Inside a Treasure Cave: Visiting a Handicraft Shop in Samarkand

Besides its gorgeous architecture, Samarkand is famous for arts and crafts. Whenever I come there for a business trip, I also go shopping with my colleagues. During our last visit in April, we have visited a very special shop. It is located in the most central place - in Ulugbek Madrasa at Registan Square.

The shop is quite large, mysteriously dark and full of amazing things. You discover new rooms and corners, as you walk around. It is stuffed with suzani, rugs and silks. This place is like a treasure cave.



Most suzani are very traditional, but you can recognise some familiar designs - those famous cats by Rosina Wachtmeister! Obviously, Samarkand artists do their best to cater for all tastes. Of course, I prefer the classic suzani with their elegant branches and lavish flowers and paisley, but I also appreciate the creativity and desire to be flexible.

Right in the shop, there is a woman embroidering a suzani. The process is fascinating to watch. She is another tourist attraction, of course, but the suzani she is making is very real and beautiful.



In another part of the shop you can see more suzani - this one is on silk - and a very unusual headpiece.

This looks like a Karakalpak or Turkmen headpiece for a women's festive costume. This might be a refurbished piece; I would think that the elements are antique or vintage, but the whole piece is not that old, or, let us say, it is refurbished. Still, it looks impressive. The stones seem to be smalt (or paste).

And these are two traditional gowns, lavish and beautiful. One is beautiful ikat silk, the second one has suzani style embroidery.

There are several shelves with traditional Uzbek pottery, too. I like these small organic looking jugs. 

These pieces are made in Rishtan, Ferghana valley, or maybe they are made in Samarkand to resemble Rishtan style. In any case, I appreciate their elaborate beauty and the combination of colours which are so close in style to the ancient Uzbek architecture.



Uzbek and Turkoman jewelry is a big separate topic. Silver, turquoise and corals is a favourite combination here, in Central Asia. «Les bijoux doivent être sauvages!» - said Amedeo Modigliani, and these ones are indeed quite savage-like.

A bunch of handwoven bags. I love those in earthy colours.

...and countless scarves. Silk scarves, some are made from khan atlas (heavy silk satin) or shoyi (fine silk)...




...these are made from sheer silk gauze or chiffon, and the shop owner claimed them to be hand block printed. They are weightless...



...these are wool shawls, hand embroidered in crewel stitch. I would not call them typical for our country; I think they were inspired by Indian Cashmere shawls. I must say that they are stunning in real life, and the quality of wool and work is excellent. I was very seduced by one on the right, but restrained myself, as I already have too many shawls and scarves that I do not wear.

This amazing shop even had some very nice cashmere shawls, made in Nepal. I must say that I am a cashmere addict and I own a substantial collection. I can say that these were really nice to the touch, and I loved the soft neutral colours. 

...As a way to thank the lovely shop owners for patiently letting me take a gazillion of pictures, I want to share their contacts. The owner and his wife are very friendly, open and willing to negotiate, and speak several languages, as fits a good Uzbek merchant who meets people from all countries of the world. If you ever visit Samarkand, do not miss their shop!

The shop is owned by Mr Alisher Yakubov; 
tel. +99890 2709933
email: yakubovalishir3@gmail.com

Our Persian Tabriz Rug

This is Jager testing our new Persian Tabriz rug. He clearly approves of it! I love the rug - it was a very good buy from Kumkapi Carpets, a reputable dealer on German Ebay. This shop was recommended to me by my friend who is also a rug dealer. The rug is in excellent condition, and I paid a fraction of what I would have to pay in a brick-and-mortar shop for a new one. Now I feel I need to make changes to furniture, so that it fits the rug better. Anyway, what we have now will do for the time being. This mellow autumn palette is good with many colours, right? Certainly good with a Malinois.

Our Ottoman White Rug Pillow with Floral Print

...Our last rug pillow made from my very favorite white rug with Ottoman design:

I like these soft and durable vintage rugs. They are beloved by Uzbek families and used for many purposes - mainly to cover sofas and chairs and large wooden chests. They are also hung on walls. Of course this is a machine made rug, and it is not made from wool - I think it is a mix of cotton and rayon. But it also has some benefits, making the rug both more affordable and easier to work with. Pillows made from handwoven wool rugs have to be hand sewn!

There are many people who do not like wool kilim pillows because of the rough wool which makes them itch. With this soft velour pillow and its likes, this problem will not appear, because it is soft and nice to the touch. 

We still have this last floral pillow - an orphan! - for sale in our Mulberry Whisper shop on Etsy. You can give it a nice forever home! It will look good with many colors of furniture and many styles of interior. My mother made it with much love and care, so I hope it still retains some of the positive energy. 

Museum of Applied Arts, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Today my daughter and I felt like going to a museum and looking at some beautiful things. We did not have too much time, so we went to a smaller one close to our place - Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan. We went by metro and then walked for ten minutes, and here we are!

The Museum is located in this old beautiful building: this was a house built in the end of XIX century for a Russian diplomat Polovtsev who loved Asian culture. The museum is like a small palace or a jewelry box. Or both. Look at this lavishly decorated facade with carved wood columns and lots of hand painting.

Inside, there is a lot of carved alabaster and paintings. You can see the wall niches with vases and bowls: this is what they used as shelves and cabinets in Uzbekistan a hundred years before and earlier.

The ceiling in the hall is just amazing.

Collection of arts and crafts is not very large, but the items are beautiful. I especially love glass and china. The pieces below are from the last century, so they are quite modern, coming from our Tashkent glass and china factories. The faience dish with stylized cotton is by Alimov, 1970.  The cut glass decanter with glasses are called 'Uzbekistan' and made by Zabudskaya in 1985.

