|
www.sairamtour.com The art of metal working is one of the most ancient crafts and only yields the superiority to ceramics. Not many ancient samples of this craft have reached our time. Archeologists refer the oldest of them to the 4th millennium B.C. This historical period is known under the name of Bronze Age. The art of metal working attained perfection in the Middle Ages, particularly in the Temurid epoch. For example, in the 1970-s a medieval embosser’s workshop was found during the archeological works in the Registan square in the center of Samarkand. Among the finds there were vessels of golden bronze, ornamented with embossed patterns of foliage and geometrical design. Some of them were inlaid with inscriptions made in gold.
The fate was rather merciless to a lot of bronze articles. In the old days bronze was appreciated not only for its artistic values, but as an original capital investment. It was a valuable metal which, in case of need, could be easily melted into coins. And this is exactly what happened to many bronze articles as centuries went by, especially in the 16th – 17th centuries, when copper in many respects replaced bronze.
In the middle of the 19th century the manufacturing of embossed copper articles in the country reached the highest level. Only in Bukhara alone craftsmen – misgars numbered four hundred, whereas in Khiva there were 200 copper workers. The centers of copper working were also Tashkent, Samarkand, Kokand, Margilan, Karshi and Shakhrisabs. Masters made different kinds of embossed articles – from household stuff to vessels for execution of cult ceremonies. Among them were ablution jugs oftoba, tea pots choydish, various bowls miskosa, trays mislagan, caskets kuticha, smoking devices chilim, inkwells syokhdon, pen cases kalamdon and censers for incense isirikdon, all decorated with embossed ornaments
The Uzbek embossing, actually, constitutes various techniques of engraving. The deep engraving kandakory has a more recessed relief; etching chizma resembles hatching with a chisel. Moreover, to make details of lids, lugs and saucers for vessels the Uzbek masters apply a cut-through engraving shabaka. Following the ancient techniques, a kandakor (embosser) uses a copper or brass sheet to manufacture embossed articles. Brass constitutes an alloy of copper and zinc with addition of some other metals.
The tools and equipment in the embosser’s workshop hardly differ from what handicraftsmen in the Middle Ages used. By means of simple, plain tools the copper-smith creates works of art shaping the articles into any possible freakish forms and the embosser’s workshop is equipped with a furnace, small and big anvils. Hammers, tongs, files, scissors and tinning devices are also necessary for the master’s work. Embossing is executed with various cutters and chisels naksh kalam made of hard steel. The tool kit includes a hone to sharpen the tools. To contour the figure on the surface of the article masters use a pair of compasses pargor. Proficient masters, who are skilful at composing ornaments, cut them out right on the billet. The embosser sits in front of a little low wooden table and processes a billet lying on a special pillow. That is all, actually. The embosser beats out a heated metal sheet into the required shape of the article. While decorating high hollow vessels the embosser fills them with sand. Having finished the work, the master cleans the contours of a pattern, trims and evens the brims, finishes the background and smoothes the product surface. After that the inside of vessels and bowls is tinned.
To a great extent the fate of the product depends on the master. He should manage the material perfectly, be capable of forming different kinds of vessels and decorating them with dainty patterned embossing and engraving. Moreover, the embosser must be skilful at composing intricate ornaments. He should be able to cast a little dome-shaped lid kubba, a tip for a jug beak, a figured ear handle for oftoba or choydysh and a joint aspak connecting a lid with a jug spout. And in fact, in the old days bronze casting – rikhtagary was an independent branch of metal working.
For decoration of embossed ware the masters mainly apply foliage and geometrical patterns, and less often traditional motives of stylized faunal images. These elements are named as they are: «chashmi bulbul» – an eye of a nightingale, «kuchkorok» – a ram's horn, «kapalak» – a butterfly, «ilon izi» – a trace of a snake. The most widespread technique of decoration of vessels and trays is the ornamental style islimi with continuous procumbent shoots of fancifully twining stalks, flowers and leaves.
The geometrical pattern is mainly used in contours of big ornaments. Most of them are based on ancient architectural images such as «gisht» – bricks, «mekhro» – a niche, «zanzhir» – a chain. A fine zigzag hatch and compositions of horizontal and vertical stripes are widely applicable in decoration of a background. Since the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries the embossed ware has acquired background brightly painted with enamel paints and inlays of semiprecious stones or transparent glass on a color backing, which add colorfulness and expressiveness to the articles.
Experts distinguish the regional schools of the Uzbek metal embossing by deepness of engraved relief, dominance of this or that characteristic ornament, techniques of background decoration and, certainly, the form of the article. The Khiva copper-smiths – misgars produce vessels for water with flattened and sometimes ribbed sides. The relief of embossment is much deeper, than the one met in other parts of Uzbekistan, the background is sometimes tinted with black varnish. In addition to the foliage ornament islimi in the form of acyclic shoots covered with flower heads, the Khiva metal articles are decorated with characteristic patterns in the form of lockets against the background of odd-shaped net, which gives the things a particular brilliance.
|
