Iran is one of the largest and valuable jewel collections in the world
Handicrafts were considered as a component indicating the glory of former Persian art and the one which is floating by now. Persians were among the first to use mathematics, geometry, and astronomy in architecture and also have extraordinary skills in making massive domes which can be seen frequently in the structure of bazaars and mosques.
Iran, besides being home to a large number of art houses and galleries, also holds one of the largest and valuable jewel collections in the world.
Related: Iran Currency and money
The most highlighted Iranian Handicrafts
Among pile of Persian handicrafts through different parts of Iran, some of them are not just considered as a handicraft which belongs to a specific region; these ones have formed the whole concept of Iranian Handicrafts and are so reputable all around the world.
The below mentioned items are from the most highlighted Iranian Handicrafts which can be provided to you by Iran Negin Travel, by the greatest possible quality.
Related: Iran geographical regions
Iranian Rugs
The art of carpet weaving in Iran dates backs to 2,500 years and is rooted in the culture and customs of its people and their instinctive feelings. Weavers mix elegant patterns with a myriad of colors.
The Iranian carpet is similar to the Persian garden: full of flower, birds and beasts. It has an eye catching glory as a representative of the splendid Persian man made arts. The colors are usually extracted from wild flowers, and are rich in colors such as burgundy, navy blue and accents of ivory.
The proto-fabric is often washed in tea to soften the texture, giving it a unique quality. Depending on where the rug is made, patterns and designs vary. Some rugs such as Gabbeh, and Kilim have variations in their textures and number of knots as well.
Iranian Miniature and Painting
Historian Basil Gray believes “Iran has offered a particularly unique art to the world which is excellent in its kind”.
Caves in Iran’s Lorestan province exhibit painted imagery of animals and hunting scenes. Those in Fars province and Sialk are at least 5,000 years old. Painting in Iran is thought to have reached a peak during the Tamerlane era when outstanding masters such as Kamaleddin Behzad gave birth to a new style of painting.
Paintings through Qajar dynasty, for instance, are a combination of European influences and Safavid miniature schools of painting such as those introduced by Reza Abbasi.
Masters such as Kamal-ol-Molk further pushed forward the European influence in Iran. It was during the Qajar era when “Teahouse painting” emerged. Tea house paintings has continued its existence and has had great developments in a way that it has been an undeniable part of Iranian traditional Tea houses.
Subjects of this style were often religious and nationalist in nature depicting scenes from Shiite history and literary epics like Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh.
Persian Pottery and Ceramics
Prominent archaeologist Roman Ghirshman said, “The taste and talent of these people, Persians, can be seen through the designs of their earthenware.”
Among thousands of archaeological sites and historical ruins of Iran, almost every one of them can be found to have been filled, at some point, with earthenware of exceptional quality. Thousands of unique vessels alone were found in Sialk and Jiroft sites. The occupation of the potter (kouzehgar) has a special respect in Persian literature.
Persian Literature
Persian literature is by far the most outstanding expression of Iranian genius. While there are outstanding works in prose, it is poetry where the Iranian literature shines.
Flourishing over a period of more than a millennium, it was esteemed and imitated well beyond the confines of the Iranian heartland. The literature of Turkey and India developed under its influence. In order to mention some of notable Iranian poets the below mentioned unique reputable man can be mentioned:
Ferdowsi, Khayyam, Hafez, Attar, Sa’di, Nezami, Sanai, Roudaki, Rumi, Jami and Shahriar.
Iranian Architecture
The architecture of Iran has an ancient Persian tradition and heritage. It really shines bright like an astonishing diamond in comparison to the whole styles of architecture during the past ages.
Iranian architecture displays great variety, both structural and aesthetic, developing gradually and coherently out of prior traditions and experience. Without sudden innovations, and despite the repeated trauma of invasions and cultural shocks, it has achieved an individuality distinct from that of other Muslim countries.
With regard to the Persian gardens, its traditional style has influenced the design of gardens from Andalusia to India and beyond. The gardens of Alhambra show the influence of Persian gardens from the Andalusian era in Spain.
Iranian Tilework
Tilework is a unique feature of the blue mosques of Isfahan. In the old days, Kashan and Tabriz were famous centers of Iranian mosaic and tile industry in the past. Since centuries, Iranian art has developed particular patterns to decorate Iranian crafts.
THESE FASCINATING MOTIFS ARE AS FOLLOWING:
- Inspired by ancestral nomad tribes (such as geometrical motifs used in kilims or gabbehs).
- Islam influenced, with an advanced geometrical research.
- Oriental based, also found in India or Pakistan.
Khatam
Delicate and meticulous marquetry has been produced since the Safavid period. In fact, khatam was so popular in the court that princes learned this technique alongside music and painting.
Khatam means incrustation and Khatamkari refers to incrustation work. This craft is consist of the production of incrustation patterns (generally star shaped) with thin sticks of wood (ebony, teak, orange, rose), brass (for golden parts) and camel bones (white parts).
Ivory, gold or silver can also be used for collection objects. Sticks are assembled in triangular beams, themselves assembled and glued in a strict order to create a cylinder 70 cm in diameter, whose cross-section is the main motif: a six-branch star included in a hexagon. These cylinders are cut into shorter cylinders, and then compressed and dried between two wooden plates, before being sliced for the last time, in 1 mm wide trenches.
These sections are ready to be plated and glued on the object to be decorated, before lacquer finishing. The trench can also be softened through heating in order to wrap around objects.
Now a days, in addition to the use of Khatam as a scenery handicraft, many objects can be decorated in this fashion, such as jewelry/decorative boxes, chessboards, pipes, desks, frames or some musical instruments. Khatam can also be used in Persian miniatures, making it a more attractive work of art.
Based on techniques imported from China and improved by Persian know-how, this craft has existed for more than 700 years and is still practiced in Shiraz and Isfahan.
Related: National Jewelry Museum of Iran
Enamels
Enamel working and decorating metals with colorful and baked coats are one of the most fascinating and unique artworks of Isfahan. Although this course is of abundant use industrially for producing metal and hygienic dishes, it has been paid high attention by painters, goldsmiths and metal engravers since a long time.
WORLDWIDE, ENAMELS ARE CATEGORIZED AS FOLLOWING:
1- Enamel painting
2- Charkhaneh or chess-like enamel
3- Cavity enamel.
Enamel painting is practiced in Isfahan and specimens are kept in the museums of Iran and abroad, indicating that Iranian artists have been interested in this art and used it in their metalwork ever since the rule of Achaemenian and Sassanid dynasties.
Since enamels are delicate, we do not have many of them left from ancient times. Some documents indicate that throughout the Islamic civilization of and during the Seljuk, Safavid and Zand dynasties, there have been outstanding enameled dishes and materials.
