Elena Terekhova and Karina Akhmedova, founders of the Sitis brand, love to use ancient decorative techniques in their work. When developing a new collection of four boxes, their choice fell on the artistic incision of metal on wood, which originated in the mountains of Dagestan in the village of Untsukul. The technique of notching metal on metal became more widespread, and this rarer version was used, according to ethnographers, in home decoration. Craftsmen decorated houses with wooden inserts with metal notches.
Today it is difficult to admire this technique, since the inserts have not survived, but the patterns decorate Untsukul canes, pipes and wooden elements of weapons, preserved from the Caucasian wars of the 19th century. According to legend, the first Untsukul thing was a whip handle made of dogwood wood. By the way, in the work of the master, they most often used pear, apricot and walnut wood, the notch itself was made of silver or cupronickel, and geometric patterns could be individual for each school of masters. In Soviet times, the technique extended to vases, pencil holders, decorative dishes and panels.
Especially for Sitis, the craftsmen came up with a new interpretation of ancient technology, choosing two variants of notching: “Art Deco” and Astro, dedicated to the sky and the change of lunar phases. Each pattern is applied to boxes in two shades, made of light and dark wood. The inside of the Untsukul boxes is decorated with matching velvet and embroidery, which is also inspired by the Untsukul ornament.
