Gift as a cultural artifact or "keystone" (on the example of the silver box of the workshop of N.V. Nemirov-Kolodkin)

The authors of the article use the metaphor of a "keystone" to consider a gift or a present as a functional link in the structure of socio-cultural communication. The analysis of the box as a work of decorative and applied art reveals the representative properties of a gift, namely: the ability to perpetuate the aesthetic, philosophical, patriotic ideals and values of the era. The use of a luxury item in everyday practice, passing it on from generation to generation, allows us to preserve in social memory the names of all those involved in the creation and use of the item, thereby ensuring the historical continuity of culture.