Ivan Argunov. Portrait of an Unknown Woman in Peasant Dress

Just something I stumbled upon today and decided to share: a portrait that I love from the first sight, when I was a child. This is a "Portrait of an Unknown Woman in Peasant Dress" by Ivan Argunov dating back to 1784. It belongs to the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

I never thought her to be very beautiful, but always liked her mild Slavic features and open and friendly gaze. Her costume is very correct, fully in accordance with that time: a sarafan dress and a fine shirt, fit for a special occasion. Her headpiece is a beautiful kokoshnik with gold embroidery, and her necklace is made from large coral beads. I guess she was from a rich family.

There is not much else to say about the portrait, save for the fact that I find it lovely and the woman feels almost like an elder relative to me. I hope that you like the portrait as well. 

Uzbek Ceramics: Choose Wisely and Beware of Fakes

Uzbekistan has been traditionally famous for its ceramics. Pottery is an ancient art, and in this region it was very well developed thousands of years ago. Our museums hold fantastic pieces of art - a pleasure to behold - but I also feel very fortunate that we can use beautiful and authentic Uzbek pottery in real life.

This, for instance, is a large serving plate ("lyagan"), that I use every week. It is a very heavy, massive vintage plate that will last forever (you could kill an evil intruder with this piece of applied art!). Most likely, it was made at the Tashkent Ceramic Factory some years ago; as this is a very classic "dark pottery", it can be from 5 to 50 years old.



It is covered by a very thick glaze that looks like a layer of glass.

It will look a bit brighter in the sun. I like these very natural, earthy colours of soil, grass, leaves and wood.

When you look at the bottom, you see a very "healthy" dark red undyed ridge. You can see that it is well-baked, strong and smooth. It is neither underdone no overdone.

This is by no means a masterpiece, but definitely a solid and quality serving plate. I am not ashamed of serving some plov (pilav) to the guests in this plate.

Of course, I have other ceramic items at home, I just had photos of this one handy because I was showing them to ceramic experts several days ago. This plate just serves as a good example of Uzbek pottery.

What serves as a bad example is these plates from a Samarkand shop (you can see the whole article about the shop here).

These are cheap imitation of traditional Rishtan ceramics (Rishtan is a small town in Ferghana valley). They are strangely lightweight and feel "underbaked". In reality, an underbaked pottery is supposed to be somewhat heavier, but I do not have a better word to express my feelings about these. They are deficient. Somehow they do not feel right. My friend who is an expert in ceramics suspects that they add gypsum to the clay to reduce the costs. The ornament is a noisy mess. The colours are too bright so I suspect that they are not all ceramic colours but maybe some oil or acrylic under lacquer and then they are not safe for eating from them. They break easily. In two words - these are evil! I understand that as tourism is developing rapidly in our country, everyone wants to make some money on tourists, but I do not believe in fraud and fakes.

Below you can see two more examples of ceramics I have at home (I have just found some photos taken a while ago and decided to share them as well); the upper one is from Rishtan, the one below is made in Tashkent. You can see that they, too, have lots of blue, but the colours are natural, not "acidic", and the pattern is full  of harmony. They are also reasonably heavy, nice to the touch, and if you knock on them with your fingernails you will hear a clear sound.

When you buy ceramics for Uzbekistan, beware of those cheap fakes. They will not last. Good ceramics cannot be dirt cheap, even if it is made of clay; the materials, equipment, natural gas - all of them cost money; but, most importantly, creating a decent piece takes energy and time of the artist. They do invest themselves into every bowl, dish or teapot they make; it is not an automated soul-less process of stamping similar pieces for purely commercial purposes. Please, do look for beautiful and well-made pieces and do not expect to pay 2-3 dollars, it is not realistic. You cannot buy a good piece of art for that money. Find something nice to take home and pay a fair price - it will help Uzbek pottery artists and their families.

I am going to write more on Uzbek ceramics very soon as we are having a large exhibition in Tashkent and I expect to visit it and learn a lot. Please come back for updates!

Uzbek Suzani Pillows in the Colours of Fruits and Flowers

If I could wear these suzani pillows on a necklace, I totally would. They might be the most beautiful pillows we have had to date. They are made from a very vintage suzani and I just love them. They truly convey the spirit of traditional Uzbek embroidery. The raised design and rich colours make them especially attractive. Their colour scheme makes me think of Uzbek fruits which are incredibly sweet and fragrant. 

It looks a bit like a hooked rug to me. Actually the technique is quite similar.

We thought that denim was a good addition to the suzani. It is so modest, a perfect frame for the ornate embroidery. These embroidered cushion covers will look amazing in a vintage or bohemian room adding a spicy accent. They look fantastic next to my Tabriz rug, too. And of course they are stunning when placed next to a Russian shawl!

