The city of Rishtan has long been considered the center of ceramic production. Based on the most ancient finds during excavations in the city, it can be assumed that even in the 2nd century BC. There was a large settlement here, the route of the Great Silk Road passed through this area. And in the 9th century there are references to the name of the area as "Reshton". It is located in the foothills of the Alai Mountains, bordering the Republic of Kyrgyzstan in the southern part of the Fergana Valley. The soil in Rishtan has a reddish look.
Unique technologies for the production of ceramic products, unique rishtan style and color, are recognized as an indicator of their quality. The color spectrum inherent in Rishtan ceramics is reflected in the use of mostly turquoise, dark blue, brown hues on a solid background. The basic ornament for decor is applied to plant themes, as well as in the form of ancient symbols.
The decoration of Rishtan's ceramic products is made by the blue glaze "ishkor", which is obtained by secret technologies from natural mineral dyes and plant ash. The ceramics are painted by hand. Clay for the production of products is extracted in the city itself. It is noteworthy that there are deposits of red clay in Rishtan.
In products of one type, shapes and ornament are not repeated, which gives the products their uniqueness. The forms and types of ceramic products Rishtan, by right are the first among the variety and unique products of Uzbekistan.
Potters of the city (kuzagary) consider themselves descendants of the founders of the pottery, because the products from Rishtan were popular in the cities through which the Great Silk Road passed. By the 19th century Rishtan was one of the central cities of Central Asia for making dishes and decorating with glaze.
According to some data, pottery workshops in Rishtan began to appear a thousand years ago. And in a certain period of the city's existence, most of the men were masters of pottery, and today there is not a rare heredity in pottery, where the subtleties and details of the production of ceramics are passed down from generation to generation.
To date, renowned masters of Rishtan are Alisher Nazirov and Rustam Usmanov, who continue to breathe life into Rishtan pottery.
Alisher Nazirov is the founder of the modern school of Rishtan ceramics. He opened the "Usto-Shogird" school and contributed to the development of the decoration and production of ceramic products, by transferring drawings from the ancient ceramics into samples of contemporary art.
Rustam Usmanov invites you to his ancestral home, to look not only at the process of the ceramic production, but also on the exposition of the ancient (18-19th centuries) and modern products of Rishtan ceramics.