Crafts of Central Asia: ganch carving

Detail of the ganch wall decoration, the Throne Hall, Khudoyar Khan Palace, Kokand, Uzbekistan 

Anyone who has not been to Central Asia is hardly likely to know the meaning of ganch. If one explains what ganch is it may seem highly prosaic: it is neither stone nor clay but something in between. It is obtained by firing a rock containing gypsum and clay and grinding it into a powder which is then mixed with water and a solution of vegetable glue. It then slowly solidifies as it dries out. Its shades range from light gray to light yellow. Ganch carving is one of the unique and ancient forms of artistic crafts of Central Asia.

Crafts of Russia: wedding ring shawls of Orenburg

Orenburg shawls are one of the world famous symbols of Russia. These lacy hand-knitted pieces of art are beautiful, warm and so light, fine and delicate that can be pulled through a wedding ring. They are so loved in Russia that there is even a song dedicated to this piece of clothing.

Tonight, when there's frost and there's blizzard

When the snow storm is roaming the road

Will you cover my shoulders, sweet darling,

With an Orenburg downy shawl.

The story of the Orenburg shawl started in the second half of the 18th century, when two older crafts were joined together. One of the predecessors of the fluffy shawl with its cobweb pattern was the thermal Kalmyk or Cossack shawl, which was worn under light clothing in fierce frosts, and knitted in plain stitch from the softest goat's fleece. The other was the fine lace shawls made by Ural Cossack women.

Crafts of Burma: kalaga wall hangings

Late 19th century kalaga wall hanging; embroidered wool with silver and gilt threads and sequins, with appliqué of coloured braids, silk and felt fabrics, padded. The Victoria and Albert Museum

Kalagas are traditional beads and metal-thread embroidered pictures that originally were used to decorate the walls of the palaces and the temples, served as a room partitions or as screens hung outside the house on festive occasions. The word "kalaga" literally means "foreign certain" and referrs to the fact that the original idea was imported from Thailand. The art has been practised in Myanmar for well over two hundred years. Kalagas's most distinctive feature is richly decorated, applique figures that are padded to give a soft relief on an ornamented background.

Crafts of Belarus: Sluck sashes

Double-sided sash, Sluck, 1778-1807, silk weaving. Photo source

Being a bit nostalgic about the days I spent in Belarus recently I decided to write about something Belurusian. And there can not be a better choice than Sluck sashes , real treasure of Belarusian culture. This type of handwork was produced in Belarus (then Rzeczpospolita) in the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Sluck sashes were named after the city of Slutsk (Minsk region), where they were first produced in 18th century to replace expensive imported sashes from the Orient. Such sashes from Ottoman Empire, Persia, Iran and China were very popular among the nobles of the time and served not only as a decorative element of the costume but as a symbol of high social status and wealth as well.

Traditional masks of Nepal

Traditional masks of Nepal can be devided into two sorts: "tribal" masks which belong to the ethnic groups such as Gurung, Magar, Tharu, Rai etc and which are also referred to as "shaman's" masks; and "classical" masks which represent Hindu and Buddhist gods and goddesses.

The classical Nepali masks always represent deities or demons and never the dead or the ancestors. Besides, masks are more often used in processions and in rituals rather than in theatrical performances.

There are three categories of masks: first, masks representing faces of gods which are worn by performers during ritual dances, a second category, masks which serve as ornamental motifs for decorating a temple, a chariot during a procession or a vase used as a ritual object. A third category includes masks in metal or stone representing faces of deities that are worshiped like statues. They are called statue-masks. The metal used for making them are silver, brass or bronze. These masks are often decorated with jewels and when not worshiped they are kept in a wooden box inside the temple.

Traditional pottery of Nepal

Pottery has a long history in Nepali culture. The oldest recorded finds in Lumbini date back at least 2600 years. The large ceramic water pots can be found in almost every village in Nepal which are used to collect, store and transport water. These vessels also keep water cool. Clay goods are also essential to many Hindu and Buddhist religious ceremonies. During pujas small ceramic cups are used to hold candles and butter lamps. Traditional Newari rice wine called aila is made using a special ceramic set-up crafted just for distilling rice or millet alcohol: several clay containers of various sizes are used in conjunction with a large ceramic vessel with holes punched in the bottom. Without this special holed vessel the creation of potent aila would not be possible.

Crafts of China: horsetail hair embroidery

Horsetail hair embroidery, source

Every ethnic group of China has its own unique way of designing and adorning their costumes and textiles. An ethnic minority of the Sui (Shui) counts just about 400 thousand people. For centuries a special traditional type of embroidery has been kept alive by the Sui women. This unique kind of embroidery uses horsetail hair for the needlework.

Crafts of China: beautiful enamelware

Vase, Qing dynasty, 18th century, Cloisonné enamel. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Enameling is a technique of fusing powdered glass to a bronze, copper or sometimes silver body by firing. The powder melts, flows and then hardens to a smooth, durable coating. Such metal vessels with a glassy coating on their surfaces are known as enamelwares. Enamelware which has the sturdiness of metal, the smoothness and corrosion-resistance of glass, is practical and beautiful. To day the earliest known enamel object made in China is the Tang Dynasty (618-907) gold-inlaid silver-base enamel mirror kept in the Shosoin Repository of Nara, Japan. Chinese enamels can be classified today into cloisonné, champleve, and painted enamels according to their production methods. In terms of bases there are gold-base, copper-base, porcelain-base, glass-base and purple-clay enamel. Among them the copper-base enamel is the most popular because the copper price is lower and enamel is easier to adhere to the copper surface.

