The national Uzbek ornament is a phenomenon of amazing beauty and grace. In addition to the visual appeal, these patterns have a deep semantic content, which we will consider in this article.
Where is the Uzbek ornament used?
Almost every applied art in Uzbekistan uses a variety of patterns and drawings, many of which have ancient names that reflect their meaning. The ornament is decorated with fabrics made using the “abrband” technique (which means “tied cloud”) - this is a traditional weaving technique when the threads of future fabric are manually knitted into bundles that form a unique pattern. Also often clothes and household items were decorated with elaborate embroidery.
Basically, the patterns covered festive men's clothing, the bride’s wedding attire, the same wedding cover, sashes, cases for knives, mirrors, etc. In addition, many household items were decorated: bedspreads, tablecloths, prayer rugs.
In the 19th century, several major centers were formed - cities where professionally engaged in artistic embroidery - Bukhara, Fergana, Nurata and others, each of which used the features of the ornament of their native land. And at the end of the 19th century, machines for making embroidery appeared, which are used up to the present day.
Uzbek dishes
In addition to this type of art, the ornament is used in decorating dishes, which is performed mainly in blue, white, blue tones using yellow, red and brown. It often uses a stylized image of cotton, the cultivation of which Uzbekistan became famous in the Soviet period - it is known as “buttermilk” (in Uzbek, this word means “cotton”). The dishes with the Uzbek ornament is popular around the world.
Common motives
The most common theme of Uzbek ornaments and patterns is the motif of a flowering garden - in this symbol, wishes of happiness, prosperity and prosperity are concentrated. Images of flowers had their own symbolism, for example, a blue cornflower signified a young man, a red poppy - a beautiful girl, a tulip - chastity and innocence, and a rose - harmony and beauty of the world.
Often, ornaments used images of plants and flowers, for one reason or another considered by the Uzbeks to be healing or protective (this, in principle, is characteristic of national patterns). For example, almonds were a symbol of longevity and health, peppers - protection from all evil and purification, and the image of pomegranate signified wealth and abundance.
In the lush thickets of plants on the Uzbek ornaments, beautiful birds hide, whose images evoke happiness in the family. Nightingale meant wisdom, the colorful feathers of pheasants, peacocks and roosters with their bright colors protect from the evil eye. For the same purpose, an ornament called the “snake footprint” was used. Also, Uzbeks made extensive use of images of other animals in their applied art: steep-horned sheep represented courage and courage.
Symbols of the Sun, the Moon, stars were often used, the Universe was conditionally depicted as a bouquet in exquisite vases. Household items were also present in the ornaments, but they also had a certain semantic implication: for example, knives were called upon to protect from attacks and evil, lamps — to protect space from evil spirits. Sometimes the patterns used texts and architectural images.
Present
Now many women and girls of Uzbekistan continue to engage in ornamental embroidery. But, in addition, traditional Uzbek motifs are popular all over the world - famous designers turn to them in their fashion collections.