It is a long ride along the Turkmen steppe, leaving behind more than one hundred kilometers you get attention to the dulled monotony of similar parts of landscape: grass, hill, bush; a curious lizard gets frightened, a pompous scarab is crawling ... on the turn of the road it appears a yurt, from which it curls the smoke, perhaps, we are awaited to hot tea.
A yurt is closely linked with a nature to live in be a necessity for nomads. This is their microcosm, a little universe. A Tore, is the most honorable place in the yurt - where joins male and female halves, this place imply to be seated the owner of the house and distinguished guests. The adjacent to the torus of the sacred dwelling is a hearth symbolizes prosperity at home, procreation. Honoring the hearth is one of the ancient Turkmen traditions. The old used to say: "In your yurt, let always stoke a fire and through the rim of you yurt come out smoke without ceasing."
According to people’s notions, a hearth is ancestors’ spirits living spot, thus, the hearth fire is always kept clean, never burned waste, not stepped over it, not defiled with various activities, not corrected with feet its wood, not stirred the coals with a sharp object, not got up with one’s back. A bride, coming to her husband's house, first of all welcomes the hearth, the patron of Kulala world. People identify the hearth fire with happiness to stay in the house. The hearth fire is never shared and carried out from the yurt.
An entire value of the hearth is the ritual space in the yurt to be decorated by the woven products. Interior items and household are always distinguished by a nomadic home decoration. All products made of felt, wool, a variety of fabrics, bright carpets, embroidery; weaving products give a yurt the original beauty creating a unique national flavor.
Turkmens, as all representatives of the peoples of Central Asia see in the fire all-powerful deity, associated with the idea of birth, growth, development, and life in general. The fire in the yurt was considered a particle of the sun, therefore, the hearth in a yurt made of rounded shape.
Since ancient times, the place near the fireplace is decorated with a U-shaped mat felt – called Ojakbashi. It has utilitarian purposes; its edges are always directed to the fireplace. A composition Ojakbashi is one of the most ancient techniques of ornamental decoration. Usually masters are used simple graphic drawings in the form of alternation of transverse and longitudinal, patterned bands of varying strength and expressiveness, both in color, shape and size, achieving a subtle decoration in the ornament. Carpet weavers with extensive experience know how to skillfully weave the pattern of the carpet strips, trying to impressively decorate the central spot, which is strictly maintained a certain system of correlations of ornament and font. According to certain themes and motifs it is elaborated patterns, features, the amulets of home.
All varieties of odjakbashi with a pattern of stripes framed with a narrow colored border with a simple but expressive patterns in the form of an oblique braids is chyraz. Even the name of this pattern means "rays", implying the golden rays of the sun, symbolizing the joy, comfort and warmth. This expressive motif gives the product a stylistic perfection.
In the XIX - early XX centuries, similar compositions are often used in products of the carpet. A similar pattern can be seen on the carpet sacks, torba, caparisons, hordjun.
It is a perfect sample of ojakbashi, an oval shape of the carpet art performance, sewn on the felt. The fine patterns are placed on a smooth color stripe at a considerable distance from each other forming a continuous series of similar recurring motifs, combinations of the rhombic shapes in the form of lace border.
It is of great interest represented a patterned felt odjakbashi. These products can be seen with its subtle workmanship and exquisite patterns. In the old days, odjakbashi felt is prepared in a pure white color as well as colored small patches of wool with black trim around the perimeter.
Due to the richness of felt color, odjakbashi looks very original. An artistic merit of the product is constructed in a skillfully built composition using modest colorful resources, artful arrangement of color spots as indication of the best artistic talent of the Turkmen masters.
The ornamental system of these products imply the originality and ancient artistic traditions of the Turkmen people, which allow us to call them true works of arts and crafts, embodied the aesthetic taste of the people, their ethnic ties with strict canons established by the centuries-old customs.
A yurt is closely linked with a nature to live in be a necessity for nomads. This is their microcosm, a little universe. A Tore, is the most honorable place in the yurt - where joins male and female halves, this place imply to be seated the owner of the house and distinguished guests. The adjacent to the torus of the sacred dwelling is a hearth symbolizes prosperity at home, procreation. Honoring the hearth is one of the ancient Turkmen traditions. The old used to say: "In your yurt, let always stoke a fire and through the rim of you yurt come out smoke without ceasing."
According to people’s notions, a hearth is ancestors’ spirits living spot, thus, the hearth fire is always kept clean, never burned waste, not stepped over it, not defiled with various activities, not corrected with feet its wood, not stirred the coals with a sharp object, not got up with one’s back. A bride, coming to her husband's house, first of all welcomes the hearth, the patron of Kulala world. People identify the hearth fire with happiness to stay in the house. The hearth fire is never shared and carried out from the yurt.
An entire value of the hearth is the ritual space in the yurt to be decorated by the woven products. Interior items and household are always distinguished by a nomadic home decoration. All products made of felt, wool, a variety of fabrics, bright carpets, embroidery; weaving products give a yurt the original beauty creating a unique national flavor.
Turkmens, as all representatives of the peoples of Central Asia see in the fire all-powerful deity, associated with the idea of birth, growth, development, and life in general. The fire in the yurt was considered a particle of the sun, therefore, the hearth in a yurt made of rounded shape.
Since ancient times, the place near the fireplace is decorated with a U-shaped mat felt – called Ojakbashi. It has utilitarian purposes; its edges are always directed to the fireplace. A composition Ojakbashi is one of the most ancient techniques of ornamental decoration. Usually masters are used simple graphic drawings in the form of alternation of transverse and longitudinal, patterned bands of varying strength and expressiveness, both in color, shape and size, achieving a subtle decoration in the ornament. Carpet weavers with extensive experience know how to skillfully weave the pattern of the carpet strips, trying to impressively decorate the central spot, which is strictly maintained a certain system of correlations of ornament and font. According to certain themes and motifs it is elaborated patterns, features, the amulets of home.
All varieties of odjakbashi with a pattern of stripes framed with a narrow colored border with a simple but expressive patterns in the form of an oblique braids is chyraz. Even the name of this pattern means "rays", implying the golden rays of the sun, symbolizing the joy, comfort and warmth. This expressive motif gives the product a stylistic perfection.
In the XIX - early XX centuries, similar compositions are often used in products of the carpet. A similar pattern can be seen on the carpet sacks, torba, caparisons, hordjun.
It is a perfect sample of ojakbashi, an oval shape of the carpet art performance, sewn on the felt. The fine patterns are placed on a smooth color stripe at a considerable distance from each other forming a continuous series of similar recurring motifs, combinations of the rhombic shapes in the form of lace border.
It is of great interest represented a patterned felt odjakbashi. These products can be seen with its subtle workmanship and exquisite patterns. In the old days, odjakbashi felt is prepared in a pure white color as well as colored small patches of wool with black trim around the perimeter.
Due to the richness of felt color, odjakbashi looks very original. An artistic merit of the product is constructed in a skillfully built composition using modest colorful resources, artful arrangement of color spots as indication of the best artistic talent of the Turkmen masters.
The ornamental system of these products imply the originality and ancient artistic traditions of the Turkmen people, which allow us to call them true works of arts and crafts, embodied the aesthetic taste of the people, their ethnic ties with strict canons established by the centuries-old customs.
