical. But what a name for a church!

    Your Mom sounds like a lady who knows exactly what she wants from life.

    Reply
    • Morral says

      May 7, 2012 at 5:27 am

      This is actually St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. The tall center tower is just like St. Basil’s and the triangle design on the outer dome towers is like that of St. Basil’s. A nice piece nevertheless.

      Reply
  5. Barbara says

    April 22, 2010 at 7:06 pm

    Just an FYI, I found this same JJ goldtone brooch for sale at Etsy for $15. Let me know if you end up buying it! We’ll be twins!

    Reply

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