Якутский орнамент

Yakut ornament

The traditional applied art of the Yakut illustrates the people’s idea of beauty and provides a glimpse into their world outlook which has retained its religious and mythological basis; the belief in spirits, animism and totemistic zoomorphic cults. The folk art was sung in the epos “Olonho”. The goddess of fertility Iyisyt transferred secrets of skills to handicrafts from mother to daughter. The Yakut ornament was used in clothes, house utensils, jewelry, in especially colourfully decorated cheprak, kuchim. The traditional geometrical and vegetative ornament was used. Motives of ornament are rich and various. It is the twisted stalk, not opened flowers, buds, round berries, patterns from leaves, S-figurative curls. The embroidered images communicated, first of all, with exorcism magic and defense from malicious spirits. Magic value of an ornament "tanalay" is connected with ancient understanding of the person that this ornament is "staircase" between the world the terrestrial and top world of the maximum deities. In the terrestrial world the destiny and happiness of the person depends on them benevolent. Middle - world "ground" is reflected by ornamental compositions animal and vegetative kinds - a pattern the cow in a fur coat, motives vegetative on mittens, torbasakhs. Favorite’s colors of the Yakut are red and black, green, yellow, brown, dark blue go then. Black - terrestrial, green - vegetation, red - related, dark blue - heavenly, yellow - solar, white - light. In an ornament "tanalay" there are no corners, only lines. Sprouts symbolize posterity (children, grandsons) .Sprouts directed downwards the bottom part of an ornament protect from the bottom world. The more twisting lines, the beter protection is. Special ritually - symbolic the composition of ornaments at the edge and gear of choron has sense. Lower part is decorated with direct lines - symbols of trees.