Ancient Jewelry Culture

Based on traces of settlement dating back about 10,000 years, jewelry and personal adornment are among the oldest cultural phenomena identified through archaeological finds in the territory of present-day Estonia. The ancestors of Estonians were farmers, iron smelters, cattle breeders, fishermen, and seafarers, among whom were also skilled blacksmiths and silversmiths. They crafted distinctive ancient jewelry. These pieces were shaped from available materials, adapted to the body, and worn as part of clothing, as evidenced by grave goods found in burial sites and the appearance of metal brooches and chains in graves from the Roman Iron Age (50–450 AD). During the Migration Period, treasures consisting of jewelry and coins were hidden underground.

Viking-age trade routes also crossed Estonia. Additionally, Estonia had extensive deposits of bog iron, which was collected, smelted, and worked locally, supplying surrounding peoples as well. Warriors and merchants traveling across the Baltic Sea and along Estonian rivers brought Arabian silver coins, Western European metal jewelry, and craft techniques along the trade routes crisscrossing Estonia. To this day, fields, ancient settlements, burial grounds, bogs, and riverbanks yield silver brooches, necklaces, bracelets, glass beads, gemstones, amber, bronze jewelry, iron weapons, tools, golden artifacts, and numerous coins and hoards.

Craftsmanship and Guilds in the Middle Ages

In the oldest preserved written sources, the word "ehe" (jewel) is mentioned in connection with jewelers. As early as the 13th century, documents refer to artisans called "ettenmaker," a term derived from the old Estonian word eheteken (jewelry) and the Low German maker (maker). According to researchers, ettenmakers produced jewelry primarily for non-Germans—mainly Estonians—and continued the jewelry-making traditions that predated the 13th-century conquest until the 16th century.

Written sources indicate that urban Estonian peasant-jewelers (ettekenmakers) existed by the 14th century. However, in rural areas, the first references to fine metalworkers, such as Sollosep (brooch smith) and Hepeseppe (silversmith), appear only from the 16th century. Jewelry was also made by pearl polishers (Parlennschiter) and village smiths who cast tin, copper, and bronze. The guild tradition introduced professional goldsmithing skills to Estonia, along with decorative elements of European art styles, soldering techniques, and engraving skills.

Estonian Peasant Jewelry

Virtually all stylistic changes in Central European craftsmanship from the 13th century onward gradually found their way into Estonian jewelry. By the 19th century, Estonian peasant jewelry had developed under the influence of both local and broader European artistic movements. However, the guild system, controlled by German-speaking artisans from the 16th century onward, significantly restricted Estonian peasants' ability to produce their own jewelry.

German craftsmen sought to monopolize the most profitable trades within guilds and barred non-Germans from membership. Guilds strictly guarded their tools and techniques. Nevertheless, guild artisans sold products to peasants, and some jewelry for peasants (referred to as undeutsche Silber—"non-German silver") was produced by craftsmen outside the guilds. A major turning point came in 1785, when Russian craft legislation was extended to the Baltic region, and the guild system was finally abolished in 1866.

Roots of Professional Estonian Jewelry Art in the 20th Century

The 20th century brought revolutionary changes to Estonian jewelry. In 1918, Estonia declared independence, establishing itself as a sovereign state after World War I. However, during World War II, Estonia was occupied twice by the Soviet Union—in 1940 and again in 1944. Estonia regained its independence only with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

During the first independence period, jewelry art evolved in two ways: the centuries-old goldsmithing tradition continued, and a metal arts training program was founded in Tallinn, laying the foundation for applied arts education.

Networks of workshops built on guild traditions operated in Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu, and Narva. Among the most renowned goldsmiths were Roman Tavast and Joseph Kopf, who established successful companies from their workshops, producing high-quality precious metal products up until World War II.

