TRADITIONS OF HANDICRAFT AS A NATIONAL INDICATOR OF AUTHENTICITY: AN EXAMPLE OF COPPER EMBOSSING

ABSTRACT

This article presents the factual material of the development of "Islamic art" in Central Asia. The branch of Handicrafts, especially artistic metal of the XVIII – early XX centuries, is studied. The article gives a detailed overview of the dynamics of the development of ornamental systems, copper-stamped products of the Central Asian region, in particular, present-day Uzbekistan.

АННОТАЦИЯ

В данной статье представлен фактический материал развития «исламского искусства» в Средней Азии. Исследуется отрасль ремесел, особенно художественная обработка металла XVIII – начала XX вв. В статье дан подробный обзор динамики развития орнаментальных систем, медно-чеканных изделий Среднеазиатского региона, в частности, современного Узбекистана.

Keywords: Islamic art, copper embossing, metalcrafts, ornament, composition, coiner, coppersmith, islimi, applied art, Uzbek copper embossing.

Ключевые слова: исламское искусство, чеканка по меди, изделия из металла, орнамент, композиция, чеканщик, медник, ислими, прикладное искусство, узбекская чеканка по меди.

At the turn of the VIII – IX century, with the invasion of the Arabs, Islam is spreading, with a different ideology and values, with a different view of the entire existing world heritage, with a new interpretation of the suspended and only Supreme. The formation of caliphates, the connection of multicultural regions under a single basis, the spread and promotion of Islamic culture in one word "Islamization" fully lasted for a long time, depending on the conquest, location of the cultural, religious, economic and political center of occupation. The Central Asian region including the territory of present-day Uzbekistan that was part of Sogd and Khorezm was captured at the beginning of the IX century. the main centers of the region – Bukhara, Khorezm and Samarkand were also subordinated and became new centers of culture and economy of the Islamic state. Further, such States as the Samanids, Karakhanids, ghaznevids, and Khorezmshakhs developed here. Subsequent Mongol invasions destroyed the entire early Islamic world. Transoxiana was essentially divided into small, competing possessions. Gruenebaum designated the end of the era of classical Islamic art as the date of death of the last Caliph al Mustasim which means the complete collapse of the Caliphate. Islamization was reflected in the literary industry at the beginning of the XIV century. The rebirth of Islamic art in the era of the Temurids designated as the "Eastern Renaissance" also has many opinions. In General, the chronological concept of "Islamic art of Uzbekistan" can be defined by the time frame of the IX - early XX centuries. [1]

Islamic art differs from the art of other cultures in the form and materials it uses, as well as in its subject matter and meaning. Phillips (1915), for example, believed that Eastern art, in General, is mainly concerned with color, in contrast to Western art, which is more interested in form [2]. Bourgoin (1879), on the other hand, compared the art forms of the Greeks, Japanese, and Moslems, and classified them into three categories: animal, vegetable, and mineral, respectively. In his opinion, Greek art emphasized proportions and plastic forms, as well as the characteristics of the human and animal bodies. Japanese art, on the other hand, developed plant attributes related to the principle of growth and the beauty of leaves and branches[3]. However, Muslim art is characterized by an analogy between geometric design and the crystalline forms of certain minerals. The main difference between it and the art of other cultures is that it focuses on purely abstract forms, rather than on the representation of natural objects. These shapes take on different shapes and patterns. Prisset (1878) divided them into three types: floral, geometric, and calligraphic [4]. Bourgoin (1873) proposed a different classification, including ornamental stalactites, geometric arabesques, and other forms [5]. For our decorative interest, we will focus on the three forms suggested by Priss, which occur alone or together in most materials, such as ceramics, stucco, or textiles.

Ornament is a special type of artistic creation, which, according to many researchers, does not exist as an independent work, it only adorns a particular thing, but, nevertheless, "it... is a rather complex artistic structure, which uses various means of expression to create it. Among them — color, texture and mathematical foundations of ornamental composition-rhythm, symmetry; graphic expression of ornamental lines, their elasticity and mobility, flexibility or angularity; plastic — in relief ornaments; and finally, the expressive qualities of the natural motifs used, the beauty of the painted flower, the bend of the stem, the pattern of the leaf...". [6] the Term ornament is associated with the term decor, which "never exists in its pure form, it consists of a combination of useful and beautiful; it is based on functionality, beauty comes after it". [7] The decor must support or emphasize the shape of the product.

