Patti Birch, an internationally known New York philanthropist, has once again arrived in Russia with a generous gift to its cultural life.

Birch, who in January brought a donation to help re-create the famed Amber Room in St. Petersburg, this time provided her personal collection of oriental jewelry, now on loan to the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum in Moscow.

The more than 100 pieces unearthed during excavations in northern Iran, some dating as early as 10th century BC, are a treat both for connoisseurs of oriental traditions and lay visitors.

The exhibit features rings, necklaces, pendants and bracelets - all crafted in a variety of techniques by ancient masters of gold and silver smithing.

For Birch, a trustee of many museums - including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York - oriental jewelry has become a subject of passionate study and in-depth research.

Brought up in an atmosphere of love for art by her father, a sculptor, Birch says she developed a natural affection for beauty in the arts. This later fused with the passion of the collector.

On learning about ancient Persian finds, she could not help but come to the site.

"I was living in the Virgin Islands in the early 1960s. I read every magazine and any book I could find about the art world and (read that) a new excavation had been found in Persia," Birch said.

On her arrival there, she joined other collectors in financial support of excavations that allowed them to keep part of the finds.

It was then that Birch accumulated the first articles for her collection, which now number about 200. She brought 137 pieces with her. "Every time a piece of jewelry came up, I said, 'Give it to me, give it to me,'" Birch recalled. "And they offered me (the opportunity) to catalog the history of Persian jewelry."

Birch said the collection will someday be inherited by a museum, but she said she had not decided which museum would get them.

Of her entire collection, she wears only one piece - a pre-historic Colombian necklace in the shape of a bird, which she says has long been her talisman.

Birch said that jewelry, along with its aesthetic value, is also a key to understanding ancient civilizations.

"All jewelry and stones originally had a magical significance," says Birch. "People either ignore that or don't know about such qualities."

Birch hopes her collection will extend a magical helping hand to the Pushkin Museum. However, she is not relying only on magic, but also on her personal support of the museum. She is in the process of creating the Friends of the Pushkin Museum in America, which would provide financial and publicity support.

"The Pushkin Museum is just so exceptional - a top world class museum - that it should have friends, and I am starting this cause. The friends of the Pushkin Museum are going to help as much as we possibly can, and I am looking forward to this. If it benefits them, I will feel that I have made the world a little bit more beautiful," Birch said.

After its showing ends in Moscow on Dec. 12, the exhibit will go to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, starting Jan. 26.

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PUSHKIN FINE

ARTS MUSEUM

Address: 12 Volkhonka Ulitsa

Metro: Kropotkinskaya

Open: 10 a.m. -7 p.m.

Closed: Mon.

Tel: 203-7998, 203-9578

Admission: 8 rubles for Russian students and pensioners, 20 rubles for Russian adults; 60 rubles for foreign students, 120 rubles for foreign adults.