Kazakh ornament

The first written references to Kazakh patterns and ornaments date back to the beginning of the 16th century ^[1] . In ancient times, according to the ornament of the Kazakhs, it was possible to determine to which genus or zhuz the owner of the ornamented thing belongs ^[2] .

In the aesthetic culture of the Kazakh people, the ornament reached a wide variety of forms and took a dominant place at the end of the 19th century ^[3] . The patterns reflected the surrounding reality: for example, if the floral ornaments prevailed in clothing in the 19th century, most often tulips, then after Gagarin’s flight into space, the craftswomen embroidered rockets and stars ^[1] .

S. M. Dudin identifies four features of Kazakh ornamentation: the equality of the background and the pattern, the ambiguity of the motives of both the pattern and the background, the limited range of colors of the ornament and the presence of top and bottom in ornamental compositions ^[4] .

By the features of rhythm, composition, symmetry, the types of ornament are distinguished: zoomorphic, geometric, floral and cosmogonic ^{[3] [5] [1] [2]} :

• The most common is zoomorphic ornament. Zoomorphic patterns - koshkar muiz (ram’s horn), braid muiz (connected horns), thuje taban (camel footprint), etc. - decorated with felt products, various household items made of leather and wood. It is found in felt products (tekmemet, syrmak), in weaving (baskur, alasha, carpet), as well as in leather, bone, wood, metal. In some types of products, the drawing of the element is performed using the application technique. To paint it, red, green, brown, white, black tones are used.
• Geometric ornamental motifs are widespread in weaving, architectural decoration (triangle, rhombus, cross, prehistoric swastika). It is found in the borders of carpets, framed by the center, tekmete fields - felt carpets. It is painted in black, blue, burgundy, brown tones.
• Plant patterns are found in embroidery and weaving (flower, leaf, shoot). Freely filling the surface, such patterns do not leave a background, give the product an elegant and festive look. It is painted in yellow, orange, red, pink, burgundy tones.
• Cosmogonic signs (sun, star, crescent) are used in carpet weaving to fill the central part of the composition, for example, the Kainar - fontanel pattern was born in a cattle-breeding farm that needs pastures and watering places. Blue, blue, violet colors are used ^[3] .

Each color in the ornament has its own symbolism. For example, blue is a symbol of heaven, white is joy, happiness, yellow is knowledge, wisdom, red is fire, sun, green is youth and spring, black is earth ^[2] . In Kazakh decorative art, the eternal motive of the struggle between good and evil is represented by the unity of irreconcilable opposites. Each ornamental composition is given a picture of the cosmos, society and personality in their unity. A special place is occupied by a triangle and the elements enclosed in it. Triangle means connecting the three worlds together. According to traditional concepts, it depicts a fish, an arrow and a bird, representing the three elements - water, earth and air, and the motif of the ram’s horns in the triangle represents the fourth element - fire ^[3] .

The ornament is executed in various techniques: it can be carved on wood, engraved or soldered on metal, rolled or sewn into felt , embroidered on fabric or woven on a pile carpet. The same motifs can be found on the wooden front door, the domed circle of the shanyrak, on jewelry. In the yurt, all elements are fastened with patterned stripes: wall grilles with poles, a shashak bau (woven patterned cords with tassels) descend from the shanyrak. Also, the edges of the hem, sleeves, collar, hats and shoes are ornamented in clothes, the edges of wooden dishes, bowls, the circumference of ladles (ozhau) and utensil covers (ayak-kap) in dishes. In the Kazakh language, ornamentation is called “oyu”, which means “deepening, knocking out”, and the word refers to the most ancient times, when the pattern was knocked out in stone ^[3] .

Many applied items can claim the status of a symbol of nomad art. Vivid examples are: a torsyk - a vessel for koumiss, sewn from matte embossed leather with horn curls on both sides, syrmak - a mosaic felt carpet, the main motive of which is the ram's horns. The art of bone carvers - suyekshi reached a high level. Wooden items were decorated with carved bone ornaments - headboards, wooden head restraints (agash hard), coasters (bug) for storing rolled-up carpets, felt and blankets, tops (tops) of kerege and ducks in a yurt, as well as musical instruments. The warmest of the materials is felt, samples of which were found during excavations of the burials of early nomads ^[3] .

• Shevtsova A.A. Kazakh folk ornament. Origins and tradition. M .: Kazakh diaspora, 2007.240 s.

• Қазақ ою-өрнегі
• The language of Kazakh ornament

When writing this article, material from the publication Kazakhstan. National Encyclopedia ”(1998-2007), provided by the editors of the“ Kazakh Encyclopedia ”under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 Unported license .