The study of ornament is a special section of artistic literacy, necessary for everyone who deals with the design or formation of the artistic appearance of objects and structures. Ornament is one of the most ancient types of human visual activity, which in the distant past carried a symbolic and magical meaning, sign, and semantic function. But early decorative and ornamental elements might not have any meaning, but were only abstract signs that expressed a sense of rhythm, form, order, and symmetry. Researchers of the ornament believe that it appeared already in the upper Paleolithic era (15-10 thousand years BC). Based on unimaginative symbolism, the ornament was almost exclusively geometric, consisting of strict forms of circle, semicircle, oval, spiral, square, rhombus, triangle, cross and their various combinations. Zigzags, strokes, stripes, "Christmas tree" ornaments, and a braided ("rope") pattern were used in the decor. Ancient man gave certain signs to his ideas about the structure of the world. For example, a circle is the sun, a square is the earth, a triangle is the mountains, a swastika is the movement of the sun, a spiral is development, movement, and so on. however, they, in all probability, did not yet possess decorative qualities for objects (often covered with ornaments hidden from human eyes parts of objects — bottoms, verses of jewelry, amulets, etc.). Gradually, these signs and symbols acquired the ornamental expressiveness of the pattern, which was considered only as an aesthetic value. The purpose of the ornament was determined-to decorate. But it is fair to note that pictography, an early stage of writing, emerged from ornamental motifs.

In subsequent times, artists simply copied the old forms that had a very specific meaning in ancient times. The symbolic and semantic content of ornaments returns to the middle Ages. Decorative pictorial elements of the oldest creativity have been preserved in the traditional art of the peoples of Africa, Australia, Oceania, in ornaments of South American Indians. In their ornamental and decorative motifs, real and geometric conventionally stylized forms coexist in parallel. But the real form of the artist usually" geometrically " stylizes. Often stylization and generalization of figures of animals and people leads to a complete loss of their external recognition and connection with the original image. They are perceived simply as a geometric pattern. Having appeared at the dawn of humanity, the ornament emotionally and aesthetically enriches the variety of forms and figurative structure of stone and wood carvings, woven patterns, jewelry, and book miniatures. A big part of the ornament was held in folk arts and crafts. One of the largest Czech researchers of folk culture, Josef Ottra, identifies four main functions of the ornament: 1) constructive - it supports the tectonics of the object and affects its spatial perception; 2) operational — it facilitates the use of the object; 3) representational — it increases the impression of the value of the object; 4) psychic — it affects the person with its symbolism and thus excites or calms him. "Ornament in folk art and folk art has always been beneficial to the cause, and its interpretation, in essence, corresponds to the principles of modern aesthetics."

In the history of medieval ornament, a large role is given to the art of the Arabs, and then other nationalities professing Islam. Islam, which appeared in the first third of the seventh century. in the middle East in Arabia, in a short time spread over a huge territory from the Pyrenees to the Pamirs. Having absorbed the acquired forms of Byzantine, Coptic, Persian, Hellenistic-Roman ornamentation, the Arab-Muslim decor presented a luxurious, unique and original art of ornament and calligraphy, often combined together in the so-called epigraphic ornament. One of the earliest and most used handwriting is kufi (letters are straight with clear angular outlines), or, as it is poetically called, "blooming kufi". The second most common handwriting Naskh (the letters are more rounded). There are two main types of Muslim ornaments, which have an infinite variety of options-vegetable is-limi (a pattern of flexible, curly plant stems, shoots, strewn with leaves and flowers) and geometric girih (rigid rectangular and polygonal continuous shapes-grids, nodes). Islimi and girih are always strictly mathematically verified and calculated. Their variants and compositions are diverse and almost inexhaustible and endless.

Copper embossing uses 6 main compositions of ornamental systems for the decoration of trays :. "gardish" - a concentric arrangement of stripes around a circle displaced in the center of the dish, "davra" - a room in the center of a large circle with small circles rhythmically arranged around it, "turunj" - a similar composition, built not from circles, but from medallions, "mehrob" - a composition of touching arches located around a Central circle, "Sitora" - a composition in the form of a large star that occupies the entire space of the bottom, "ishkalak" or "ishkalak band" - with the restriction of the Central bottom tray borders of the rectangular frame, which fits the leading ornament.

The motifs of the ornament of stamped products are traditional for all types of Uzbek decorative and applied art. These are mainly plant, geometric, and zoomorphic patterns. Ostral motifs, calligraphic inscriptions and images of household items are of great importance in the ornament.

A favorite ornament of Uzbek coppersmiths is – "islimi", patterns of flowers, leaves, climbing stems are performed in the borders and on the Central field of the composition. The most complex compositions consist of plant motifs, they also fill the interior space of rosettes , medallions, and geometric shapes. There are many variants of the "islimi" pattern. the simplest plant patterns used for ornamentation of borders and dividing strips are called "nimislimi". Plant patterns are performed quite realistically, you can easily identify the leaves, flower heads, and wriggling petals in complex plant compositions. Many plant patterns are called by masters by specific names " Lola "(Tulip)," Bodom "(almond)," kalampir "(red pepper)," buta " (Bush).