With the Soviet occupation, both workshops were seized and nationalized. Roman Tavast’s facilities and equipment remained intact after the war, and his workshop was transformed into the Tallinna Juveelitehas (Tallinn Precious Metals Factory, founded in 1959). Joseph Kopf’s premises became part of the state-owned applied arts center ARS (formerly Tarbekunsti Keskus, later Kunstitoodete Kombinaat), which employed many master craftsmen from before the war. This center produced small series of jewelry for Estonian artists, trained new masters, and offered positions for metal artists graduating from art universities.

The First Metal Arts Education in Estonia

In the early 20th century, Estonia’s first professional metal arts training workshop was founded. In 1912, art courses initiated by the Estonian Art Society in Tallinn led to the establishment of Estonia’s first art school, Riigi Kunsttööstuskool (State School of Industrial Art, today the Estonian Academy of Arts, founded in 1914). The school’s model was based on the curriculum of the Baron Stieglitz School of Technical Drawing in St. Petersburg (operating since 1879).

Initially, the Tallinn school offered only theoretical classes such as drawing, painting, and modeling. By 1918, a five-year program of courses and workshops had been introduced, covering embroidery, decoration, sculpture, bookbinding, and woodcarving. Later, workshops in graphics, printing, lithography, ceramics, metalwork, and enameling were added, opening in 1925.

Jewelry Art Amidst Historical Upheavals

By the late 1920s, the mission and structure of the art-industrial school were redefined based on international models. Major changes occurred in the 1930s when internationally successful artists such as Adamson-Eric, Mari Adamson, and Eduard Taska joined the school. After the Soviet occupation, the Tallinn Art Institute reopened for the academic year 1944–1945, including a metal department built on earlier workshops.

Postwar teachers and masters passed European cultural values to their students. The focus was on traditional goldsmithing and silversmithing skills, emphasizing the creation of original art and production from traditional methods. From the 1960s onward, Bauhaus principles were incorporated into design education. Despite shortages of tools, precious metals, and materials, Estonian artists developed a unique curriculum.

In the late 1940s, Adamson-Eric sought permission from Moscow to establish doctoral studies in Tallinn, but it was denied. Doctoral studies in fine arts took place in Leningrad and in applied arts primarily in Moscow. The first Estonian metal art dissertation was defended in Moscow in 1965 by Lilian Linnaks, who studied aluminium in art and enameling techniques. The second dissertation in jewelry art was completed only in 2005 by Kärt Summatavet at the University of Art and Design Helsinki.

Prominent figures in jewelry education in Tallinn included Ede Kurrel, Leili Kuldkepp, Salme Raunam, Lilian Linnaks, Kadri Mälk, among others. After Estonia regained independence, Estonian jewelry art and its educational programs gained international recognition and acclaim.

Forbidden Precious Metals

During the Soviet era, handling precious metals outside state control became impossible. Small jewelry workshops were shut down, and rural traditions, such as those in Setomaa, quickly disappeared. Using precious metals could result in severe penalties. Nevertheless, some traditions survived through the state-run UKU cooperative for folk crafts.

Roman Tavast’s workshop was incorporated into the state factory, and Joseph Kopf’s workshop into ARS. Despite strict monitoring by the Soviet economic police OBKhSS, artists continued to create jewelry for exhibitions, international events, state commissions, and private clients.

Although the use of precious metals was officially banned, exceptions were made for creative work. Students could work with silver and gold but were not allowed to use official stamps. In exhibitions, precious metals were labeled simply as "white metal" or "yellow metal" because substitutes like nickel silver, melchior, brass, and copper were permitted.

Artists acquired precious metals through various unofficial means—old Tsarist-era coins and jewelry, unofficial trading, and sourcing materials from industrial and photographic equipment. Stones for jewelry often came from dismantled Soviet mass-production items.

After Estonia's re-independence, Estonian jewelry artists and their unique educational tradition gained international fame and respect. New generations no longer know the harsh restrictions of the Soviet era, which artists once defiantly resisted, creating the original jewelry art that shapes Estonia’s contemporary jewelry landscape.