Embroidery of Belarus: ritual towels

Hand-embroidered ritual towel from Podneprovie region

These amazingly beautiful, hand-embroidered ritual towels are from Belarus. They are called rushnik and all the examples in this post are from the collections of different museums of Belarus and date from the 19th century. Each region of the country has its own distinctive designs and patterns of embroidery with hidden meaning and symbolism. The most popular motifs were flowers, plants, birds and geometrical. Such towels were not for everyday use of course, but for wedding or funeral ceremonies and for decoration of the place of honour (where the icon was placed) in the house. The majority of rushniks are embroidered with red threads. The very word "red" means "beautiful" and "splendid" and the colour itself symbolizes life, sun, fertility and health. It was believed that a rushnyk with red embroidery possesses magic powers that can bring happiness, prosperity and health to a person and his/her family.

Souvenirs from Russia: Palekh lacquered miniatures

During my last stay in London I found this beautiful decorative place in a local charity shop. And this is not just an ordinary decorative plate but a real treasure: an authentic Palekh lacquered miniature. Distinctive features of Palekh miniatures are brightly painted scenes over the black background;  elongated, graceful figures(as on icons) and elaborate gold and/or silver ornamentation applied in fine lines throughout the painting. A genuine miniature also has on it a name of the artist and the year when it was created. My dish dates from 1989 and the artist's name is T.Bolshakova.
The exquisite, highly detailed miniatures painted in Palekh are called "small miracles" and they are on a great demand among the collectors throughout the world. So, I was really lucky to have mine for 8 GB pounds only. The painted image is of Ivan attempting to capture the mythical Fire-bird.
The Palekh art didn't exist till the beginning of the 20th century. Previously the small Russian village was a center of icon painting. The Revolution of 1917 changed that, the new government closed down the churches and banned icon production. The holy images were no longer on demand and the icon painters of Palekh found themselves out of work. The new times demanded new themes and subjects. So, Palekh artists had to use their skills and technique to create something different and they started to paint characters and scenes from real life, literature and fairytales using papier-mâché boxes as their canvas. Below are a few examples of beautiful Palekh miniatures from collections of different museums of Russia

Khon masks of Thailand

Khon masks on display at the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, Bangkok

The khon is a traditional mask play in Thailand which implies the wearing of masks by performers. The story that has been used for staging of the khon is the Ramakien, the Thai version of the Indian epic Ramayana. Staged in its entirety, the Ramakien is an immensely complex story with 138 episodes involving 311 different characters and taking more that 720 hours of continuous performance.
The mask is perhaps the most important characteristic of the khon, for through it more than any other thing else, one distinguishes the variety of roles.

Crafts of Thailand: woodcarving

Wood carved scene from the Ramakien (Ramayana) 

If you are holidaying in Thailand and are seduced to buy one of the tours the local agencies offer I bet among "elephant riding" and "boat market experience" suggestions there will be a visit to a woodcarving centre too. All my photos of beautiful Thai woodcarving objects were made in one such centre near Bangkok.
Thanks to the rich forests that once covered much of territory of Thailand woodcarving became a major craft early in the kingdom's history. Until the late 19th century woodcarving was widely practised and entire temples and palaces were often wooden.
The preferred material for carvers was teak, because of its durability and resistance to insect damage, but other woods were used as well. The colour of the wood was not that important since it was usually gilded, lacquered or adorned with glass mosaics, tinsel or other bright material after carving was completed.

Crafts of India: wool rugs

Agra carpet, late 19th century. Nazmiyal Collection

Who would doubt that Mogul Emperors of India loved luxury: for its special comfort and as display of their power and wealth. And in case they found something missing or were not quite happy with the local products they didn't hesitate to invite foreign craftsmen to fulfill their desires and to teach locals. Seems like one of them, Akbar, especially missed soft and nice Persian carpets in his interior and so he established a carpet weaving centre right in his palace in Agra in 1580. And thus the Indian carpet was born. And in time it became no less famous as its predecessor the Persian carpet.
Sir George Birdwood, one of the greatest authorities on Indian carpets, said that they "...gained their reputations for the originality and great beauty of their designs, the harmony of their colouring, and their special fitness for the houses of the cultivated, the wealthy and the great".
And that's how he describes one of the Indian carpets at the Paris Exposition of 1878: "it is a carpet which it will be difficult to put into a European room, as its surface is too beautiful to allow of its being broken by furniture. It is a carpet to be looked at like a golden sunset...".
As at the start carpet weaving was patronized by the higher class it reflected its taste in designs: gardens, flowers, fruits and hunting were popular themes at those times. With the end of the patronage and the rise of interest from western countries the Indian weavers widened assortment of patterns and now there are large varieties of carpet designs offered: from Persian to Scandinavian, from Central Asian to Chinese.

Crafts of Japan: Iki Ningyo realistic dolls

These heads that once belonged to life sized dolls look slightly spooky and disturbing, so realistically looking they are. No wonder, Iki-Ningyo literally means "true-to-life dolls" and it is hard to believe that they were made in the 19th century. These extremely real dolls were used for creating scenes from a fashionable plays or well-known historical events. It was a popular amusement in the late 19th century Japan. The figures were modeled with absolute attention to character and realism. The heads were made of wood covered in crushed shell paste and had glass eyes, ivory teeth, individually inset human hair and eyelashes. These figures were not always executed for exhibition purposes, but also for the private viewer.
A few more examples of the 19th century Iki-Ningyo heads from the Tokyo National Museum collection. Looking at these hyper-realistic heads one can't help but admire the skills of the craftsmen.