I just returned from a week long trip to Bukhara and Samarkand. This was an early birthday present from my parents – thank you, mama and papa!
I don’t remember the number of times I have been to these cities, however, every time I re-visit them I feel like I have matured and I find things I did not even notice before.
This time in Samarkand I came across a mosaic shop set up in a famous Registan square. By the entrance door, on a stool covered with a newspaper, they had a mosaic tile. When I touched the tile the mosaic pieces separated and that’s when I realized that it is a real thing!
I walked into the shop where I received a quick intro into mosaic tiles making. The process itself sounds simple and straightforward but its application is a very detailed tedious work.
Basically, the process goes as follows:
- Draw a pattern on a paper.
2. Break it down into small pieces (see below). 1c stands for 1 blue (1 синий), 1б is 1 white (1 белый), 2c is 2 blue (2 синий), etc.
3. Cut the drawing into elements.
4. Apply each piece onto a glazed tile of a correspondent color (like this).
5. Cut and file the edges to make them smooth with a gray stone (lower part of the photo below, to the right of the paper drawing).
7. Repeat a gazillion time.
I can’t think of how much time and how many people it would take to make a portal like this at Shahizinda mausoleum.
