The Legend of Rishtan Ceramics

As legend has it, Timur, the great ruler of the Timurid dynasty, sent his representatives to various regions of Central Asia in the quest to find the best ceramics. It was in Rishtan, Uzbekistan that his representative, a student of Said Mikhri-Kulol (the founder of the Sufi order and a famous ceramist), found what he believed to be some of the best red clay. Rishtan continues to live up to its legacy as the home of traditional Rishtan ceramics, which are recognizable by their green-blue color combinations and geometrical and floral design. Father and son duo Rustam and Damir Usmanov create some of the finest Rishtan ceramics all by hand from unique local clay.

Their process begins by first finding the proper place to harvest clay, typically not too far from the river. Then they remove the upper stratum of soil, the best clay comes from a depth of three meters. The clay must be filtered and prepared before being thrown on the wheel. Pieces are then covered in a very thin layer of white clay (which is called angob), this allows the paint to lie down smoothly. After that, the ceramics are designed and painted with glazes made of copper, cobalt, and manganese oxides.

Rustam Usmanov was born in Rishtan in 1954, he is a first-generation pottery designer who attended the University of Arts in Tashkent in 1975. Upon graduating he started to work at the Rishtan ceramic factory as an artist and decorator. After a factory layoff, he opened his own ceramics workshop in order to revive the old techniques of Rishtan ceramics. Today his son Damir Usmanov works alongside him and is pursuing the technique of "ishkor" ceramics.