Zoomorphic and anthropomorphic ornaments were very popular in metal products. Under the influence of new ideological ideas that developed during the Islamic art period, realistic images of people and animals disappeared from the Arsenal of artistic means of coiners. Images of animals were used in a highly stylized form, mainly in the border ornament. Only the name of ornamental motives was vydoval their value: it was not the images of animals and their body parts: "chashmi Bulbul" (Nightingale's eye), "kuchkorak" (RAM's horn), "pushti Balik" (fish scales), "Kapalak" (butterfly), "Ilon izi" (trail snakes). Realistic images of snakes, birds, sheep heads and other animals were found only in the details of the forms made by the casters (on the handles and spouts of vessels). Geometric ornament performs a narrow service role in copper embossing: it is used mainly in borders, dividing strips, in the outline of the contours of large figures. The vast majority of geometric patterns have architectural names: "Gisht" (brick), " mehrob "(arch)," zanjir "(chain)," madohil " (medallion).

The art of decoration of copper-stamped products is inextricably linked with the use of certain technical techniques. Sometimes the technique dictates the design system, in other cases-the chosen ornament obliges the master to apply a certain technical technique.

During the XIX – early XX centuries, significant changes occurred in the ornament of minted products. Ornamentation of products the beginning of the XIX century, while retaining mainly a vegetative character, the ornament of copper-stamped products gradually loses the features of originality, is unified, and many features and motives inherent in the ornament of architectural and decorative art appear in it. significant changes occurred in the design of copper-stamped products after the annexation of part of Central Asia to Russia. In the major centers of the Turkestan region and the Central Asian khanates (Bukhara and Khiva) by the end of the XIX century, there were rich commercial military and administrative circles that made new demands on household art products. Taking into account these requirements, the masters began to change the artistic appearance of their products. Designed for a certain circle of consumers, the products lost their simplicity and rigor of finishing. There was a trend of immoderate dressiness, which is still felt today. Many new products were distinguished by their sophisticated shape, abundance of overhead details, inserts made of turquoise and transparent glass on a colored lining. In Kokand, Karshi and Shakhrisyabz, blackening and background coloring with colored varnish and sealing wax were used. The abundant use of background tint, and sometimes the surface of the pattern, was caused by fashion, the influence of which in one way or another affected all areas. This fashion appeared in Shakhrisabz all the artistic works of Which were distinguished by polychrome scale.

In the second half of the XIX century, new features common to all regions appeared in the art of design of minted products, due to expanding social relations. Along with traditional plant motifs, which still retained local features everywhere, the masters introduced story inserts into ornamental compositions. For the first time, this technique was used by the masters of Kokand: the image of architectural structures was minted on trays, most often the Palace of the Kokand Khan Khudayar. In Bukhara this innovation arose somewhat later – from the end of XIX – beginning of XX century, in Samarkand in the 30 years of XX century masters continued to produce traditional products, following the trend in late nineteenth century areas for simplification of equipment, unification of ornament and attempts the introduction of ornamental Stroy artwork story panels. But, along with this, the largest city artels, following the current installations in those years, tried to switch young coiners from the conventional ornamental style to the so-called "realistic", pictorial, which ultimately amounted to the design of products with boring naturalistic drawings [8].

With the advent of the XXI century and the development of the trend of “globalization,” the high growth of a market economy would seem to begin to wash away the features of interregional features. Contemporary applied art has taken a new turn in its development towards market demand. Masters strive not to enrich the heritage that has been functioning for centuries, but against traditional methods and ornaments, in favor of personal interests of both their own and those of consumers. The artistic features of the craft as a reflection of uniqueness and authenticity serve to preserve the national identity of art, passing from generation to generation.

References:

1. А.Хакимов (2019) «Искусство ислама как часть мировой культуры» статья конф. Философия ислама в изобразительном и прикладном искусстве Узбекистана
2. Bourgoin, J. (1873) 'Les Arts Arabes', Paris, (cited by Briggs, M.S. (1924) 'Muhammadan Architecture in Egypt and Palestine', Clarendon Press, Oxford.)
3. Bourgoin, J. (1873) 'Les Arts Arabes', Paris, (cited by Briggs, M.S. (1924) 'Muhammadan Architecture in Egypt and Palestine', Clarendon Press, Oxford.)
4. Prisse d'Avennes (1878)'I'Art Arabe d'spres les Monuments du Caire', Morel, Paris.
5. Bourgoin, J. (1879) 'Les Elements de I'Art Arabe', Paris, (cited by Briggs, M.S. (1924) 'Muhammadan Architecture in Egypt and Palestine', Clarendon Press, Oxford.)
6. Гилевич Е. В. Традиционный орнамент в современном мире
7. Гилевич Е. В. Традиционный орнамент в современном мире
8. Т.Абдуллаев (1970) «Медночеканные изделия Узбеков» автореферат