And this green glass set is called 'Dacha' (Country Home) and made by Dudin in 1983 in Tashkent.

Embroidery is of course an older and more traditional art for Uzbekistan, and this museum has beautiful samples. The all-embroidered boots are from Shakhrisabz, and the lovely Suzani is from Samarkand, end of 19th century.

And these are traditional embroidered hats. This one is of course for a woman and comes from Bukhara, 1940s.

 And this one is for a man. Chust or Marghilan, 1980s.

Of course there is also a room for clothing. Vintage dresses and gowns from silk and cotton fabrics with ikat patterns or stripes are beautiful and eye-catching.

The striped gown is for a man; it is from Ferghana, 1960s. This fabric is called 'bekasab'. The second gown is for a woman and it comes from Tashkent, second half of the last century.

There are also rugs and carpets, which are very important for the people here. Uzbek houses are full of rugs; a rug is the best gift, they believe, and will always find room for another rug. Many household items were made from rugs, for instance these saddlebags, as this is a strong and practical material.

Another favorite room of mine is the one with jewelry. It was mostly made from silver with corals, turquoise, carnelian, tourmalines and other semi-precious stones, often combined with colored glass.  The first photo shows 'tillyakosh' (Gold Brows) made from silver with turqiouse, glass, enamel and pearls.

And these are very classic Turkmen (or Turkoman) bracelets with carnelian. Very heavy and barbarian looking, they still retain some gold gilt.

We only spent there about an hour and a half, as Madina became tired quickly - there are too many things and colors.

There are two amazing persimmon trees in the yard. They look very ordinary in the summer, but I find them stunning late in the autumn after they shed their leaves but still retain the fruit.

 In my daughter's view, the place was great for running around, jumping and dancing.

...So we pranced around a bit and went home, discussing what we have seen and where we want to g next. It was a good beginning of a good day. 

(all photos from the inside of the museum come from http://www.artmuseum.uz)

My New Silky Rug: More Pillows are Coming!

This is my newest find - a lovely vintage rug, smooth, supple and silky to the touch, in stunning colors. I love the pattern, especially the tiny funny animals. It is much better live - striking! I paid much more than I usually pay for rugs I buy to make kilim pillows, and when I told my mother about it she said I was crazy. But then I took it out from the bag to show her, and of course she was fascinated with it, too.

I am hoping to list cushion covers made from it in the Mulberry Whisper shop on Etsy this week - do not miss them, if you like this rug, because there will not be many; the rug is not big. I guess it is made of rayon and cotton - feels like natural fibers.

Abul Kasim Madrassah and Some Antiques

(source) 

Abul Kosim Madrassah is one of the few antique buildings still existing in Tashkent. It is a fine example of Uzbek architecture of XIX century. It used to be a religious school (naturally, if it is called 'madrassah'), and now it houses a number of arts and crafts shops (and some of them are also workshops - the artists are working right there and you can observe the process).

We went there for a walk with my friend. The October morning was lovely - so full of soft light. Even these rusty grape leaves look beautiful, lit by the sun.

This is one of the shops I mentioned: they sell Rishtan style blue ceramics. Rishtan village in Ferghana valley is famous for their blue and green pottery which is very popular on of course widely imitated. I am not sure if the clayware in this shop is authentic Rishtan, and it is not that important to me, either. I will take pictures of fine Rishtan examples when I find them.

This is a balcony on the second floor. The building has two floors; the second was mostly occupied by scholars who lived there. On the first floor, they have some small rooms, too, and a couple of big ones which might have been used as lecture halls.

Here you can see an artist carving wood, and many doors and balconies in the background. Those are the doors to all those tiny rooms I mentioned.

A bush with red berries in the yard. I do not know what it is, but I am sure it is not edible or I would recognize it. Beautiful, anyway!

We decided to make a small photo session for several pieces from my friend's collection. He is a dealer in Asian antiques and owns a lot of beautiful things - Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tukmen, Karakalpak rugs and carpets, vintage and antique china and pottery, various accessories, lots of Uzbek, Tajik and other vintage clothing, lewelry, etc.. This time he brought two decorative plates, a teapot and some textiles with him and we used the old walls as a photo prop.

This plate in ikat pattern is more than 100 years old and I think it is by Kuznetsov factory.

Here you can see a handwoven ribbon with tassels - it was used to tie a bundle with a bride's possessions when moving to her husband's house. If I remember correctly, it was made by the Uzbek tribe of Lakai who were renowned for their crafts. There is also a lovely small Kyrgyz rug in the background.

This is that rug, it is very finely made and supple, and the indigo blue is just breathtaking!

Now, I am quite bad with all this pottery. I think this one (which is also painted in ikat style) was by Gardner (and thus it is older than the previous one because the factory used to be called Gardner and then it was bought by Kuznetsov and then there was revolution). I will have to ask Rustam to clarify.

Two beautiful suzani in very vivid colors. Both are antique which is hard to believe given how bright they are - as if made yesterday.

A mistery teapot; looks like made in Kashgar, but the mark says 'made in Japan'

...The pictures are made by me, save for the first one, but the pottery and textiles are owned by Rustam, who maintains a very interesting Facebook community 'Uzbek Suzani'. I will ask him to tell us more about these pieces. He certainly told me a great deal, but I am very good at forgetting! But even if I do not remember something (well, almost nothing), they are a pleasure to behold, are not they?

I have some vintage and antique items at home and I actually use them; what about you? Do you like old things or you prefer everything modern and new?