Rishton

Rishton is a town in Fergana Province, in Uzbekistan, located about halfway between Kokand and Fergana.

Rishton is one of the most famous and oldest centers of ceramics in Uzbekistan. Legend claims that the art is over 800 years old, passed down from generation to generation. A fine quality reddish-yellow clay deposit 1-1.5 meters deep and 0.5-1.5 meters thick underlies almost the whole Rishton area. The clay can be used without refinement or addition of other types of clay from other regions. Besides clay, the potters of Rishton extracted various dyes, quartz sand, and fire clay from the surrounding the mountains.

One of the most popular Islamic Scholar Burhaniddin Ar-Rashidani Al-Margilani author of Hidaye was born in this small town and grew up in Margilan, a neighbor city in Fergana. Famous Khurshid Ahmad also born here but he later left this town to explore more cultures and civilizations.

In the late 19th – early 20th centuries, almost all the population of Rishton were potters. Its clay is suitable for making the whole variety of ceramic goods and the repertoire of ornamental patterns in the Rishton ceramics is one of the richest. Today, over 2000 craftsmen use both traditional techniques and modern machinery to produce over 5 million items per year. The traditional design has a blue-green glaze, called “iskor”. In the 1960s, this technique had almost died out, but has now recovered, thanks to the efforts of the artisans themselves.

The products are made from red clay that is mined only here. From generation to generation craftsmen pass the secrets of their skillful mastery. Big dishes - "lagans", deep bowl "kosa", spit water-jugs, vessels for milk, ornamented with glaze "ishkor" unforgettable turquoise and ultramarine colors, made Rishtan and its masters famous on numerous international exhibitions. They decorate exposure of many museums in the world and private collections.