ARTISTIC HANDICRAFT OF AZERBAIJAN IN THE FUNDS OF STATE MUSEUMS OF RUSSIA
Xadija ASADOVA

Ornamental art takes a special place in the culture of Turkic nations. Thanks to the wisdom of Turkic nation created these ornaments, decorations had many interpretations and conventional character. In the remote past ornaments had the semantic meaning connected with sharing important information, religious beliefs, hunt and other rites. Speaking about carpet weaving of Azerbaijani nation, it should be considered from the aspects of Turkic thought, artistic and aesthetic peculiarities, mythology and other beliefs. Thus, ornamental art distinguished for its artistic-decorative fulfilment, original color combination, finest graphic depictions and exact compositional structure is the adornment of private collections and famous world museums which keep world values. It was widely spread in carpet weaving. Chuvashs and khakasses from Far Siberia; karaites, tatars and bulgarians from Ukraine, gagauzes from Moldova, bashkirs, kazakhs, kirghizs, turkmans, uzbeks, qashgays and afshars from Iran, millions of our compatriots speaking in the same language and also other representatives of Turkic nation reflected the thought in the form of ornament on carpets and embroidery on the basis of the same myths and beliefs. Despite representatives of Turkic nations live in different territories and states, community of people and their common origin is felt in created by them art works with geometrical patterns and peculiar to them artistic style. Azerbaijani carpets and weaving accessories of the beginning of 19 century kept in the State Hermitage Museum and Russian Ethnographical museum in St.Petersburg testify their real belonging to Turkic nation by their existence and reflected ornaments despite the fact that sometimes the art works are represented under false names. 

Keywords: tradition, ornament, symbol, carpet, museum