Among Zoroastrian burial items, there is a camel-shaped zoomorphic OSTADON lying there. It was found…
Speaking about suzanis, one cannot fail to mention palak, which are considered the Tashkent version of suzani.
It is considered that large circles on palak, even if there are several of them, denote the Moon or moonlight (oy-palak); and small circles are stars or starlight (yulduz-palak). In general, palak represents a figurative image of the night sky on which the moon and the stars shine.
Palak compositions differ depending on the size and location of the medallion circles, the number of which can be from one to twenty or more. If the embroidery depicts six medallion stars, it is called the olti oy palak (the sky with six moons); 20 stars are called yigirma oy palak (sky with t wenty moons). These names are used both by researchers and antiques dealers. Tashkent palaks are characterized by complete sewing of the inner surface of the medallion circles with threads of the same color.
As a rule, it is solid red or red with a purple tint. At the same time, it is difficult to find a convincing answer to the question why the red color was necessary for the image of the night sky. Around the medallions, circles with a dark green, yellow brown or dark brown outlines are often found. Apart from the medallions themselves, the entire surface of the fabric was also covered with embroidery.
However, over time, a red base fabric started to be used, and only the edges and main design of the central field were embroidered. Thus, the embroidered surface was reduced.
You can learn more about the topic in the book-album "Cultural legacy of Central Asia in Japanese Museums" (volume XX) in the series "Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections".