As I now have a traditional Uzbek house in the countryside, I think I am keeping one pair of these. Another pair is on sale in our Etsy shop here.

Vintage Hand Block Printed Russian Shawl: A Must See

I know I have been away for ages, and I do have a lot of news (which is why I did not have time to write). I promise to correct this, but for now I will just show a very unique and vintage Russian shawl that we bought recently. It is new old stock with a tag, and it is at least 50 years old. It has a field of flowers on soft ivory background, and there are also the prettiest tiny branches and twigs which make the print very elegant.

Such delicate and airy print is not often found in Russian shawl. This shawl is like a fine china or elegant lace.

The fine and soft wool drapes like a dream.

And I am always fascinated by hand block printed shawls, because they are so alive. They seem to breath. All the small imperfections are very dear to my heart - you can see that the shawl was made by people, not by metal monsters spitting dyes.

This is a very old tag. The "Weaving and Decoration Factory Named in the Honor of 10 Years' Anniversary of the Red Army" was reorganised back in 1963, so the shawl dates at least to that year, making it 50 years old. However, we feel that it belongs more to the 1950s.

The shawl is available in our Etsy store here.

Shah-i-Zinda, the Precious Blue Fairytale

This spring I visited Shah-i-Zinda, the famous necropolis in Samarkand, Ubekistan. As it often happens, I procrastinated for a long time, unable to choose photos for the post. Truth is, I was very unhappy with the photos, as they fail to reflect the bright, jewel-like beauty of this architectural ensemble. But I will show them anyway; just remember that they do not give justice to the beauty of this place.

Shah-i-Zinda is a complex of tombs and other ritual buildings, where the eldest ones date to 9th century and the newest ones - to 19th century.

"Shahizinda" means "the Living King" in Persian.  The legend says that the Kusam ibn Abbas, the cousin of Prophet Mohammed, came to Samarkand with a small army to install Islam here. In one of the battles with pagans, right at this hill,  Kusam ibn Abbas was wounded with an arrow, but managed to hide in a small cave or a well, which closed as he entered. And he still lives there, hidden from people.

The wooden terrace is at the entrance, to the left. It has a beautiful painted ceiling.



On the left is a tall staircase to the main part of the complex. The legend has it that you should walk and count the stairs, and remember the number. On the way back, you should count again. If numbers match, you will be granted a wish. On the right you can see a pathway leading from the end part to the exit (so, this belongs to the end of the photo set, but the photo is vertical, so it does not fit anywhere else).

These are several groups of mausoleums throughout  the necropolis. They mostly belong to the relatives and the courtiers or military leaders of Timur the Great, also known as Tamerlane; we call him Amir Timur here. The mausoleums are lavishly decorated with majolica tiles in various shades of blue, green and turquoise. 

 

It is nice to see children around; they clearly enjoy spending time in the beautiful place. And aren't they lovely girls?

I was transfixed by the lavish beauty of these buildings. In reality, they gleam and glisten, and the tiles look deep like sea water with ripples.

I love all the amazing textures and intricate lines.

The kids were not alone; after some playing and looking around, they came to their adults (I kept an eye on them, just in case. And they allowed me to take photos).

 

We went further, and I took more photos. It would be good to have a camera which could take 3D photos! or, better still, one to capture my feelings - the awe, admiration and excitement! 

There is a long path through the complex, with buildings on both sides.

I think that the last part is the most beautiful one. It was like entering a jewellery box which is adorned with precious enamel even from the inside. You enter and gasp...

...and start spinning around, trying to see everything, absorb it and remember. This smooth, cool, bright, fragile-looking beauty, aimed at making people stop and stare in admiration. A tribute to the people gone. Not only to those who are buried here, but also, ultimately - to the masters, who created this wonder.

Some people come here to pray.

Others just come to see the beauty. The smallest one seems to be impressed, too.

This was a very enjoyable hour - it was as if I spent this time in a fairytale. I hope to come back with my daughter, as I know she will love it as much as I did. If you ever visit Samarkand, make sure you go to Shah-i-Zinda, too. This is a place worth seeing.

Aleppo, My Love. Pre-War Photos

About ten years ago I was fortunate to spend several weeks in Aleppo. I loved the city and kept planning to come back one day - with my family. Now, it seems, there is nothing to come back to...

I do not watch the news. I feel very sad for the people I knew personally, and for those I did not. I will never be able to come back to Aleppo I knew. Even if they restore the city, it will be different, so all I have left is memories and a bunch of photos. I know they are really bad, as I had a film camera which I could not use well, but I still want to share them. The lousy photos and my love for Aleppo, the city of cream marble, orange trees and honey-like muezzin voices. And floating above all is the scent of calabash smoke and coffee with spices. Sorry, Aleppo, you did not deserve what happened to you and your people. I still love you.