Ağaş shelek
Aktobe Region.
An interesting example of the use of a carved wooden bucket – a household item used in a functional role as a container for storing dishes – was cited in a study by E.A. Masanov (47). The round outer surface of the hollowed-out tree cavity is decorated with a flat relief ornament, reminiscent in its construction of the centric system of a carpet-like structure, including a central field and upper and lower borders. The upper border has preserved ornamental motifs – elements of kaz moyin with leaf-like branches and the background spaces filled with semi-leaf-like figures with thin parallel engraved lines. The central part of the bucket’s decoration is filled with two vertically constructed palmettes, one above the other, with trefoils enclosed inside them, ush zhapyrak, highlighted by engraved lines. On either side of the central motif are vertical rows of engraved rhombuses, sharshy. The ornamental pattern of the lower border is not clearly visible, but it was most likely similar to the upper border. Perhaps this bucket was used to store cups for kumis or other milk drinks – ayak.