"Oriental" or "Turkish cucumber", "buta", "Persian cypress" - all this is not a listing of the names of plants, but the name of one very popular pattern. They are decorated with clothes and shoes, a variety of accessories and utensils, wallpaper, furniture.
And if in Russia this drop-shaped ornament is most often called a bean or a cucumber, then Europeans know it as paisley - “paisley”. Why does the Turkish cucumber pattern have so many names in different countries, what does it mean and when it appeared in Europe? The article will try to answer all these questions.
Why is it called that?
“Tear of Allah”, “Indian” or “Oriental cucumber”, “Turkish bean”, “Persian cypress" - all these names of oriental ornament are associated with the fact that it resembles a cucumber or sprouted bean in shape. In cases where a Turkish cucumber is drawn with a petiole in the lower part, it is called a “palm leaf” or “cypress”.
In each country, this ornament is assigned different meanings, as in Iran they consider the image of an oriental cucumber to be a wish of happiness and prosperity, and in India it symbolizes movement or development.
When and where did he appear?
Discussions on the answer to this question have not subsided so far. There are many theories and versions of where the Turkish cucumber was created, as well as who and from whom it was adopted. The problem is that trade has been going on for centuries and there were diplomatic relations between countries. Peoples and people traveled, resettled, their cultural traditions, symbols and ideas also wandered and mixed. Consider several basic hypotheses of the origin of buta - Indian cucumber.
The most distant from us in time is the version that the Turkish cucumber known to us is still an ancient Egyptian ornament, and it symbolized immortality, represented in the symbolic form of a wheat ear.
Two later versions indicate that buta was born in Persia or India. In both cases, this word has the meaning of “fire”, only in the Persian case, this pattern, which came from the oldest world religion - Zoroastrianism, symbolizes eternity and life, and in the Indian interpretation it is simply a sacred fire.
There is another very beautiful version of the legend about the origin of the boot. According to her, the figure “Turkish cucumber” appeared due to the defeat in war of one of the ancient rulers of Persia. Grieved by the military failure, he cut his own wrist and put his bloody signature on the document of surrender. After this act, the “buta” pattern was started by masters of carpet weaving to be placed on their products, thereby glorifying the courage of this ruler.
There are other, less popular theories, but they all clearly say only one thing: this beautiful pattern, which pleases us today, came to Europe from Asia.
How did he appear in Europe?
Turkish cucumber is an ornament that conquered Britain at the beginning of the 17th century, and in the XVIII century - European countries and Russia. Buta came to England with the British, returning from India, a former colony at that time. It was they who brought the cashmere shawls, which were decorated with a Turkish cucumber pattern. You can see a photo of a similar but modern product with this motive below.
In Europe, the Turkish bean pattern became popular at the end of the 18th century also thanks to the Indian shawls and the Scottish city called Paisley. It was in this town that the first production of fabrics with a similar ornament was established, which existed until the beginning of the 20th century. At this time, the fashion for the fabric with a paisley pattern gradually passes.
History of Oriental Cucumber in Russia
Just like in Europe, this pattern came to Russia in the 18th century, when the fashion for cashmere shawls appeared in high society. However, everyone liked this ornament, and today most people consider the Turkish cucumber to be a Russian pattern. The pattern "settled" on Ivanovo chintz and printed fabrics, as well as on Pavloposad shawls.
The pattern can be either clearly defined (they fill the middle or edges of scarves or fabrics), or in the form of various floral and floral motifs arranged in a “cucumber” shape and not having a clear outline.
Paisley today
Forgotten at the beginning of the twentieth century, in the 60s, the pattern “Turkish cucumber” again became fashionable and popular. A lot of this was facilitated by John Lennon, who acquired Rolls-Royce decorated with a Paisley pattern, and released the movie “Summer of Love”, as well as men's ties with a “cucumber” pattern that came into fashion at that time.
In the 70s, the intricate oriental pattern of “buta” attracted the attention of hippies, who appreciated the diversity, saturation and shape of the “drop”.
In the 80s, several fashion houses at once, for example, Missoni, Etro and a number of others, began to actively use the paisley pattern in their high-fashion works. For Etro, the “cucumber” motif became a business card and decoration of all collections: clothing, perfumes, furniture, textiles.
Modern fashionistas are happy to use things to create a variety of images, decorated with "cucumber" patterns, which today are painted not only in classic, but also in bright and fashionable colors, such as indigo or fuchsia.